A – Z Time Management Tips for University Study

A. Arrange your time according to your priorities. This requires you to determine how important and how urgent the things are when deciding on the category of priorities (e.g. high, medium, low). "Urgent" and "important" things should be of high priority, "non-urgent" and "non-important" are of the lowest priority.

B. Balance your study and other aspects of your life.

C. Commit and challenge yourself to improve your time management skills.

D. Do difficult tasks when you are most energetic and productive.

E. Establish a goal to eliminate one habit (e.g. day dream, worry), that is a time waster every week (see Concentration).

F. Focus on whatever task you are doing (e.g. concentrate when you are studying, enjoy when you are playing, etc.)

G. Gain time where possible by doing two activities at one time (e.g. doing laundry and listening to recorded notes or planning your writing assignment when on MRT/bus).

H. Have a weekly schedule to better manage your time.

I. Identify thoughts which lead you to procrastinate (e.g. "This is too difficult, I will do it tomorrow.") Replace them with more positive ones (e.g. "I can break this assignment into a few smaller tasks. I will do the introduction now.")

J. Juggle your time as if study is your full-time job. If you work 8 hours a day effectively, you will still have the remaining hours for other aspects of your life (e.g. social, recreation, etc).

K. Keep your long-term goal of graduating in mind and evaluate how you are
spending your time to achieve it.

L. Learn to say "No" to people and interruptions.

M. Make a pact with yourself daily to follow your planned schedule.

N. Note down how you spend your time on a log book to evaluate your time management skills and where you want to make changes.

O. Organise your work/study as well as the environment (see Good Study Environment) for optimal use of the allotted time.

P. Plan your day by creating a Daily To Do List.

Q. Quality study time – Get more out of your study time by planning objectives of study and learn to concentrate better (see Concentration).

R. Reward yourself when you keep to your plan.

S. Set long-term and short-term goals, as well as the action plan for them.

T. Try to find something enjoyable about the task you are doing.

U. Use time management tools like alarm clock, semester and weekly calendar.

V. Vary the subjects you are studying to prevent boredom and retain what you have learnt. For example, study one subject for an hour, then move on to another subject.

W. Work backwards from the deadline of an assignment to determine when you should begin doing it and double this estimated time because we have a tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete it.

X. eXecutive your daily and weekly plan immediately.

Y. You need to believe in yourself – "You can do it, you can change, you can manage your time better…"

Z. Zzzz – ensure you have enough sleep so that you do not fall asleep at class or when you study!