Time Management

 
Question:  What are the benefits of Time Management?
 
            Remember that time management is a skill and skills (like driving a car, learning a sport, playing an instrument) can be learned.  Those who practiced good time management techniques have time to enjoy their life, are more focused on their goals and feel that they are in charge of their situation rather than the situation being in charge of them.  Like any good skill, you can do it “smarter” rather than “harder”.  Think about a race (horse race, car race, track, etc.).  The winner who “noses” out the second place contender receives the gold, the accolades and/or the prize money because they are in first place.  It could have been a close competition or a blowout, but it doesn’t matter if they win.  The results happened because just the horse, driver or runner put forth a better effort than their competition.  So, one may need to put forth a little more effort than what they have been doing in order to become more productive in his or time management skills. 
 
            If you want to get better at your time management skills, think about what you have NOT been doing rather than what you have been doing.  Not knowing what to do can prevent one from performing at your best and could result in adding extra weights to the runner, the horse or the car.  I encourage you to read the articles listed in the web site on time management to help you become a better manager of your time and yourself.

                        http://www.balancetime.com/articles_online.htm
                                     Credit to Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
                                                    Professional Speaker
                                                    Productivity Institute-Time Management Seminars   

            Below are a number of other interesting sites that have been found to be very useful by our students in the past.  I strongly suggest that you take the time to explore them and see what they have to offer.  I am sure you will find them to be useful as you start this transition to the next stage in your life and also develop skills that will be important in ALL aspects of your life before, during, and after college.  The need for time management does not go away once you leave school and move on into the "real world," if anything, the need for good time management skills will become even more important as manage your job, personal, and family life.

• howtostudy.org by the Chemeketa Community College is a FANTASTIC site that provides links to web sites used by a number of different colleges and universities and are very student friendly.  Also provides links to web sites to help you figure out how to study for the many various subjects you will be studying.  
• Dartmouth College has developed a series of Online Academic Success Videos discussing techniques and strategies for improving Time Management, Notetaking, Stress Management, Reading Improvement, and Strategic Learning skills.
• Penn State Learning Resource Center - Time Management is a nice basic site with an overview of the topic.
• Where Does the Time Go? is a nice web site by Virginia Tech Counseling Center that has you look at how much time you spend during the week doing different types of activities.

            Procrastination is one of the biggest issues that EVERYONE including college students have to deal with.  We are all guilty of this in one way or the other.  There are always things that we will try to avoid because we just do not enjoy doing them and there are always things that we would rather be doing since we enjoy them.  It is how you deal with this issue that can make you a success in your career and life.

• Special issue of the Tutoring Times, which is the Penn State Altoona LRC newsletter, devoted to the theme of procrastination.
• Overcoming Procrastination by the University at Buffalo estimates that 90% of college students procrastinate and that for 25% of those students, procrastination is so severe that they end up dropping out of college.
• Your Procrastination Worksheet provides practical tips for avoiding procrastination.
• Putting a Stop to Putting It Off from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides an outline of symptoms, causes, and strategies for overcoming procrastination. 

Co-contribuator:
Ms. Harriett L. Gaston
Professional Academic Advisor
Academic Information & Advising Center