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Time management is one of the most important skills to have when embarking on a tertiary education and it's often what separates the most successful academics from the rest. Here are a few simple tips to help you manage your time better especially around exam time.

You will be responsible for organising your time and ensuring you meet necessary deadlines. Tutors do not accept excuses for missed deadlines. If you miss a deadline, you may have to retake part of your programme or be unable to complete at all. This means time management skills are essential. Below you will find some ways in which you can maximise your time and make the most of your schedule.

Five tips for managing your time

1. Keep one diary - write everything in it - take it everywhere. Most students find a weekly view to be the most helpful.
2. Keep a time planner so you can see easily what you need to do.
3. Write all deadlines in your diary on the right date.
4. Also, write the assignment deadline in your diary, on the date you must begin working towards the deadline
5. Allow time for travel and delays between appointments.

Time Management for Study Schedules

Weekly Timetables:
When scheduling in a weekly timetable, first put in your essential, inflexible routines such as sleep, meal times and commitments. As these routines will not change, your schedule needs to revolve around them. When it comes to study timetables, don't change too much of these weekly schedules and suddenly try to do it all. Study timetables should be as comfortable as possible, spaced over a long period of time rather than crammed into a single week.

The main risks when developing a study schedule are:

• Feeling there is more time available than there is.
• Not developing sufficient structure to your time to ensure you get everything done.
• Missing deadlines.
• Drifting - not being sure where you are in time if you have few regular appointments to mark out the time.

General Considerations

• Allocate more study time for your subjects you find most difficult and less for subjects you're stronger in.
• You will need to schedule in extra time for any coursework assignments and essays you may have to complete.
• Initially, plan to spend around 1 - 2 hours studying for every lecture you've attended. You'll notice that this generally requires you to start your revisions before your allocated study leave.
• Always have a clock in front of you when you study. It is important that you know when to have a break and when to study.
• Being able to see a clock will also help you to identify how much study you are capable of in a set time. This will be important to you when you are trying to set goals for study.
• Try to divide your time into blocks of 1 hour. To begin with, spend 50 minutes studying followed by a 10 minute break. Schedule breaks in your working day for fun, food, relaxation and exercise, but not all at once.
• You may find that you can increase the time you spend studying after a while when your concentration increases.
• Always plan for a lunch break and some sort of physical recreation. You can't work if you are tired or mentally stale. Avoid activities like watching TV during these breaks.
• To begin with, allocate harder tasks for the time when you are at your most productive. Some people work best in the morning, others work best in the evening. You decide when.
• Be disciplined - stick to what you say you will do.
• Be flexible - you never know when an emergency will crop up.
• Leave time at the end for reviewing what you have done and what you must still do.
• Reward yourself when you achieve targets or goals.

Time Management & Planning for Essay Exams

• Effective time management is essential in exams.
• Always allow yourself at least 5 minutes organising your answer to the question.
• Read the question that you want to attempt carefully 2 or 3 times.
• Underline Key Words and Key Concepts.
• Note down 5 - 10 relevant points.
• Try to think how they relate to the key words and concepts.
• Order these points in terms of importance and relevance to the question.
• Decide how much time can be spent making each point.
• Write your answer so that it relates entirely to the question.
• Always find out how many questions you will need to answer and try to work out a time plan before you go into the exam room.
• Try to give proportionate time to each question depending on marks allocated and how well you can answer the question.
• If you run out of allocated time on one question, leave it and come back later on if you can.
• Try to leave 5 - 10 minutes at the end of the exam to read through your answers, cross out plans, correct spelling errors and make sure that your answer makes sense.

For further information, contact Eduloan's Client Services Department on 0860-55-55-44.

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