Time Management Tips & Suggestions for Premeds
Students have unique issues and problems to deal with that others don’t. The following are proven strategies that have helped students in my classes for over 30 years. Some of these strategies may be common sense, but unless you make a conscientious effort to put them into practice every day, you won’t become the expert student time manager you need to be.
Use a time planner. Buy yourself a planner and include a list of your classes, exams, due dates, meetings, and social activities. Refer to it often to stay on track. Allow for unexpected interruptions, so leave a block of time available each day for unexpected meet-ings or sudden schedule changes. If an open block of time gets used, prioritize your other activities and reschedule tasks. By leav-ing yourself a little time each day, you’ll become less anxious knowing that you’ll always be able to schedule one more thing if you really need to.
Prioritize tasks. One of the biggest time management thieves is not prioritizing. When deciding on what to do as you look through your planning book, ask yourself three questions before getting started:
Should I do it immediately?
Should I put if off until I have more time?
Should I eliminate it?
You can also assign your activities a priority ranking and do them according to your rankings:
Priority #1: Top priority. Activity needs to be done as soon as possible. Plan your schedule around the activity to meet dead-lines.
Priority #2: High priority. Not as urgent but should be done soon. Activity is important enough to be put high on your schedule.
Priority #3: Low priority. Activity can wait until other higher pri-ority activities are done.
Priority #4: Least priority. Not important or necessary. Activity should be placed last on your list or eliminated altogether.
Study wisely. There are 7 specific time management rules for students to help them study much more effectively. They are:
Study in short sessions. Few of us can maintain full concentration for more than an hour. It’s much more efficient to study in sessions of 45 minutes or so and then take a 15 minute break than it is to study for hours at a time.
Study during your peak energy levels. We all have unique biological clocks and energy levels at different times of the day. Identify if you’re more of a morning, afternoon, or night person and schedule most of your study time then. If you can’t decide when your best time is, alternate your study schedule and see what times of the day are the most effective.
Tackle the most difficult assignments when you’re least tired. In order to maintain concentration and learn new material, make sure you’re well rested and energized. You’ll eliminate a lot of duplicated and wasted effort. Never study while in bed, and never study if you’re distracted by something else.
Take time off. Taking time away from schoolwork will reenergize you and reinvigorate your brain. Between sessions, relax and do something totally unrelated to schoolwork.
Eliminate noise and other distractions. Despite what you may think, you will not be able to concentrate and learn as much as you can with the TV or radio playing. If your roommates are noisy, go to the library or find another quiet space. It may seem different at first to not have noise around you, but before you know it you’ll find that quiet is much better for your mind.
Exercise and eat well. Staying physically fit does more than keep your body in shape; it keeps your mind sharp and helps you concentrate and focus. Good nutrition is also important in maintaining a healthy brain and a strong immune system.
Use flash cards. I always urge my students to use flash cards for every class I teach. Flash cards are an effective way to boil vital material down into short and manageable bits of information. Carry them around with you and refer to them between classes, while waiting for someone, during breaks, etc.
Eliminate timewasters. A time waster is any activity or behavior that is not necessary and that prevents you from accomplishing your goals. At the end of the day, it can sap your energy, create stress, and ruin your ability to manage time. Activities like going to every event, running errands, or talking to everyone who calls can take time away from more important tasks and leave you feeling frazzled. Make a commitment to eliminate the least important activities or, if necessary, put them at the end of your list. The following is a list of the most common student timewasters:
Taking on additional or unnecessary duties.
Having a cluttered or disorganized workspace.
Taking too many breaks.
Reading unnecessary emails, texts, and/or spam.
Spending too much time on the telephone.
Spending too much time socializing.
Surfing the web for non-school information.
Not having adequate information to complete schoolwork.
Procrastinating.
Sometimes you don’t realize how much of what you do every day consists of timewasting activities. Spending two hours on the phone with friends when you should be studying for exams, or playing video games between classes instead of going to the library to get started on a project leads to cramming at the last mi-nute. Eliminating even a few of these activities increases your productivity to the point that you’ll feel less stressed and more in control of your life.
Schedule demanding tasks when you’re most energized. The most efficient students are those who recognize when their high energy levels are and then adjust their schedules accordingly. It’s always best to tackle the most demanding assignments first and leave the easier tasks for the end of the day when you’re tired and less energetic. Scheduling work in this way will make you feel good because you’ll get the tough assignment out of the way and finish the day refreshed and in a pleasant mood.
Eliminate clutter. To be a good time manager, eliminate clutter, put things in files, binders, and folders, and color code them for easy identification. The simple act of keeping your workspace neat and clean and knowing where everything is will do wonders for your ability to get things done.
Write down and keep deadlines. Over the years, I’ve given my share of bad grades to good students for not completing their assignments on time. A good teacher will make sure that his/her students know when assignments are due. The syllabus, which is a contract between teacher and student, should have all the deadlines you need to complete your work and get all the points available. So whenever you’re given a deadline, write it down and then follow these rules:
Never put off a project that has a specific deadline. Procrastination makes meeting deadlines nearly impossible, so at least begin planning and outlining your work as soon as you get your as-signment.
Allow yourself a few minutes from work every hour or so in order to catch your breath and clear your mind. It’s always a good idea to take periodic breaks as long as you don’t overdo it and get in the habit of wasting time by taking hour-long breaks every 30 minutes or so. When it’s time to work, be disciplined. For instance, set up a schedule of one hour work and ten minutes of break and then stick to it.
