Managing your time

Particularly when you are new to a course, managing your time can be challenging. You will want to do the best you can on your chosen course of study. As we give out information about assignments and schedules at the start of each semester, we help you to plan in this area. However we realise that there may also be other pressures on you, and that everyone also needs some time for recreation.

It is a good idea to take time out at the start of each semester to block out commitments week by week (including the weekends). Obvious things to go in are lectures, labs, presentations etc., and also amounts of time for working at assignments through the semester. Remember that the University officially allocates a figure of 200 hours study for each 20 credit module. Only a minority of this time is taken up by formal classes: the rest is time you should be studying on your own. Actually blocking out time in your diary for reading, research etc. may help you avoid trying to cram all your study into a later part of the semester. If you are studying full time, you should be prioritising your studies, and so put these items into your schedule first. Then be realistic about how you schedule in other commitments: it is risky to plan out a tightly packed schedule that depends on boundless energy, full health, and no problems in any area of your life for the whole of the semester.

Make a note of your assessment deadlines as soon as Semester begins. You will often find that you have several deadlines on the same day, so it is your responsibility to plan ahead for this. Start work on every assessment as soon as you can, and feel free to submit early - if you try to complete several assessments at the last minute, all due in on the same day, you will not have enough time.

If you block in time and repeatedly do not get down to study, or if you feel pressure in meeting all your commitments, take time out to reflect on why this is and what you want to do about it. It might be that you need to schedule the time in a different way, at different times etc. Your personal tutor or module coordinator will be happy to help you talk through different ways of approaching study time: your friends may also have their own tips. We also refer elsewhere in this section to the advice and welfare services available in the University.