Make Your Master Plan

I don't know about you, but I often wish I had a clone, a butler, a personal assistant - or just more hours in the day, so I can tackle my long and mighty to-do list.  Alas, I do not have the luxury of Alfred the butler or a Hollywood-style personal assistant.  What I do have, though, are some time management tools and a master plan. 

A syllabus informs students of their responsibilities and  instructor expectations and provides a semester roadmap of class topics and due dates.  However, those due dates on the syllabus are likely not the only priorities you are juggling.  Many CCV students have to schedule work and family obligations along with CCV assignments.  And many students are taking more than one class, so they are having to reference more than one syllabus.  Can you imagine driving with more than one roadmap?  If I have to pay attention to the road and try to read a few maps at a time, I very well may end up lost or in a road-side ditch.  Drivers should follow one set of clear directions.  Well, the same principle holds true for student time management - students should work from one time management tool.  To be most successful, you should devise a master plan that allows you to track and manage all obligations from the different facets of your life - work, school, family and community.

The CCV Student Planner is a great tool to help you track your assignments and obligations.  The planner has the added benefit of providing the CCV Handbook, CCV policies and procedures, and tips and tricks for student success.  The 2012-13 planner has tools specific to time-management:

•  Planning Your 168-Hour Work Week, pg. 12-13
• Time Management Self-Assessment, pg. 15
• Semester Planning Calendar, pg. 16-17

 I also recommend writing in major tests and assignments for all of your classes on the semester planning calendar on pages 16 and 17.  The calendar provides an at-a-glance view of your entire semester.  If you notice you have 4 assignments due the same week, you can plan ahead and allow plenty of time to start your work and avoid a seriously stressful work crunch.  A larger, printable version of the semester calendar is available online.

Google Calendar is another powerful time management tool - and it's free.  Google Calendar allows students to view obligations in a daily, weekly, or monthly format.  Users can also create and track tasks and print an agenda that serves as a to-do list.  Another bonus of this application is that users can access their calendar from any computer with their Google username and password.

 Finally, I recommend you take the advice of Jimmy's Time Management Fairy.  And if you know of any cool time management tools, please let us know what works for you.