Effectively Managing Your timeHow to successfully navigate online learning?

The Problem

Everyone gets the same 24 hours each day. Now that you are forced to work and learn from home, it is now more important than ever that you begin to use effective time management skills. This lesson will take you through the steps you need to do to accomplish this task.

Problem statement

Barriers to Managing Your Time Effectively

Now that you are not bound by a schedule, you may find that

you are staying up and waking up late.

You have many different assignments coming in from

different teachers who are not communicating with one

another and don’t seem to consider that you have work to

complete from five or six other classes.

At home, you have distractions- the game, T.V., your cell

phone, siblings and family, etc.

You are not sure what to do.

So What?

Grades will still count.

You must get organized!

All of your classes on your schedule will account for a

percent of your GPA. Therefore, you need to

determine how to give each class a portion of your

time.

Time Management is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities. Good time management enables you to work smarter-not harder.

This means you will need to put in effort:

● Effort to get rid of old habits.● Effort to form new habits● Effort to keep on trying, even

when you feel like you’ll never be a focused student.

If you don’t understand a new concept, speak to your teacher right away

If you do this, you’ll save a lot of time in the long run, because you’ll be

clarifying your doubts as they arise.

Send private messages through Google Classroom, email or text the teacher

immediately. Allow for 24 hours for the teacher to respond.

Ensure that you have received the class code for each of your teachers and

that you join the classes.

Figure Out What Has to be Done

● Make a list of everything that's required, such as sleep, school,

schoolwork, activities, and family and household commitments.

● Add in fun activities.

List your main distractions and time wasters, and eliminate them

Students often aren’t even aware what their main distractions and time

wasters are.

So take a few minutes and think about what your biggest distractions are.

Write them down on a sheet of paper, and come up with an action plan to

eliminate – or at least reduce – them.

Determine the Time Commitment for Each Activity

● Plan for at least eight hours of sleep and a couple of hours for meals

and personal care each day.

● Use classroom materials or talk to teachers to determine adequate

time to reserve for studying, projects and other schoolwork.

● Incorporate additional time for meeting improvement goals.

● Consider preparation for sporadic events like tests and conferences.

If a task takes less than three minutes to complete, do it right away

Many tasks fall in this category: sending a file to your classmate via email,

asking your parents to sign a consent form, clearing the clothes off of your

room floor.

Once you get a chance to perform the task, do it immediately. This will

ensure that these small tasks don’t pile up and become overwhelming.

For projects and big assignments, always be clear about what the next

step is

One of the main reasons that students procrastinate is that they aren’t clear

what exactly they should do next for a project or assignment.

I recommend that you keep a list of “next actions” for each project or big

assignment, so that you always know what you ought to do next.

Block Out Commitments Using a Planner or Calendar

● Break big projects down into multiple stages instead of just listing a

deadline.

● Color-coding can be a visual cue for the most important items.

● Ensure new assignments and commitments are recorded daily or as

soon as they're known.

Make a Daily To-do List

● Put the most challenging or important items at the top to be done

first.

● Think about rewards for completing tasks on the to-do list.

Write down your priorities and review them weekly

Remember that it's important to set aside time to recharge and relax.

Understand the consequences for not getting something done to help prioritize

the most important items.

Take ten minutes to write down your priorities in life. (Don’t list more than four or

five.)

Think about whether the way you spend your time is in line with these priorities.

Repeat this review process once a week to ensure that you stay on track.

Be Strategic

● If procrastination is a problem, find out why. Is extra help with

homework needed? Is it an activity that has become less appealing

over time?

● Discover the your best working conditions for completing specific

tasks. Is it better to do math after dinner or when you first wake up?

Is running better first thing in the morning or last thing in the

evening?

● Stay organized. A clean environment with all the needed materials at

hand helps move things along with fewer distractions.

Take a study break every 40 to 50 minutes

Research shows that working in blocks of 40 to 50 minutes is optimal for

productivity.

If you feel as if you can’t focus for that long, try out the Pomodoro

Technique for a start.

Pomodoro Technique:The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length,

separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro, from the Italian word for 'tomato', after the tomato-

shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student.[3][4]

If you’re feeling unmotivated, set a timer for two minutes

If you don’t feel like doing work, set a timer for two minutes. Then tell

yourself that you just need to focus for that amount of time.

There’s no harm in mixing it up once in a while to give you a boost in

productivity.

On weekdays, you might decide to do all of your homework and studying at

home. While on weekends, you might decide to go to a park or family

member’s house for a change in environment.

Determine when you’re most productive, and work on your hardest

assignments during that time

Do you work best in the afternoon? Or are you most productive at night?

Work on your hardest assignments and projects during your most

productive hours of the day. This is a powerful way to make the most of

your time.

Develop a Routine

● Set aside dedicated study time every day, even if the time of day

must change periodically for other activities.

● Wake up and go to bed at the same time each day.

● Be consistent to reach short- and long-term goals.

Grade 9 and 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=779uEQ8qyeU

Grade 11 and 12

https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time/transcript?language=en

Next Steps

Use the “Weekly Assignments” template to map out your assignments for each class. Place a time frame inside each assignments (the template does not include times).

Each week you will need to turn in a completed assignment template.

References

Building Time Management Skills

https://www.iowastudentloan.org/articles/students/building-time-management-skills.aspx

45 Time Management Tips for Students (Advice From a Lifelong Straight-A Student)

https://www.daniel-wong.com/2017/07/17/time-management-tips-for-students/

Federal Partnership for STEM Education

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/esfl_hs_planning_time.pdf