Build Time Management Skills

Ask yourself:

• What’s working well in your time management routine?
• What’s getting in the way of achieving your goals?
• Are there any activities that you spend more time on than is helpful? (e.g., social media, television, video games, etc.) 
• Do you find that you’re able to accomplish your goals and meet deadlines?
• Are you able to fit in time to care for yourself each day?

Remember that everyone struggles with time management and keeping up with self-care at times, so if you’ve noticed some areas that you’d like to improve on, meet yourself with kindness and recognize that it’s okay to not have it all figured out. If you’re struggling right now, know that it’s not your fault, that help is available, and that there are many strategies you can try to help you meet time management goals and feel more in control of your time. 

At the start of each semester, set aside some time to map out the big picture of your course requirements by recording all of your assignments and deadlines in one agenda or calendar. This will help you see how the workload of your semester is distributed and allow you to begin to plan how to best use your time.

There are many templates that you can use to help you plan out how to best schedule your time every week, including one on the STEPS website under "Taming the Chaos". When scheduling, aim to break each day up into 30-60 minute intervals so that you can plan out your week in detail.

Committments to include:

• Designed time for taking care of your well-being, including time to exercise, eat, rest, enjoy hobbies, do laundry, connect with those you care about, etc.
• Classes and labs to attend
• Deadlines for assignments
• Midterms and exams
• Employment hours
• Volunteer committments
• Appointments
• Time to complete your readings and take notes
• Time to complete assignments
• Time to review and study
• Any other committments you have

When you don't have a clear plan in place that helps you identify what needs your attention the most, it can be easy to spend a significant amount of time working on tasks that are less urgent. And if you're feeling worn down, it can be hard to find the energy to even know where to start. Setting priorities that identify what needs to be worked on first or given the most attention allows you to create a step-by step plan for how to best tackle your To Do list.

► Assess your workload. What deadlines do you need to meet? How time consuming are the tasks that need to be accomplished? What is most urgent? 

► Decide what's most important. What tasks carry the most outcome value? (e.g., an assignment with 5% vs. a midterm worth 40%)

► Determine what can wait. Is there anything that is less urgent that can wait until you accomplish your more pressing tasks?

Once you have a good idea of the tasks that you need to work towards first and the time committments involved, list them in order of which tasks require the most time most urgently. From there, go back to your weekly schedule and block out time specifically to work on these priorities. Depending on deadlines and your preferred working style, you might find it helpful to work on more than one priority task per day and dispearse the scheduling of those tasks over several days. Alternatively, you might find it easier to block out a larger amount of time per day to dive deep into a single priority task and then move onto the next task once the first is complete. Explore what works best for you!

To Do lists are helpful for helping you to stay on track with tasks and remember items that need to be accomplished each day. It can be productive to take some time each evening to prepare a To Do list for your work the following day, as this helps create a sense of continuity between your days and ensure that you have a plan for picking up where you left off.

To Do lists are also a great place to break larger priorities down into smaller goals that you can work towards accomplishing in smaller pieces each day. This will not only provide you with a more immediate sense of accomplishment, but it will also help you manage timelines and stay on task with your larger goals.

Time is one of our most valuable resources and the way we choose to spend our time influences every aspect of our life. When it comes to staying on top of your priorities, it's important to look at how you are spending your time each day to determine where your attention and energy are going.

Conduct a Time Audit. In order to know how to best make use of your time, it can be helpful to conduct an audit to get a better idea of how you're dividng your attention each day and where boundaries might be helpful. To do this, take some time every now and then to practice logging the activities and tasks that you engage in over several days and how much time you spend on each: eating, going to class, studying, working, volunteering, spending time with others, attending meetings or appointments, watching television, emailing, scrolling on social media, commuting, sleeping, etc.

Once complete, add up the total number of hours you've spent per task during this period  (e.g., if you tracked your time for 5 days, add up the total number of hours you logged on social media during that time) and calculate your average amount of time spent per task. For example:

Task	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Total
Social media	3h	4h	2h	6h	6h	21h
Studying	4h	4h	2h	1h	1h	12h

[Total # of hours in 5 days: 24h x 5 = 120h]

Average time spent on social media: 21h/120h x 100% = 17.5%        Average time spent studying: 12h/120h x 100% = 10%

Based on these numbers, this student might want to explore ways to set boundaries around social media time in favour of increasing study time.

If you decide to conduct this exercise, are there any outcomes that surprise you? Are there any tasks that you might benefit from setting boundaries around to free up more time for things that have more value or importance to you?

Ways to set boundaries around your time:

• Silence your phone while you're studying/in class and keep it out of sight
• Use apps that allow you to restrict your access to your social media accounts or similar sites during your planned study time
• Log out of apps or email accounts that send you notifications whenever you're not using them
• Set a timer or alarms on your computer/phone to keep you on track with your planned schedule for the day
• Practice saying no to social invitations or requests that you don't have time for (or that you don't really want to engage with)
• Block out time in your schedule specifically for self-care or engaging in activities you enjoy and make sure to follow through
• Uphold your committments to yourself. Follow through on taking planned breaks, both to make sure your studying doesn't carry over into your self-care time and also to help refresh your mind and body for increased focus when you return to your books.