Independent Learning

What is time management?

Time-management is essential for success at university. Students who manage their time well, plan assignments properly and make time for the things they enjoy, perform much better in their studies. It is important to plan your work well in advance and plan breaks into your study time. 

Why do I need to manage my time?
Managing your time well can help you overcome procrastination, learn better, achieve more, reduce stress and keep you healthy. In other words, you've got a good mixture of the right things each day. In order to use your time well, you need to plan. Without a plan, time will slip away and you’ll end up submitting assignments that you know aren’t as good as they could be; you could also make yourself unwell, as the thing often sacrificed because of the demands of your course, your paid work and your social life, is sleep. 

How do I do it? 

• Plan out all of the things you need to do each week - include some fun things as well as the course work and paid work that you need to complete. It is important that you have time to relax and enjoy yourself otherwise stress will begin to build affecting your academic performance and your wellbeing.
• Eating, exercising, socialising, and sleeping are important, they should be scheduled every day.
• Divide your list of things to do into two: fixed commitments, such as assignments that must be submitted on time; flexible commitments, those things that could wait until another time.
• Allocate time during the week to complete these tasks. Use a timetable and be realistic; if you can't fit the tasks into the timetable on paper then they won't fit into the day.

Tools that can help with your time management.

• Online calendar software, such as Outlook can be useful in managing your time. You can link your timetable to this to see when your lectures, exams and tutorials are.
• Task management apps, such as Outlook Tasks, To Do, or Google Keep are useful in managing your time as they allow you to create lists of what you have to do and deadlines for the tasks. With these apps you can add detail about what needs to be done and set reminders.

Time Management Videos

Time Management Planning Your Day - 8 mins

Naomi from the Skills team explores planning your day with the help of student tips and advice.

Taking Effective Breaks Whilst Studying Video Podcast - 25 mins

Alex and Naomi from the University of Derby Skills team discuss how you can take breaks without crossing into procrastination. They talk discuss the benefits of breaking, how you can plan breaks, how long your breaks should be and give some examples of things you can do when having a break.