1. GET AHEAD UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2014
Start Organised, Stay Organised
Sara Steinke

2. Aims of the session
Importance of starting and staying organised in your studies
What is meant by time management, including time management techniques
How to prioritise tasks
Importance of establishing a study timetable
How to use a diary effectively

3. Why start organised?
Poor organisational skills prevents students from achieving their best
Related to other study skills
- study space/resources, essay writing, presentation, exams, revision, reading for academic purposes, note-making
Helps you to achieve your goals - S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant,
time-bound)
Link to employability

4. Harold Lloyd, Safety Last, 1923
Time management
Importance of time management
What is time management
Where does the time go
How well do you use your time
Establishing a dedicated study space
Harold Lloyd, Safety Last, 1923

5. Importance of time management
"Time management is the skill which
above all others can make the difference between graduating and drop out.”
Ruth Pickford and Sally Brown, Assessing Skills
and Practice (London: Routledge, 2006), page 47
Expected of you in Higher Education
Transferable skill to the workplace

6. Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook chapter 4
C - Creative
have the confidence to use your individual strategies and styles, apply
imagination to your learning
R - Reflective
sit with your experience, analyse and evaluate your own performance
and draw lessons from it
E - Effective
organise your space, time, priorities, state of mind and resources to
the maximum benefit
A - Active
be personally involved, do things, physically and mentally in order to
make sense of what you learn
M - Motivated
be aware of your desired outcomes using short and long-term 'goals'

7. What is time management?
Time management is about organising your
competing priorities in the limited time
available
Time management often has very little to do
with time
It is about organising your life around what is
important to you, dealing with and confronting
more emotional issues like fear, inadequacy and
other people’s demands on you

8. Studying lectures, What current pressures are there on your time?
Have you thought
about how you
are going to fit
studying into
your wider
schedule?
Can you foresee
any problems
which may arise?
Studying lectures,
reading,
writing
sleeping/
eating
exercise/
relaxation
home/
personnel
work
travel
socialising

9. How well do I use my time? Yes No
I use small pockets of time effectively.
I am well motivated to start work
quickly.
I do enough rather than aiming at
perfection.
4. I say ‘NO’ when I lack time.
I use a diary to prioritise my activities.

10. 1. Small pockets of time - around 45 minutes - are more productive; short portions of time soon add up; take frequent breaks
2. Recognise and deal with procrastination; set goals; identify your time wasters (self-inflicted and given)
3. Pareto Principle - roughly 80% of results/effects come from 20% of effort/causes; 20% effort delivers an acceptable result, not perfect, but good enough
4. L’Oreal principal - ‘because you’re worth it’; educate your family, friends and colleagues to respect your study space/time
5. Use one diary to create a ‘to-do list’; prioritise tasks; note deadlines; write down dates you must begin working towards the deadlines, establish study timetable

11. Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sunam
8-12
Gym/
Work
House work and errands pm
12-6
Study
Family/
Friends/Fun
Eve
6-9
BBK
Gym TV
Night
9-12
Library
Key reading

12. Use one diary, carry with you at all times
Enter deadlines, lectures, appointments, including extra time needed to complete these tasks
Check diary everyday
Do not schedule 100% of your time, allow for emergencies/the unexpected
Plan time for family, friends, eating, shopping
Create to-do list, using prioritisation
Record follow up tasks

13. Think about the following
Have you created a dedicated study space?
Are you comfortable?
Have you enough space to work in?
Do you have all the equipment that you need?
How are you going to organise your notes/books?

14. The 3 Ps
Importance of prioritisation
What is prioritisation
How to prioritise
Goal setting

15. The 3 Ps Avoid PROCRASTINATION No such thing as PERFECTIONISM
Learn how to PRIORITISE

16. time wasters apply to you?
Procrastination
Perfectionism
Lack of self discipline
Worrying
Personal disorganisation
Lack of priorities
Inability to say ‘no’
Indecisiveness
Socialising (too much)
Intrusions (visitors, calls)
Not finding resources
Excessive family demands
Not able to contact people
Facebook/Twitter/internet
Which of these
time wasters apply to you?
How are you going
to deal with these
time wasters?

