Hello Math Majors,
I hope the start of the third week of the semester finds you doing well and staying healthy! This week, I want to talk about time management, which I expect is something that you have heard much about. In my experience, students do not do as well in their classes not because they lack the ability to succeed but because they did not put in the time required to be successful. No one is perfect at their managing their time, but there are things you can do to be better at it.
The first step is to figure out when your major assignments, projects, and exams are in each class. This will help you determine what needs to be a priority during each week of the semester and when you will have weeks with multiple courses with important due dates. I would recommend using a blank monthly calendar or a white board list, but you can certainly anything that works well for you (cellphone, personal planner, etc.).
The second step is to plan out your time management per day and week. When you do this, be sure to create a schedule that you believe you can stick with at least 85% of the time. Remember, on average, you should be spending two hours of study time for each hour of in class time, which is 6 hours of outside of class time per week for a 3 credit hour course. If you are in an online course, you should commit to 3 additional hours of time per week since you won't have any in-class meetings.
Finally, once you have a time management plan, do your best to stick with that plan. Please keep your weekly schedule is an convenient place to review, and keep your important course dates calendar in a place that you can review at least once per week.
The Center for Academic Success and Transition (CAST) has resources that can help you with time management. I recommend their Syllabi Matrix, Schedule by the Hours, and Weekly Study Schedule to help you manage your time and classes. CAST also has other resources available here: https://success.unl.edu/resources#handouts.
One last note, now is a great time to schedule a meeting with me to discuss your plans for future semesters as well as things like academic probation and required advising meetings.
Best wishes, Doug
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