THE ACHIEVER- ISSUE 3
Key Quote
"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."
- Anthony Robbins
This
Academic Bulletin is about dealing with the things that distract you from study. It includes advice
on:
- What makes it difficult to manage your time?
- Setting goals and targets
- Dealing with distractions
- Learning to say no
"I
know what to do, but I can't make myself do it…."
Many
of the strategies needed to get time under control are obvious: for instance,
making a timetable. So why don't we do them?
"I'm
just naturally disorganized –
I always have been!" - It's a fallacy that organisation is an innate
skill. It's just a set of practices that can be learned.
"My
friends /course mates rely on me to get things done – who will do it if I don't?" –
Perhaps someone else would like to try? Maybe they've never been asked?
"It's
so much easier to waste time than to use it for study." – It's not so easy when you end up with two days to research and write
three essays.
In
the end, the only person responsible for managing your time is YOU.
Setting targets, avoiding distractions and learning to say no will help you to
do this.
[B] Thinking about goals and setting targets
The
fact that you're reading this bulletin means that you
want to know more about managing your time when studying, so you are already
taking responsibility. The next step is to think about why it would be a good
thing to do this: what is it all leading up to?
Identifying
your goals and the rewards you hope to get in the future will help to motivate
you to commit yourself to studying now. "Motivation is what gets you
started. Habit is what keeps you going!" - Jim Ryun
What
are your goals and targets?
Draw
up a table with three columns. List long-term goals in the first; what you have
to do to achieve them (i.e. medium-term goals) in the second, and short-term
targets to aim for in the third. Put it somewhere prominent - on the wall in your room, the inside of your wardrobe door etc. Tick each off as they're completed.
Your
long-term goals might be things like:
-
Become a graduate
-
Make myself more employable
-
Get a job and doing something I enjoy
-
Prove to myself (and others) that I can do this
To
do these, you have to achieve some medium term goals:
-
Improve my study practices to get better marks
-
Get my work under control so I feel less stressed
-
Make a study timetable that works so I can balance my work/life commitments
better
-
Meet my assignment deadlines so I don't fail my courses
You
can break these down again into short-term targets:
-
Learn how to plan my work/studies/reading.
-
Make a list of everything I need to do; think about what I could leave out;
prioritize what's left.
-
Print off a week planner grid and write in my commitments; book my study
periods into the gaps; try it for a week, amend if necessary.
-
Get organized earlier; list all my deadline dates and set some artificial
deadlines if necessary; list tasks needed, and when I need to start; tick each
task off as I do them.
[C] DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS
It
can be difficult to focus on studying when your mobile's ringing, new emails
keep popping up, the washing-up needs doing, internet buzzing (Facebook, 2go,
whatsapp etc) and your friend wants you to go out to have fun. On top of that,
you found a really interesting website while researching your assignment…
If
you make yourself aware of the things that distract you from studying you can
think in advance about strategies to deal with them. Endeavour to see and find
out what is really soaking up your time. Then
decide how to manage them. For instance:
· Stay
focused on reading by thinking about the questions you need answers to (e.g.
"What are the main points of/objections to this theory?") and looking
for answers. Break down reading to one paragraph at a time, and write any notes
at the end of each.
If
you find yourself spending a lot of time on a particular website, use a
website-blocking application like LeechBlock (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock) to control the time you spend on it without blocking it altogether.
· You
won't be motivated if you feel like you're studying all the time. Fix times
when you won't study and set an alarm for the end of each study or leisure
period to remind you to stop and change mode.
· If
your friends keep interrupting you, set a definite time and place to have a
break and have a chat together.
· Disable
the alert on your email, messages, and calls so you're not tempted to read them
as they arrive. Alternatively, if you don't have the alert enabled and that
means that you keep checking, try switching it off to see if that makes you
more focused on the task at hand.
Some
people prefer to do chores like washing-up and shopping first thing in the
morning so they have a clear day ahead. If you do this, have a fixed 'finish
time' so they don't spread out to fill the whole morning. Better still, keep
chores for your worst time of day for thinking – after lunch for most people.
Use your best thinking time for studying.
[D]
LEARNING TO SAY NO
You've
planned your daily and weekly schedules; you're working as effectively as you
possibly can; you've found ways of dealing with the things that distract you -
but you still don't have enough time!
Maybe
you're just trying to do too much. Learn to say no…
University
study is a significant commitment, like doing a full-time job –
you know how hard you're working. If you feel that you have to take on extra
tasks to prove that you're doing something useful, you're tacitly agreeing with
the people who think that you're "only a student".
Value
yourself and value your studies.
You only have a short time at university, and you've worked hard to get here.
You deserve to give yourself the time to do your best.
Remember:
· You're
not expected to read everything on the reading list.
· If
it needed an immediate answer, it probably wouldn't be on email.
· A
real friend won't mind waiting a bit longer to chat.
· If
you're trying to mix study with commitments you really can't say no to, you will be overwhelmed. So ask for help.
However - don't forget that an un-vacuumed floor doesn't make you a bad person!
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