Study Skills (Skl 001) Sameh Saadeldin Ahmed Associate Professor of Environmental Eng. Civil Engineering Department Engineering College Almajma’ah University smohamed1@ksu.edu.sa http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/SaMeH 2010/2011 Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 1 Time management 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Skl 001 Introduction Time management at work Setting priorities Budget your time Time wasters Organization A sense of direction Your body clock Time management strategies Dr SaMeH 2 1.1 Introduction • Time is a precious commodity when you are a student. • You need to organizing your study time, your budget, your meals, and your social life. • There is no student loan scheme for time. • You can manage what you have really well. • Q1: What is the most important thing you do believe that it needs more to be organized in your life? Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 3 1.2 Time management at work • Time management is a really valuable skill to develop before you start going for job interviews and become involved in work. • Effective management of work time is one of the most important skills that employers expect their staff to use at all levels. • Do I need training for time management? • If you can learn to use your time effectively…. your daily life is likely to be: – far less stressful and – far more productive Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 4 1.3 Setting priorities • Setting priorities is the first principle of time management. • To manage your time, you must be able to – work out what is important – how long it will take you – when it needs to be completed Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 5 1.3 Setting priorities (cont.) • List the things you know you must do. • Look at the deadlines to see which really has to be done first. • Look at the ease with which different tasks can be accomplished. • Work out what you need to accomplish particular tasks, e.g., a particular book, and a discussion with other people in a project group. • Be realistic; do not set yourself a timetable that means you are bound to fail by the end of day one. Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 6 1.4 Budget your time • The key to good budgeting, and this applies equally to time, is to make realistic estimates. • Do you really have a clear idea about how long particular activities take you? – Underestimate – Overestimate • A key to accurate estimating is to break down an assignment, for example, into lots of mini tasks and estimate a time for each one. Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 7 1.5 Time wasters • A great timesaver is to start having tidy work areas, no piles of papers on your desk, floor, or windowsill. • Even if you keep most things electronically, it is just as important to organize your files properly. • Keeping back-up copies is important, just in case you have a really bad crash on your computer. • It is more pleasant to work in a tidy work environment and it also means you save time. Why? Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 8 1.6 Organization • It is not important to make a long list of things you have to do but it is important to be able to organize and set priorities them. • Tick things off the list as you achieve them, you start to get some feedback that suggests you are being successful and this is a great boost. • Q2: Make a list of 10 duties you have to do next week. Then, re-arrearage them by making priorities. In the middle of the week tick off the list you have achieved from the list. Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 9 1.7 A sense of direction • One key principle of good time management is to ensure that the effort you put in is directed to getting useful outcomes. • Advice-1: work on something interesting, even if it is less urgent, rather than spending time on something more boring or more difficult. • Advice-2: try to apportion time fairly between your different assignments. Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 10 1.8 Your body clock • Work with your body rather than against it. • If you know you are an evening or a morning person, and this is when you produce your best work: – Plan your day so that you can do important assignments that demand your best attention at that time of the day. • Take note of other peaks and troughs in your own body clock, so that you can make the best of your high spots. Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 11 1.9 Time management strategies • Imagine, and this may be all too close to the truth, that in two weeks’ time you have five assignments to complete. Between now and then you have two important social engagements and next week you have two interviews for part-time work. After a brief moment of panic. What are you going to do? Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 12 1.9 Time management (cont.) • • • • • • • Clarify your objectives. Make an action list each day. Set a major target each day. Achieve that target. Be productive in the first hour. Set time limits for each activity. Make time to get things right the first time. Good management is better than good income Skl 001 Dr SaMeH 13