Time Management

Procrastination is something that we all fall prey to from time to time. It is something that usually happens when deadlines loom or we are feeling more under pressure. We can all put off that assignment or task we must complete and do something else instead. That means that the task gets closer and closer, without progress being made.

To learn more about what procrastination is, read our short blog post: Understanding procrastination.

We have a range of other posts about procrastination on our blog that include useful strategies and tools that you can try out. 

The TogetherAll Stop Procrastinating Course takes a deeper dive into the topic of procrastination, challenges some myths and suggests techniques that you might employ. This course offers useful tools to help you identify your procrastination habits, plus where and when this might be affecting you. If you feel that procrastinating is stopping you achieving what you want, allow yourself a couple of hours to complete the course. It can be tackled in chunks or all at once. You can sign up for a free account for TogetherAll, search for procrastination under the course menu.

Sign up to our Procrastination webinar to learn more and discuss strategies with the Skills@Cumbria and Mental Health and Wellbeing Team. 

At the heart of many time management strategies are tools to help you manage your time. Our tackling your time management resource contains a range of practical tasks to work through, covering a range of time management tools from analysing how you spend your time to identifying your priorities. Spend some time on these activities to help you take control of your time and ensure your study periods are more productive.

Consider writing a plan for your work and, equally importantly, for your time off. Think about getting a wall planner or diary to plot your deadlines over the coming weeks and months. Then use this weekly plan to identify any university commitments, plus any paid or volunteer work and caring commitments. Allow time for relaxation and sleep. Consider what time you have to allocate to working on coursework and study. Short periods of time can soon add up and can be more productive than allocating a full day to coursework which could make you tired. We like the Pomodoro Technique (video) as it offers a structure for using small chunks of time in a productive way. Plus using SMART Goals for study can help you identify what you want to achieve in on a task or within a study session. 

Take a look at our Time management: three steps to success tutorial to find out our top tips for success. These include identifying your time management preferences. Plus exploring the linked Get Planning resource.

Next, consider these Time management hints and tips. These quick ideas can help you consider procrastination, acknowledge that not all tasks are equal and consider who your accountability buddies may be. If you like working with others, consider setting up study groups to keep you accountable and motivated.

We know our students are busy people with many demands on their time. Here are a range of strategies than you can pick to fit into your day to help you make progress on your course:

• Do you have something that you have been putting off? Do it now. Choosing to do that thing you have been putting off will take away some pressure and mean that you are no longer dreading it. You might feel a sense of freedom and achievement. Those things that loom big in our minds don’t always take as much time as we think.
• Are you a night owl or up with the larks? Fitting your study into your preferred time can mean that you are more productive with the limited time that you do have.
• Find an accountability buddy. Telling someone what your plans are can make things more concrete and help motivate you. You might even choose to create a study group that combines the pleasure of social study and progress on your work.
• Finally, it is important that you add in some time to do fun things, and have unstructured time to unwind. Trying to fit too much in can be stressful and mean that you might achieve less overall. Downtime is a tool that can help you to achieve your bigger goals over time.

Not every idea works for every student. Have a look at our top ten tips for busy students to see some other strategies with links to useful resources.