“Planning Your Semester” workshop offers comprehensive tips for optimizing time management practices throughout university
By Andreea Timis, September 5 2024—
On Aug. 6, the University of Calgary’s Student Success Centre hosted an online workshop titled “Planning Your Semester: Time Management Tips for Incoming Students”. The workshop was mainly aimed at incoming first year students who wished to learn a few tips on how to best structure their university semesters through efficient time-management practices.
The workshop was led by Academic Development Specialist Dr. Paul Papin. Three levels of time-management were outlined for supporting success throughout the academic year: using backwards planning to create a semester-wide schedule, creating a recurring weekly schedule – while factoring in course preparation time – and using comprehensive lists to track daily tasks. Planning in this way allows for a more detail-oriented approach to organization and keeping track of upcoming deadlines.
When planning at the semester level, course outlines serve as a valuable tool for tracking assignment deadlines and exams dates. Additionally, course outlines provide a breakdown of the weight of each course component towards the final grade, which helps determine how much time should be dedicated to each task.
During backwards planning, major deadlines are recorded first, preferably colour-coded by course. Based on the weight of each course component, students can then approximate the amount of time needed to complete assignments, projects or study for exams. The next step is to then spread out this time by highlighting the specific days that will be spent on a particular course item prior to the deadline. This visual representation is highly effective in terms of staying on track and motivation to get an early start on schoolwork.
Semester-level planning can then be narrowed down to more specific weekly plans. When creating a weekly schedule, class times are naturally the first to be inputed. Many classes, labs or tutorials usually require preparation time in advance, which should be the next item scheduled. As with the semester planning, it is up to students to approximate how much prep time they would need for each course and schedule that time accordingly. Lastly, the time allocated to working on major deadlines is added, ensuring it doesn’t overlap with other scheduled tasks. Weekly preparation also allows for scheduling time outside of school to balance social and recreational activities, or any other personal commitments.
The final planning stage occurs at the daily level. This is the most meticulous level of planning and requires scheduling tasks by hour of the day. Daily planning usually involves lists detailing what needs to be completed during what time, with referrals to the semester-wide and weekly schedules, as well as the course outlines. One helpful tactic mentioned in the workshop was to create assignment and exam trackers for each course – complete with the weight towards the final grade – to determine how many days per week should be dedicated to each task. Incorporating these trackers into daily lists ensures prioritization and enhances coordination between tasks.
Overall, the workshop provided many in-depth tips for students at any stage in their university journey to consider when managing their time accordingly. These tips offer a wide variety of options best suited to individual needs, helping students better prepare for the school year ahead.
For upcoming workshops and events, visit the UCalgary events page.