The document provides 5 tips for improving time management as a university student, including visualizing success, dealing with procrastination by limiting distractions, getting organized by writing things down and using a calendar, studying smarter by reading in short bursts between classes, and maintaining a social life. It encourages students to be realistic in their time management goals and provides additional resources for students struggling with their schedules.

1. Let us provide
you with some
realistic tips and
tools to help you
make the most
of your time! You’ll walk away with:
• a plan for change
• 5 tips with strategies
• a better understanding of
your time management habits
and how they can be altered.

2. Think About It…

3. Let’s We all struggle with
real be managing our time and
istic NO system is fool proof.
… As university students
we don’t have the time
to implement the often
complicated advice of
“experts.”
So what are some tips
we can use to change
our habits and make
our lives easier?

4. Tip 1: Visualize
success.
Imagine someone who is really great
at time management. What are they
doing? How do they use their time?
What personal qualities do you think
are important to good time
management?

5. Tip 2: Deal With
Procrastination
Some examples of how students
procrastinate:
 Wasted time online
 Promises to work for an hour – but
no follow through
 Being in an environment full of
distractions

6. So how do we get around this?
Almost nobody can avoid procrastination entirely but we
can lessen how much we procrastinate. Here are some
helpful tips to consider:
 Turn off your cell phone. Everyone will still be there
when you turn it back on.
 If you can, disconnect your internet (unless you need it
for study).
 Choose a quiet environment where distractions are
limited and don’t study for too long- one hour of
focused studying/work is better than 5 hours of
strained, unfocused effort.

7. Tip 3: Get Organized!
Some examples of disorganization:
 Don’t remember due dates- didn’t write them
down.
 Leaving big assignments to the last minute.
 No consistent way to keep track of
assignments details, ideas, resources.
Getting organized in a way that makes
sense to you is the first step to relieving
some stress!

8. Writing Things Down/Organizing
 Find a calendar, any calendar or
organizer will do (digital or paper). This
will be your master list.
 Carryaround a small notebook, scrap of
paper or a notes app for your phone.
Throughout your day, note down little
reminders, ideas, resources that you
come across.
An example would be: “History Paper due
Sept. 30th”, “birthday gift for Harry”,
Dwight’s party on Saturday night.

9. But what do I do with all of
these lists?
 At
the end of the day, take all the things
you wrote down and transfer them to your
calendar or organizer
 Writedown when you would like to
accomplish the task but don’t go too
crazy… don’t set yourself up for failure by
trying to do too much in one time slot.
 Spacing things out makes actually doing
them much easier. Chunk out the work for
big assignments into smaller bits with
deadlines for each. Our Assignment
Calculator can help with this!

10. Tip 4: Study smarter – not harder!
*Carry a book or an article
that you need to read
around with you and
make use of time between
classes to read. *Find a few different
quiet study areas around
campus and your house
*Study alone! Often we so that you can get
feel the need to study with away from distractions
friends but ask yourself while also not getting
“how much studying to I bored of going to the
actually get done with same place everyday.
friends?”- there is no
substitute for quiet,
focused study time

11. Tip 5: Be social! Ha rd,
W ork rd!
lay Ha
P
You don’t have to give
up your social life to
be a good student.
Consider the social
events and habits that
are important for you
and add these into
your calendar.

12. Let’s Pause Here…
Take a moment to think back on
what we’ve talked about so far…
Tip 1: Visualize success.
Tip 2: Deal with procrastination.
Tip 3: Get organized
Tip 4: Study smarter, not harder.
Tip 5: Be social.

13. How to Avoid Pulling an All-Nighter
*Start early! Don’t make excuses, schedule time every week or
every day if needed, to chip away at larger assignments. 20
minutes per day over 2 weeks translates into over 4.5 hours of
solid work done on an assignment
20mins a day X 7 days X 2 Weeks= ~4.5 Hours!
This strategy may not work for you, and that’s ok-
experiment! Do you prefer longer work periods over a
short period of time or short periods of work over a long
period of time?

14. How to Create a Balanced Schedule:
Monday 5pm-6pm- Eat, Relax,
Don’t try to do too Vegitate
much, and try to
schedule schoolwork 6-6:30pm- find sources for
for times when you
know you’ll have research paper
energy.
6:30-7pm- go for a walk, get
By setting realistic
goals, you set yourself some blood pumping
up for success! If you
schedule 3 hours of
7-7:30pm- read one article
study time, what are 7:30-???- relax, go out with
the chances you will
actually study for that friends,
long?

15. When you are realistic
e al l of !
with your goals and N otic e time?
efficiently using your
tha t fre
time, you end up with
MORE free time. Getting
started is usually the
hardest part but once
you’re past that, you
may find you work for
one hour, instead of
only half an hour… if so,
that’s great!

16. Still feeling unsure?
 Talk to your professor or TA
 Talk to a Peer Academic Coach in the Chapman
Learning Commons
 Talk to someone over in Counselling Services in
Brock Hall
 Use the Assignment Calculator under the ‘What
We Offer’ tab
 There
are many other great resources listed at the
bottom of this page