Chapter 4: Learning Strategies
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Managing your time at Seneca can be challenging; you’ll likely have a heavier workload, it can sometimes be difficult to alleviate distractions and your schedule can vary daily! Time management is an important aspect of postsecondary life. It’s important that you make time for school but also other activities that will help you stay healthy and social. It’s up to you to take control of your time and success. Make sure you’re clear about what you want to achieve through your time at postsecondary. This will help you have a successful, satisfying and less stressful academic experience.
Skill or Roadblock?
When you think back to your past experiences and schooling, is time management a skill of yours – or a roadblock to meeting your responsibilities? Like so many other skills, time management is something you can improve if you work at it! If this is something that you’ve struggled with in the past, you can learn new tips and tricks to help improve your time management – and then you need to follow through and put those skills to use.
How to get started with effectively managing your time:
1. Reflect on your past experiences: is it easy for you to keep track of deadlines, projects and important dates? Do you often hand in your schoolwork on time, or do you miss deadlines?
2. Think about your preferences: do you prefer to record things on paper (agendas, calendars) or electronically (apps, notifications)? Take a look at Module 4.3, There’s an app for that, for some useful tools you have access to.
3. Learn more about time management strategies, especially those that address any areas of need or challenge that you have.
Prioritizing and Scheduling
Prioritizing can be a difficult skill to tackle, but it’s essential for effective time management. Luckily, prioritization can be improved with practice!
One very simple yet effective prioritizing strategy is ‘ABC Prioritizing’. When making a to-do list, try annotating each activity/task with A, B, or C. A is the highest priority (the first thing you’ll work on and want to complete that day), B is a medium priority (something you want to do in the next couple of days but must get done before C), and C is low priority (if you get to it, great, if not, it’s not a big deal).
Video: Work Study and Priorities
Watch the video “Work Study and Priorities” [2:47] to learn more about time management.
Combating Distractions
In postsecondary it is important to minimize distractions to help yourself work effectively and adhere to your schedule as best as possible.
Read this ‘9 Ways to Stop Homework Distractions and Get Your Work Done’ article to learn how to effectively alleviate distractions and maintain focus during study/work periods.
Different students will have to target different types of distractions depending on their situation. For example, will you be living at home with children, in a small apartment, or in a dorm room with two or three other people? It’ll be useful to think about your living situation and the types of distractions you may face.
Check out some of these resources on how to create a distraction-free study space in different living environments.