Break projects down into smaller parts and set individual dead-lines for each part. Taking things one step at a time helps you judge how well you’re pacing yourself. More importantly, by looking at a project in stages, it won’t seem so overwhelming. Writers, for example, concentrate on one chapter before going on to the next. Breaking a large assignment down into several parts will make your life a lot easier because you’ll be following a specific plan of action that keeps you on track.
Don’t put off making decisions. Effective decision-making helps you meet deadlines because you won’t be waiting to get every fact and piece of information possible before making a decision. There comes a time when you have to tell yourself that you have enough information to complete your assignment without having to waste more time looking for more material. There’s a tendency that the longer you wait and the more information you try to gather, the harder it is to make a final decision. To avoid this “paralysis by analysis,” follow these four steps:
1. Write down the purpose or goal of the assignment.
2. List the most important facts and information you’ll need to complete the assignment.
3. Get those facts and that information.
4. Complete the assignment and meet the deadline using those facts and that information.
Finish one task before starting another. Some of us can multitask fairly well; most of us can’t. We might start something and then put it aside to finish later. In the meantime, we begin something new, and that’s when things begin to pile up. Before we know it, we have a mound of work that needs to be done and we realize we don’t have enough time to do it. Two of the biggest culprits are bad priority rankings and procrastination. To prevent this from ever happening, follow these two rules:
Assign a priority ranking to every task. Look at your schedule and your daily planner and then shuffle around, reschedule, postpone, or eliminate the lowest priority tasks. Always begin high priority tasks immediately.
Never procrastinate. Don’t put off something because you might not like doing it or you think it may be time-consuming. If it needs to be done, start right away. Also, don’t string lengthy assignments together. Intersperse long assignments with shorter ones to avoid boredom and fatigue.
Take control of your life. Being in control of your day-to-day activities is as important in time management as it is in stress management. All the scheduling, planning, and organizing in the world isn’t going to do you any good unless you take charge over distractions and other activities that disrupt your day. In order to do that, here are some things to avoid:
Avoid the telephone during study time. Chatting too much makes you lose touch of time and keeps you from staying on schedule. If you have to, tell your talkative friends that you’re in the middle of something and that you’ll call them back. Then check your schedule and use your down time to socialize.
Avoid unnecessary socializing. While some socializing is good and is essential to keep you grounded and reduce stress, overdoing it wastes time and leads to bad habits. Before you know it, you’ll be socializing more than studying, which always results in bad grades.
Avoid getting involved in others’ activities. To be fully in control of your schedule, don’t allow yourself to get involved with every-thing that others are doing. Sometimes you just have to remove yourself from activities, even if you really would like to get involved, if those activities take time away from more urgent and important tasks.
Avoid unorganized meetings and discussions. If you’re meeting with other students about a class, make sure you have a plan. Know where it is, how long it will last, and what kinds of materials will be needed beforehand. If everyone is well prepared ahead of time, discussions will be controlled and to the point.
Avoid too many extracurricular activities. It’s good to get in-volved in some activities, but don’t overdo it. If you find that a certain activity begins to interfere with you study time or you’re finding that you need to “fit in” study time, it’s a sign that you need to pull back.
Improve reading and writing skills. To be an effective time manager, you need to read quickly with comprehension, and write well. Good readers know what to read, what to skim, and what to ignore. By eliminating any unnecessary reading, you’ll free up some of your time and be better able to plan your schedule with high priority activities. Good writers spend less time thinking about how to write and more time thinking about what to write. If you’re writing skills are lacking, don’t wait until your second or third year to take a writing course. Take one during your first semester so that you’ll start off with a good foundation.
Write it down. Being able to solve problems, accomplish goals, and finish assignments often depends on information you receive at the spur of the moment. Note-taking may not always be enough. There will be times when you’ll need to jot down information when you don’t have your notebook or you’re away from class or your calendar. Always keep a pen or pencil and a small notepad with you wherever you go and get in the habit of using it when you have to. Once you’re home, you can go through your notes and transcribe them into your notebook or calendar.
Don’t take too many classes. I see this as a real problem, especially with freshman. A full-time load is 12 credit hours, and a normal load that most students take in order to keep on track for their major is 15 credit hours. Some students will take 18 or more credits, thinking they can handle that kind of load, and then run into all kinds of issues. Unless you’re a genius, or some courses are really easy, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many classes.
Learn to say no. This is one of the best time management strate-gies you can use to avoid scheduling problems, eliminate time-wasting activities, and stay in control of day-to-day planning and organizing. Saying yes to everything is stressful because it makes us feel as if everyone but us is making decisions. Delaying a decision is a good technique because it allows you to remove yourself from a situation and gives you time to find an excuse. When asked to do something, respond with “Let me check my schedule and get back with you.” This gives you a chance to get out of committing right away and come up with a legitimate reason for saying no. It’s not what we do in the course of a school day that creates problems; it’s how we do it. Whenever I ask students why they’re so stressed out, at the top of the list are: not having enough time to do their work and feeling overwhelmed and overburdened. More than ever before, students feel that success comes at a high price; that there’s so much competition for jobs that they need to work that much harder to have an advantage. One of the best ways to gain that advantage is to manage your time in a way that reduces the stress in your life and makes you a better student.
From: How Anyone Can Learn Anything: A Guide to Study Skills, Creativity, Test-Taking & Lifelong Learning