Managing Your Study Time

jugglingBalancing college, work and life can be overwhelming! With so many responsibilities there doesn’t seem to be enough time to eat breakfast, let alone start that research paper. If your life feels like a balancing act, take control of your time and consider incorporating these time saving strategies into your study routine:

To successfully manage your course assignments, try setting assignment completion goals and record them in your planner, phone or calendar. Writing down goals will inspire and motivate you to stay on track. If you have a large research paper, consider setting daily goals to complete the paper. For example, in your planner, on Monday, March 1, record: locate 3 research articles, Tuesday, March 2: review research articles and start the works cited page. Wednesday, March 3: develop thesis for paper, and so on. Be sure to set a goal to finish 2-3 days early! Need help developing or setting goals, review this SMART Goals blog post and be sure to explore the links.

For a dynamic overview of an effective plan to organize your course workload, view our free 30 minute, online workshop focused on Time Management. The workshop will help you get on track and take control of your balancing act as you explore tips and strategies to organize your course assignments along with your personal and work responsibilities by developing a daily schedule that will put you in control. To encourage your follow through on your plans, explore their workshop titled, Overcoming Procrastination. To view these and other online workshops, click here.

Don’t let social media or interruptions get the best of your time—once you start allowing interruptions, the time you had is gone!

Stay organized by creating a binder for each course. Further organize the binder with dividers for:  Syllabus, Assignments, Lectures, Notes, etc. (just as you would do for an on-campus class).

Set up a study area that is quiet and free of distractions. A quiet ‘study zone’, will enable you to stay focused and get more accomplished in a shorter period of time. If you find them helpful, place post-it’s in key places to serve as reminders, encouragement or motivation! Remember to shut off your phone and don’t let social media interrupt you. Interruptions will cause you to wander and loose concentration which will get you off track and waste valuable time.

If you would like a planner to get started on your journey to improving your time management skills, send an email to the NOVA Online Success Coaches, elisuccess@nvcc.edu. They will be happy to mail you a NOVA planner.

Take control of your time by integrating these strategies into your study routine. Before you know it, life will no longer be a balancing act and you will be reaping the benefits of a controlled, stress free, and organized future! For a quick visual review of these strategies, click here.

Need help getting your assignments, tests and projects organized. Reach out to a NOVA Online Success Coach, elisuccess@nvcc.edu. They can help you map out your assignments and empower you to succeed.