As the spring semester starts here a lot of professors are going over ways to do well in their classes which of course includes the importance of time management. People always give general time management strategies but you are expected to figure out the specifics yourself. My question is: what are the specifics of how you manage your time?
I have one simple rule, if I have a list of things to get done I get them done prior to doing anything fun. I'm big on lists. I print off mon-fri and have all my tasks written out for each day. If I get them done prior to End of day, I give myself leisure. If I get them done prior to Friday, ill take a day off and do something fun. Most of the time this means sitting in a coffee shop hubskiing, but some times it means the museum with my daughter or a picnic in the park. The key thing is to earn my free time.
Do you put bigger tasks on your list, or do you break them down into small tasks?
Yes, and ideally I can "knock out" the bigger tasks first. The long-term projects, I don't really have on my list. I just know they exist and work on them.
The best tip I ever got on time management in college was from a professor who believed that if you just listen in class -- really listen instead of being there and spacing out every minute or two -- the time you spend working out of class will be cut by 90 percent. And it's true; the trick is just to get interested enough in the subject that you can keep yourself listening for extended periods of time. Learning the material from an expert, good teacher is exponentially more efficient than learning it yourself, in most cases. (Bad teachers excepted.)
That's actually how I coasted through high school without doing much homework. I found I was an auditory learner and got by with just listening (not even taking notes) in class.
I am actually very anal about time management. If I'm not (ie. right now I should be researching pneumatic systems capable of lifting 150lbs), I stray. I go on reddit, hubski, HN, xkcd archives, blogs, news, Wikipedia, I think you get the point. Thankfully though, I have a lot of practice with discipline of time management. I've been tracking my life in 30 minute blocks in Google calendar for 2 years. It works as well as anything I've ever done. Basically every month I schedule the next month. I make "all-day" events of projects I need to finish in a time period, and make sure I do enough in the month to keep myself satisfied. At the beginning of every week (Sunday nights), I review what I've done during the week, and convert those "all-day" events into specific 30-minute blocks every day. The key to keeping up this kind of time management is doing it. As awesome as my planning can be, it will only be as good as my discipline do the shit. And sometimes you don't feel like it. But that is no reason not to. In fact, I find that I typically work better when I started out not wanting to work. This plays a huge role in how effective I can be. Another thing: be effective. I swear, no specific plans, GANT charts, to-do lists or anything else will rival the time you save by actually doing what you're supposed to. Checking your phone every few minutes fucks you up. Even to check the time. Plan what you need to do, and actually do it. I am in a place now where I have two internal personae. One of them is my planner, who comes out every week to make sure I'm on track. The other is the worker. I basically never question my schedule any more. I just check what I should be doing, and get to doing that. Thinking about when this should be done is a sure-fire way to stop concentrating on the actual work. Be sure you're well organized, and trust that you are. Oh yeah, and make sure you don't burn yourself out. Taking 10 minute breaks every so often (1-2 hours) is a great way to keep interested and focused. Specifics wise: I use Google calendar with about 10 different calendars within it. Each has different notification settings and defaults. An idea of the different calendars: Personal, Errands, Personal Projects, Holidays, Work Specific, Work General, Others. (some left out because they are specific to me) Anyways, the best way to plan is to learn how to follow that plan. For long term stuff, GANT charts and project management software works. For short term, to do lists are a classic. For scheduling, google calendar works well.
Any chance you could show me a sample planned day or week?
The names probably don't make sense for someone who doesn't know me, but the structure is there. Oh and I should mention that blank spaces don't mean sitting around. Those are times when I do whatever back burner project I have going on. Since I program and do robotics, those usually fill that space. Apart from that is free time.
This is great advice. I've just decided to start scheduling my day to actually do something productive during the day cause I feel like I sit on my ass too much. This tips are great thanks!
You might be interested in the Pomodoro Technique. Basically: Also, since you're a college student you might want to consider taking various legal drugs to enhance various aspects of your performance (called nootropics). L-theanine 400mg (suntheanine) + caffeine 100-200mg is cheap and provides a huge boost to performance. I use piracetam + choline, l-theanine + caffeine, and phenibut regularly and I've noticed that I get things done much quicker and my memory is very much improved.
and you just repeat that until you've finished, with longer and longer breaks. It's an interesting scheme and it works pretty well for a lot of people. 1. Set timer for 20 minutes
2. Do task
3. Take 5 minute break when timer rings
4. Set timer for 20 minutes again
5. Do task
6. Take longer break