Time Management – lecture outline
Materials needed:
copy of “4 Quadrants” handout for each student
Preparation:
- Assign students to fill out the “Time Management Survey” and read “Managing Your Time” in the Guidebook.
- Assign students to fill out the Time Log in their book for one 24-hour period during a normal school day.
Discussion:
1) Preparation Assignments
Take out your books and go to Managing Your Time. Give credit for completing the survey and filling out time log.
2) Introduction - How many hours in a week?
Show the following calculation on the board (invite students to take notes!)
How many hours in a week? 24 x 7 = 168
In class / 15 credits / 15 hours*Homework / Credits x 2 / 30 hours*
Work hours / up to 20* / 20 hours
Sleeping / 7 hours per night / 50 hours
Taking care of yourself / 5 hours per day / 35 hours
personal/family time / 168 – 15 – 30 – 20 – 50 – 35 = 18 / 18 hours
(should be ~10%)
*You should expect 15 credits of school to be a full time job!
*Repeated research has shown that if you go to college full time, you should only work up to 20 hours. If you work more than this, your schoolwork suffers.
How does this compare to your time log?
3) Time Log
Did your plan match up to what you did?
What did you learn?
Did you spend more or less time on anything than you thought you would?
Did you behave differently because of making a plan?
(Same first step for taking charge of diet, money, etc.)
4) Results of good and bad time management
Make a circle and write “bad time management” inside. Ask students for what happens when they don't manage their time (hint, look on p 112). Then ask what happens when bad time management is changed to good time management. Erase “bad” and write “good”, erase each one and change it to the opposite/
bad time management / good time managementget behind in your classes / stay caught up in your classes
assignments done poorly, in a rush / assignments done well
late or missed assignments / assignments turned in on time
bad grades / good grades
lots of stress / less stress
marathon study sessions / more effective studying
don't get everything done that you want to / get more things done that are important to you
lots of time wasted / less time wasted, more time for family, recreation
don't end up meeting your goals / goals get accomplished
poor self-esteem / better self-esteem
bad habits follow you into your career / better prepared for future career
Point out how important this is for students, since they have lots of demands and not a lot of time. Also, many are away from home for the first time, and may struggle to use time wisely without any reminders from parents.
6) Steps of time management
1) Decide what matters most to you
2) Find out how you are doing
3) Make a plan
4) Carry out the plan
5) Learn from what happened
1) To establish good time management, it is important to first take a step back and decide what things are important to you. You have only so much time, and only so much mental and emotional energy. Knowing what is most important to you is critical to making the most of what you have.
My list would look like this (not necessarily in order):
family – taking care of my little girl, spending time with my honey
school stuff – grading, preparing lectures, exams, etc
housework – cleaning, dishes, laundry, shopping, yard work, etc
church stuff – preparing lessons, scripture reading, going to the temple, etc
leisure – TV shows, books, quilting, house projects, etc
Make a list in your notes of what your most important priorities are.
**4 quadrants – pass out handout, walk through
2) That was your time log!
3) Make a plan.
Most people plan in weeks. You should have a set time for planning each week. (Sunday night, Monday morning, etc.) Assignment – plan out one week.
Turn to “Weekly Planner” in textbook.
1) Start by figuring what is due in each class. Add other things that you need to do this week.
2) Plot out fixed items, like classes, work, etc
3) Fill in other blocks of time (studying, reading, assignments, etc)
Do any of you already use a hand-written planner or an online planner? If so, you can substitute this for part of the assignment.
4) Carry out the plan!
5) Learn from what happened – complete the Reflection on Canvas.
7. Getting past the roadblocks.
Even with a good plan, you may need some tips to get past the roadblocks.
Go over tips in the textbook. Write down in your notes 2-3 that you think might help you. Plan to do them this week and report in the Reflection.