17. Importance of prioritisation
Adult learners have many, often competing,
demands on their time; work, family, friends and studying
Helps you to achieve your short, medium and long term goals
Expected of you in Higher Education
Transferable skill to the workplace

18. What is prioritisation

19. Quadrant 1 - Urgent and Important
The Quadrant of Necessities - reactive tasks
that need to be done, often at the last minute.
Crises, 'fire-fighting' and looming deadlines
are typical examples.
Quadrant 2 - Important but not Urgent
The Quadrant of Quality - proactive tasks, often
habitual, that maintain or improve the quality of
your work and life. The more you expand this
quadrant, the more you reduce the other three,
particularly 'pseudo-emergencies' that should
never have been allowed to become so.
Quadrant 3 - Urgent but not Important
The Quadrant of Deception - plenty of people
have gone home in the evening wondering where
all the time went. Well, it was here! It's so easy to
get sucked into doing things that are the wrong
side of the rule.
Quadrant 4 - Neither Urgent or Important
The Quadrant of Waste - you know what it is and
you know when you've been in it. The trick is to
know when you're in it. Often, it starts out as
restful time (which is Quadrant 2).

20. List of things to do A B C D
Importance
Need to do
scale 6 (unimportant) to
10 (essential) B
Urgency
Do now
scale 1 (must be done at once)
5 (it can wait) C
Subtract the score in column B from column A.
The higher scores in column C are priorities. D
Order of priority/
When to do
Number the order of priorities
1. Print/submit
essay for today’s
deadline
2. Start to prepare presentation for next week’s seminar
3. Sick child requiring urgent doctor’s appt.
4. Plan for work meeting taking place tomorrow
5. Book holiday for next summer

21. List of things to do A B C D
Importance
Need to do
scale 6 (unimportant) to
10 (essential) B
Urgency
Do now
scale 1 (must be done at once)
5 (it can wait) C
Subtract the score in column B from column A.
The higher scores in column C are priorities. D
Order of priority/
When to do
Number the order of priorities
1. Print/submit
essay for today’s
deadline 10 1 9
2. Start to prepare presentation for next week’s seminar 8 3 5
3. Sick child requiring urgent doctor’s appt.
4. Plan for work meeting taking place tomorrow 2 7
5. Book holiday for next summer 6

23. How to stay organised
1. Which three organisational skills do you think will be the most useful for your studies? 2. Why are they important to you? 3. How are you going to use these organisation skills to start organised and stay organised?

24. New (academic) year resolutions
Psychologists (at the University of Hertfordshire)
have identified 5 success factors for individuals
who managed to achieve their New Years’
Resolutions.
Breaking down goals into small steps
Rewarding achievement
Telling other people what you are trying to achieve
Focussing on the benefits of success
Keeping a progress diary

25. Recap of the session
Importance of starting and staying organised in your studies
What is meant by time management, including time management techniques
How to prioritise tasks
Importance of establishing a study timetable
How to use a diary effectively

26. Skills Handbook, 3rd Edition (London, Palgrave) chapter 4
Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study
Skills Handbook, 3rd Edition
(London, Palgrave) chapter 4
‘The C.R.E.A.M. Strategy for
learning’ pp.70-79
study/studyskills/learning/time.
asp
helpful information on
organisational skills on the
Skills4Study website
studyskills/course timetable
academic skills workshops
which deal with organisational
skills - and other study skills -
in greater detail
services/facilities/support/time-
management
online resources on organisational
skills available on the Birkbeck
Library website
get-ahead-stay
ahead/skills/organisational-skills
20 minute interactive tutorial
supporting this Student
Orientation programme