Simple Steps to Master Your Use of Time

Manage your time and set goals...Watch this video to learn how

Time and Goals

One of the first things that graduate students is that there is never enough time in the day. Time management entails more than keeping a calendar, however. It is requires identifying your obligations, carefully considering their importance, and making choices about how to use your time.

1. Use Multiple To-Do Lists: At this stage in your life it is likely that one to-do-list isn't enough. Use multiple lists to organize tasks by topic or context. For example, you might maintain separate lists for each area of your life such as home (for grocery lists, bills, and household tasks), social (for lists of friends and family to call, email, or contact on Facebook) and school (obviously, for maintaining lists of school-related tasks like assignments and meeting with professors).
2. Be Flexible: While to-do lists are wonderful for helping you to organize and prioritize your life, remember that there will always be interruptions and distractions. Try to allow time for them.
3. Say "No.": Sometimes we take on too much. Whether it's extra courses, or responsibilities, or extracurricular activities, consider how important each is to you before agreeing.
4. Go with Your Flow: Consider your own biological peaks and lows. Are you a morning person? Or are you at your best at night? Plan your day accordingly. Save your most difficult work for the times when you're at your best.
5. Make Use of Wasted Time: Have you ever noticed how much time you spend commuting, standing in lines, and waiting (for doctors, advisors, etc.)? Carry pocket work to make use of that time that would otherwise be wasted. Carry a short reading assignment or flash cards for studying. Or use the time to write in your planner and organize yourself. Ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there it all adds up and you'll find that you can get more done.
6. Seat deadlines for Yourself: Academic work entails many steps. Set a realistic deadline for each step. How do you determine what's realistic? Sit down wit a calendar and think about how much time you will spend on your project each day and what you can complete in that time. Use your estimates to set deadlines. Recognize that you may have ti adjust your deadlines. We often overestimates the amount of work that we can accomplish. Take this tendency into account by beginning your assignments early.