Page 246 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

Creating a More Efficient and Focused Schedule

Using a blank day-planner, fill in only those things which are fixed commitments (sleep, courses,
work, travel time, meals, etc). Review the record of your week as you fill in the new planner, creating
your new schedule.

Insight: There are big blocks of time available!

Once you have accounted for the committed times, you should begin to see patterns or blocks of
available free time. Your next consideration should be allocation of study time. A general guideline
for out-of-class study time is that for every hour spent in the classroom, you should spend two hours
studying out of the classroom. For more challenging courses, you should allocate three or more hours
outside of class for every classroom hour. Another factor that influences study time in a course is your
skill set compared to the demands of a particular course. For example, if you are a slow reader taking
a history or literature course, you should adjust your study time accordingly. Keep track of the time
you spend studying for each course. Record how long it takes you to complete problem sets, to read
chapters in particular textbooks, etc. This information can be used to help you revise and adjust your
time management plan.

When considering allocating or designating study times, consider times when you are physically and
emotionally ready to study and perform at a high level. Try to match the times of the day when you
are sharpest with times you can study. Also, realize that for many people, it is more effective to study
in one-hour blocks of time than to study for three or four hours at a time. If you do study for longer
periods of time, be sure to take breaks.

With your committed time and study time allocated, fill in the rest of your plan with other activities
based on how you usually spend your time.

Creating a workable and efficient schedule is a bit like filling a large jar with stones. If you want to fill
the jar completely, making maximum use of the available space, put the largest stones in first. Then
pebbles, which will fill the spaces between the stones. Finally, finish with sand, which fills the space
between the pebbles. With your schedule, place the largest blocks first, then the smaller tasks that can
be accomplished between the big blocks of time, and finally small and quick items that can be done
nearly anytime. While you may not have as much time as you want, chances are that efficient time
management will give you more than you thought possible.

PROCEED TO ACTIVITY 9.1 (page 245)

Prioritizing Tasks and Making the Best Use of Your Time

Your time is finite (there are only 24 hours in a day, after all) and finding a way to work in all the
things you need and want to do can be a challenge. Add deadlines to this and it becomes even more
complicated. This is why people who manage their time wisely focus on deciding what tasks or
projects should be scheduled, done first, or given a higher degree of importance when scheduling
their time. Assigning relative importance or priority is called prioritizing.

For example, you may have blocked out 2 hours of “Study Time” on Wednesday night, but what if
you have a mid-term exam in a class on Thursday, ought to create a draft outline for a paper which
is due next week, need to get a new tire for your car because of the flat you got this afternoon, and
promised your best friend that you’d quiz her on her French vocabulary to help her prepare for her
exam on Friday? This may sound like a trivial example, but it is fairly representative of the kinds
of prioritizing and scheduling

240 Foundations of Learning