Feeling a little overwhelmed? It's understandable.
who have a high GPA, demonstrated
The transition from high school to college is hard
enough without the added stress of Drexel’s ten-
week term. Each new quarter begins and before
you know it, you are knee deep in midterms.
Knowing how to plan and manage your time effec-
tively is a skill that comes with practice. Once you
have mastered it, you will be able to spend more
time doing the things you want to do instead of the
things you are told you must.
Managing Manage Your Priorities, Not Time
Your Time
"If only I had more time." Sound familiar? We've
all wished for more time at
one point or another. But
would life really be any easier
if we had more time? What
would you do with that extra
hour, half day, or 24 hours in a week? You'd
A publication of the probably just find more to do – only to wish for
more time to do everything.
Drexel Learning Center
215-895-2568 Time is a limited resource. You can never have
www.drexel.edu/dlc enough of it. The best you can hope for is to use
your time wisely and efficiently. That requires
you to spend the most time on the things that are
most important to you.
For example, let’s say that you want to get a good
job after college. Employers look to candidates
leadership, ability to work effectively
in groups, and other qualities and com-
petencies that make for effective em-
ployees. So, being involved is as im-
portant as doing well in class, but if
your grades are suffering from your
involvements, you may need to scale
back. Your best bet is to take on a
leadership position within one organi-
zation and expand your involvements
as your schedule and workload allows.
As a general rule, it is better to do a
few things very well than many things
mediocre.
Uncovering Your Priorities
Complete the following exercise to dis-
cover if you are allocating your time
well:
1. Write down your goals. These may
include graduating from college
(long-term goal) or getting an "A"
in Math 101 (short-term goal).
2. Create a schedule of all of the
things that you do in a given week.
Express the total time that you
spend on each activity (homework,
going to class, working out, spend-
ing time with friends, etc.) as a per-
centage of 168 (the total number of
 hours in a week). For example:
10 hours of class time is equal
to 6% of your week.
3. Write down the five things that
occupy the bulk of your time.
These are your priorities. Are
they consistent with your goals?
For example, if you want to get
a good job after college, did
studying make your top five? If
not, you may want to rethink
your priorities.
Your Daily Planner
Many time management gurus
would have you spend 30 minutes
of your time transcribing each of
your classes into a daily planner.
What's worse, they even sell the
planners you are supposed to use.
Our strategy will save you time and
money. Just follow these simple
directions:
1. Log into your Drexel One ac-
count and pull up your block
schedule.
2. Copy and paste this schedule
into Microsoft Word.
3. Select and delete the columns
for Saturday and Sunday.
Weekends are for homework, projects, rest,
and relaxation. Don't over plan your time.
4. Select all and change the font to Times New
Roman 10pt. This should allow your entire
schedule to fit onto one page. If your schedule
still doesn’t fit, adjust the margins to 0.5
inches. Students with a heavy course load may
have to further manipulate their schedules to fit
everything onto one page.
5. Print 10 copies and finish your daily planner
with a three-hole punch and a three-ring
binder.
Now that you have a daily plan-
ner, use it. Here are some help-
ful hints.
• Schedule work-study, ap-
pointments, and other obli-
gations in your new planner. Don’t be obses-
sive and plan every minute of your life.
• Make note of quizzes, exams, midterms, finals,
projects, and anything with a due date in your
planner.
• No one is perfect. Don’t try to be a perfection-
ist. Trying to be perfect in everything you do
will set you up for failure.
• Learn to say, “No.” Don’t use your scheduled
study time for anything else. The weekend is
the time for relaxation. If your friends want to
go for a movie on the Tuesday before an exam,
politely decline and say that the weekend
would be more convenient.
• Prioritize your tasks. Start
working on the tasks that must
be completed before tomorrow.
Then, move on to tasks for the
week.
• Optimize distraction. Some
people work better in a busy
park. Other people work better
in a quiet corner of the library.
Choose the environment that
works best for you. Studying at
a hockey or basketball game
doesn't count. Be realistic.
• Two birds are better than one.
If your time is extremely lim-
ited, combine non-intensive
tasks with recreational activi-
ties. For example, while watch-
ing your favorite television
show, pay bills, fold/press
clothes, review your schedule
for the next day, etc.
• Review your progress. At the
end of each week, reflect on
your progress. What worked
well? What could you have
done better? Work out some
strategies for improving your
resource utilization.