Time Management
Do not blame yourself if this is a problem. Time is a linear concept, and many
dyslexic people do not enjoy linear thinking. However, it has got to be dealt
with when other people are involved. The first thing to do is to get some
equipment:
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A notice-board on the wall.
A year planner on the notice-board. Mark things like hand-in dates and
exams in a bright colour. (see deadline planner at the end)
A diary with a large page for each day and lots of blank pages for
notes.
A kitchen timer, so that you can remind yourself when to take a break
or when you’re due to go somewhere.
Have a look at your mobile phone if you have one. You may be able to
set an alarm when an appointment is due, or add little reminder notes
for yourself
An A4 sheet with columns for each day and boxes for each hour, so
that you can plan timings for all the things you want to do in a week.
(see documents at the end of this file)
Post it notes can be useful, for example to place on your door to
remind you what you need to take to university that day.
Time management is linked to ‘personal organisation’, so some more
equipment might include:
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A set of stacking trays for papers.
A concertina filing system.
Colour-coded ring binders for each section of your course.
Just as a diary is only any use if you remember to look in it, a filing system is
only useful if you actually put your papers in it. When you get in from a day’s
lectures etc, write the date on your notes and file them, before a big pile builds
up. If you’re using a weekly time planning sheet, put in some times for things
like this:
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Thinking about the subject.
Preparing for seminars.
Preparing for tutorials.
Planning your work.
Organising and filing your papers.
Reflecting on your learning.
Talking about your subject with someone.
Researching for an assignment.
Writing a draft of an essay.
Editing your writing.
If you’re the sort of person who forgets other key things in your life, add things
like this to your time planning sheet:
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Launderette.
Shopping.
Sport or the gym.
Your job.
Seeing friends.
It is important to relax and unwind as well. Good time management can
include knowing which times of day are the best for you to study, but even
during those you can’t work effectively for hours on end. Set yourself a time
for study and have a reward at the end. So after 50 minutes of work you could
have a chocolate bar or a cup of coffee in a 10 minute break.
Tips for saving time.
Notes:
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Write on file paper with holes in, so that you can file your notes. This
saves time copying stuff out again from a notebook.
Don’t write full sentences – use short things like imp for ‘important’.
Leave lots of space so that you can add more later, and also to make
notes easier to read.
File your notes as you go.
Write down where you found things.
Use colours, numbers and highlighter pens to group information.
Reading:
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Check which bits of a book or article are relevant.
Only read what seems to be relevant to the essay you’re doing.
Write down the page number where you saw a good point.
Don’t take a book back without noting the title, author and publisher –
this saves time in doing your reference list.
Thinking:
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Talk to someone else about your ideas – it helps you to clarify them
and saves time re-inventing the wheel.
Use the notes pages in your diary to jot down ideas as they occur to
you (say, on the bus).
Make concept maps to get your mind working.
Planners.
The following link
time management planners
contains deadline and weekly planners (Word Docs).
The deadline one can be printed or copied onto A3 paper. It can be adapted
to suit your own needs. You can plot actual dates in the corners of cells, for
example:
Week
Week
number beginning
Mon 6th
Nov
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
6
7
8
9
10
presentation
AD 401