Time Management
Time management
Keeping track of how you use your time and allocating your time appropriately will help you achieve your goals.
Time management is coordinating your activities and tasks in a way that allows you to get work completed efficiently. Essentially time management is a tool to allow you to get the most done in the shortest amount of time.
Managing your time effectively will be essential to balancing research, school and extracurricular activities. By identifying the things you want to get done, and allocating your time to accomplish these things you will be able to maximize how you use your time, achieve your goals and hopefully reduce your stress. Time management will reduce your stress allowing you to know what you need to get done and about how long it will take you before you start your day.
How you manage your time will shape the way your research experience goes. Effectively managing your time will allow you balance all of the tasks you need to accomplish, so you can make progress and see significant results. On the other hand, failing to manage your time will stress you out and may even hinder your progress.
Steps to effectively manage your time:
1. Identify your goals and the individual tasks you want to get accomplished. (for more information see Research Guide > Project Management > Setting Research Goals).
2. Prioritize these goals. Ask yourself, “When do I need this goal done by? How important is it that I accomplish this goal?” When prioritizing, please remember your health comes first. But beyond that, school and research ought to rank highly in your list of priorities.
3. Estimate how long different tasks will take you. If you are not sure, give it your best guess and then build in some buffer time into your schedule. For tasks you have to do repeatedly (like lab experiments or studying) take note of how long it takes you to accomplish these goals the first few times and adjust your schedule accordingly. You can also ask other people for their input on how long they think something will take.
4. Estimate how much working time you have in the day. After you eat, go to class and sleep, how much time do you have? Using a planner to document your commitments or keeping a time journal where you document how long things take you could help with this.
5. Allocate the working time you have to accomplish the goals you have laid out for yourself. A planner is very helpful for this.
6. Follow your plan for managing your time and get stuff done!
Common Issues
Too many goals
Forgot that you can’t do everything.
Did not prioritize goals appropriately (sometimes you need to recognize when you need to let a task go because you don’t have time) .
Under estimated how long something will take.
Irresponsibility
Not meeting deadlines you have set.
Not prioritizing your goals and procrastinating on the goals that are important.
Not doing what you said you would do - not being prepared
Making excuses
Just apologize and fix it.
Thoughtlessness
If you need help to achieve a goal, be respectful of other people’s time and make sure they can actually help you.
If other people depend on you for something, make sure you make it a priority.
Not taking initiative
You are responsible for managing your time and following your schedule, do not wait around for someone to tell you what to do. You can double check with others in your lab or your life to ensure you are reasonably prioritizing your goals and that you have an appropriate number of goals.
Not responding well to feedback
• Not listening to feedback (especially if people say you have too much on your plate).
• Not asking for help if you are unsure about your schedule or how you will get everything done.
• Not prioritizing goals that others say are important
• Ignoring deadlines from other people
If you have an assignment like a research paper with a hard deadline, do not ignore it, make it a priority!
Time management bonus tips!
If you aren’t sure what your goals should be especially in a research lab, ask someone for help!
Assign time limits to tasks and try to stick to them.
While completing a task, focus only on that task. Do not get distracted by technology.
Be flexible; sometimes something will pop up or your priorities will change and you will need to change your schedule.
It’s okay to let things go; if you don’t have time for something that is a lower priority then drop it from your list.
Get a planner; it can be electronic or a paper one but this will help you keep track of everything.
As you get used to research you will be able to complete tasks faster and this will free up some time. Remember to adjust your schedule accordingly.
Thought Exercise: New semester, new things to accomplish
The semester has just started. You have started in a new research lab, but at the same time you are taking classes and have joined an intramural soccer team. You also want to volunteer at the hospital and have time to watch movies with friends. Which activities do you prioritize? If you had to get rid of an activity which would it be? Realistically, could you accomplish all of these things and still get sleep?
References & Further Reading
https://toggl.com/time-management-tips/
Ngo, Katrina. Setting Research goals section in the Research Guide.
