Time Management and Organising my Studies

Time Management

Introduction

For my assignment, I am going to begin with addressing the issues impacting the organisation of my studies, continuing on to discuss the possible resolutions, and concluding with an action plan devised to implement these resolutions.

Issues

There are many distractions that can affect the organisation of study. Personally, my biggest time stealers are procrastination, poor decision making and organisation skills. I will often put tasks off with the notion that “there is plenty of time” or “that can be done later” etc.

“Never leave ’till tomorrow which you can do today.”
Benjamin Franklin

Another of my distractions comes down to my surroundings. I will frequently try to start an assignment whilst sitting in the living room, with the TV on in the background, mobile phone next to me, with my email/social networking websites open on my laptop; basically juggling too many things at once.

Resolutions & Action Plan

In order to combat procrastination and poor decision making, the best resolution, in my opinion, would be to set specific time slots in certain days for college work to be completed. This would need to be done once a time table has been devised to figure out what the rest of the day’s time is being taken up by, i.e. household chores, errands, work, etc. Another point would be to determine the time in which I work best and am more concentrated. After working on several assignments, I have found I perform best in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Resolutions & Action Plan

Now that I have set aside the time to work, I need to figure out what to use the time for exactly. I will need to look at what assignments I have and when they are due in and ensure I don’t leave things to the last minute, by doing the assignments gradually. This will also help if I get stuck on any of the subject matter, as I will still have time to discuss this with the tutor. Completing the assignment early would also be beneficial as this would give time for the tutor to check the completed assignment before the due date and provide any advice.

Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.
William Shakespeare

To put this into action, I am going to plan out how I am going to work on my third assignment for Farm Animal Health & Husbandry, which is due in 22/02/2012. Looking at my current timetable, I have a completely free day every Thursday, which means this would be perfect for setting this as a regular day to work on this assignment. The sample from my timetable below illustrates a three hour slot inserted to work on the Farm Animal assignment which can be used every week until the assignment is due in.

Once I’ve decided when to settle down to work on an assignment, I need to ensure I have the perfect working environment to minimise any distraction. I can achieve this by working in a separate room to anyone in the house, without TV or music in the background. Furthermore, I will stick to accessing websites relevant to the topic I’m working on, and keeping my phone on silent, away from where I am working. I will also need to sit up at a desk in order to keep focused and to also aid the organisation of subject notes, books, etc.

In order to improve study, I need to follow these steps regularly –

Make a to do list of any college work and the due dates
Analyse my week’s schedule
Implement regular afternoon time slots in my week’s schedule for college work
Complete college work at a desk
Study alone with no TV or music in the background
Leave mobile phone on silent whilst completing college work
Stick to topic relevant websites whilst completing college work

To conclude, if I keep to this action plan, I should be able to maintain a good study routine. I will take responsibility for managing my time effectively, as ultimately only I can do so.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.
Michael Altshuler