Time Management

1. Time Management Chenevert, M. (2006). Tour guide to nursing school: A student’s road survival kit (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

2. Riddle • What comes in short supply, cannot be purchased for any amount of money, and once used, cannot be recouped?

3. TIME • How many hours of time do you have in a week? • 24 X 7 • 168 hours in a week • So what do you do with YOUR time? • Most of us think there are not enough hours in the day!

4. Keys to Success and Time Management

5. Keys Effectiveness Efficiency • Attendance • Budgeting • Concentration • Dirty Jobs • Equipment • Filing System • Goals • Hanging in there • Investments • Jotting it down • Knocking off • Librarian • Majoring in minors • “No” • Other people’s time • Prime time

6. Keys Effectiveness Efficiency • Questions • Regrets • Saving time • Tomorrow • Urgency Vacillating Wastebasket Xeroxing Yakety Yak Zzzzzzzs

7. Attendance • You hear us say all the time….”You need to come to every class.” “Nursing school takes precedence.” “You need to get your priorities in order.” • Some students will skip class in order to study. • Is this an example of poor time management? • Guess what? • For every hour you spend in class, you will reduce your study time by 3 hours!

8. Budgeting • You have to budget your time just like you do your money. • You have 168 hours in a week—use it wisely • If possible: PDA, Day planner, large calendar—track it ALL well in advance. • Test days, clinical, final exam, concept maps, time to study, time to spend with family, time to sleep, time for R&R! • If you only have class 3 days a week—those other days are not days off!

9. Concentration • Focus, focus, focus. • Remove all clutter from your study area. • Cluttered study area = cluttered mind. • Focus on one thing at a time. • You should only keep items on your desk that deal with the task at hand—eliminate confusion.

10. Dirty Jobs • We all have that one assignment/task that we absolutely do not want to do! • Guess what---do it first! Get it out of the way so you don’t ruin the rest of your day thinking about how bad you hate to start that project! • Eventually, if you put it off, tomorrow will come and it still won’t be done. • Then, tomorrow is ruined as well as today

11. Equipment • You can’t put out a fire with water pistol! • Before you start a project or an assignment, make sure you have everything you need—pens, pencils, index cards, poster board, blank concept maps, articles, you name it! • You waste time when you are not prepared.

12. Filing System • “I know that article is around here somewhere.” • You have now lost 20 minutes of prime time looking for an article---- • Have a place for everything and everything in its place. • Don’t keep papers from NUR 3030 by your desk when you are in NUR 4350. File away the 3030 items in a filing cabinet, under the bed, out of your way!

13. Goals • Be goal oriented • Set short term and long term goals for yourself every day • If you know what your goals are, you can skip activities and even avoid people who are not relevant to the accomplishment of your goal. • Don’t sit around and say “I wish I could get a better grade in Adult Health II.” Instead… • Say…”How can I get a better grade in Adult Health II?”----Make a list of steps

14. Goal: Improve my grade in Adult Health II Fall 2008 • List the steps you need to take to achieve this goal. • Decide which steps you are able to take to achieve the goal. • Decide which steps you are willing to take to achieve this goal. • Identify people who can help you achieve this goal. • Consider how you might allow yourself or others to get in the way of achieving this goal. • Bottom line—don’t whine—only YOU can do something about it!

15. Hanging in there! • The harder the assignments get, the more tempting it is to put them off. • Fight the urges to blow it off and watch TV or go partying---fight, fight, fight! • If you stop working on the assignment when you find it difficult, you will leave with a defeated attitude---instead, work on it for a while until you feel like you are winning the battle—then stop. • It will be much easier to return to it tomorrow! Promise.

16. Investments • This is a tough one---You have to think of your time as an investment or a deposit. • You must learn to prioritize your activities. • Every minute you spend studying is an investment in yourself and your future. • Are you worth it? • Invest more time in high-priority activities. • Example

17. Investment • Tomorrow, you are having a test in Nursing course A that is worth 40% of your grade. You are also having a quiz in Nursing Course B that is worth 5% of your grade. • Where will a wise student invest the bulk of his/her time?

18. Jotting it Down—not just for the elderly! • Lists! • Help you prioritize. • Help you remember. • Give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. • Helps you consolidate and use your time wisely. • Tonight, before bed, make a list of 6 things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Then put them in rank order and tomorrow start with number 1. Try it!

19. Knocking Off • Sometimes just good enough is good enough. • Settle for an A…..Don’t spend 5 additional hours for an A+ • Know when you have had enough and are no longer productive.

20. Librarian • No person can save you more time---just ask.

21. Majoring in Minor Activities • Busywork • Gives you a false sense of accomplishment • Makes you tired • Produces no results • Be proud of your results, not your efforts

22. One Word • “NO”

23. Other People’s Time • “A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” • Piss Poor Planning results in Piss Poor Performance

24. Prime Time • Everyone has their “best” time of the day…what is yours? • Use it to your advantage. • If possible, block this time off as your study time. • Use your less-than prime time for non-cognitive tasks like xeroxing articles, Internet research, etc.

25. Question Yourself • Several times a day • Is this the BEST use of my time right now? • Is this activity helping me to achieve one of my goals? • Is this worth the amount of time it is going to take? • Is this still worth doing? • If I didn’t do this, what would happen?

26. Regrets • Don’t waste your time with them. • If you find yourself saying..” If only I had not ____________” or “I wish I had ________” change your mindset and say…”Next time I am going to……”

27. Saving time • Can’t be done! • You can’t find it. • You can’t make it. • You can only make better use of what you have.

28. Tomorrow • Never gets here. • Do it today!

29. Urgency • Urgent things are not always important. • Important things are not always urgent. • If you make time for the important and ignore the pseudoimportant you will be a better student.

30. Vacillating • Indecisiveness wastes time • Be decisive • Establish your own policies • Give yourself a deadline—stick to it • Give yourself a study time—stick to it • Run your education like a business

31. Wastebasket • Use it!

32. Xeroxing • Keep copies of all of your written papers and major assignments. • Save all of your written papers and major assignments electronically. • This is your insurance policy against loss.

33. Yakety Yak • Unplug the phone or.. • Tell callers you will call them back after your study time. • If you close the door and someone walks in and asks if you have a minute, tell them “no,” but I will have a minute at 9:00 p.m. and I will meet you in the library….

34. ZZZZZzzzzzzzs • Schedule them!

35. Your time management calendar • Keeping in mind all of these concepts----Create a weekly time map