15
As we have discussed, time is valuable and cannot afford to be wasted. It is to your benefit to make the most of the time you have available. Let’s take a look at some ways to help us make the most of time. Here is a list of ten strategies to use time wisely.
- Find your prime time (this is your best/ most productive time to do stuff – some people are morning people, others are night people – when are you at your best?)
- Do difficult/boring stuff first (schedule stuff that needs more from you when you have more to give – things that need more from you should be scheduled when you have peek energy)
- Make use of waiting time (there’s no shortage of moments when you are kept waiting, doctor’s office, motor vehicle office, airports – come prepared with something to do)
- Find a Productive Location (study or do important things where you find you are most productive – library)
- Be Here Now (time is seemingly “wasted” if you have to repeat stuff because you weren’t paying attention – concentrate and focus on every activity to give it everything you have)
- Avoid Distraction (get off the phone & stay away from TV or other tempting attention grabbers)
- Dismantle Crunch Times (crunch time is packing too much into too short a time, such as your morning routine – try to do some stuff the night before when the clock is not ticking so fast)
- Accomplish at least one task (really big jobs can reduce your enthusiasm to move forward – separate one task and do it – big jobs are less intimidating if you do at least one part of it)
- Squeeze all you can out of time you have (if you find yourself done with a task early, try to do just one more thing/read just one more page)
- Delegate Tasks (you don’t always have to do everything yourself – see if someone can help you get less important stuff[1]
- Adapted from Ellis, Dave, (2006), Becoming a Master Student, Cengage Learning ↵