Florida ged plus college Preparation Program Curriculum and Resource Guide
Objective 3 – Use Effective Time Management Skills
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- Skills Required for Effective Time Management
Objective 3 – Use Effective Time Management SkillsUse effective time management skills, including: effective scheduling, prioritizing, making “to-do”-lists, and avoid procrastination. Adult students have many demands on their time, including the needs of their families, their work schedules, and their own personal needs. Add in the need to study and attend classes, and many students are unable to cope with all these demands. Ask what they need most and they will tell you that they really need more hours in the day to meet all the demands of their schedule. Effective time management strategies can relieve some of the pressure students experience in meeting the constant demands of their daily lives. Skills Required for Effective Time ManagementThere are six skills that students need if they are to become more effective managers of their time. These include:
Where Does the Time Go? Daily Activity Logs To become more effective time managers, students first need to find out how they really spend their time. Have students use the activity log provided and jot down each activity they do throughout a specified time period. Students should note the time they started and ended a specific activity. When they begin to analyze the activity log, they can actually compute the amount of time spent. They should also note any interruptions that occurred during the activity. Students may be unaware that their energy levels fluctuate throughout the day and can seriously impact how well they function. Have students note whether they were alert, tired, energetic, etc. This can help them make adjustments to their daily schedule to ensure that they do more complex tasks when they have more energy. If a student doesn’t feel mentally alert and energetic until 10 a.m., then he/she may want to reconsider taking that Algebra class at 8 a.m. Keep your own activity log for a day or two and share it with students. This will help them understand how to complete the log as well as recognize that everyone has to be conscious of time and use effective time management skills. Spend time helping students analyze the results of their activity logs. Have students work in groups to identify “time busters” that students can avoid as well as “time savers” that they can use to help them become more effective time managers. Personal Activity Log
Setting Priorities Look around and you will see people who are working hard and seem to be very well organized; however, they never seem to get that important task completed. Prioritizing is an essential skill for being an effective time manager. It is easy to move to the simple tasks and get those done first. However, getting the little things done and leaving the big ones incomplete just increases stress because the difficult tasks are still there waiting to be completed. Have students make a list of six activities or tasks they need to complete on a specific day. Have them share their lists and then work in groups to discuss how best to prioritize the items on the list. During the next class period, discuss whether or not each task was completed and the order in which the students actually completed the task as compared to how it was prioritized. Have students discuss how prioritizing made the work they had to do easier or more difficult. Model prioritizing by sharing with students how activities within the classroom are structured. Organizing Getting organized is not always easy, but it can reduce stress and allow students to stay focused on their goals. Getting organized requires that students rethink many aspects of their lives. A home that is filled with clutter increases stress for everyone. A schedule that is disorganized makes for stress-filled days that can eventually lead to goals that are discarded because it is just too hard to remain focused. Have students make a list of three areas in which they would like to be more organized. This may include their home study area, their kitchen, their children’s toys and books, the “get-ready-for school” morning schedule, etc. Have students use the Internet and research the areas to find tips and strategies for getting organized. Sites such as HGTV.com can be a wealth of information for helping students get organized at home. The site provides both print and video resources that students can review to get ideas about organization. Have students access the following website to find a wealth of tips and strategies for improving their organization skills: http://www.getorganizednow.com/ideapak-newsletter.htm. Have students log on and request the list of 50 Organizing Tips and then print the list they receive. Divide the class into groups of three to four students and discuss how they can put these tips to use at home, at work, and in school. Part of being organized is having a schedule with specific times for everything. Although many people believe that setting up a detailed schedule is too confining, it actually results in better use of time and reduces stress. The following is an example of a schedule that students can adapt to meet their own unique situations. Students can use a commercial calendar that they have purchased or create their own week-at-a glance schedule such as the one below. All they need to do is insert the times for each category.
Effective Schedules Effective schedules include:
Making “To-Do” Lists Effective time managers have “to-do” lists. Lists help break down complex tasks into smaller, simpler steps. They also have a prioritizing system. Students may wish to use a grading system for their lists, such as an “A” for most important and a “D” for less important. Ideally “to-do” lists should first be developed as a draft and then put into final priority order. Have students develop and prioritize their draft “to-do” lists for the next day. If the students indicate too many items as “most important,” have them review the list and reprioritize. Students should then write their final lists. Have students bring their lists back to class two days later and discuss where they experienced difficulties. Discuss with students how they can create new lists each day or do “carry-over” lists from day to day. To be effective time managers, students must get in the habit of using “to-do” lists for all the myriad of tasks they need to complete on a daily basis. Perseverance Things don’t always go smoothly. The best laid plans can be disrupted by family emergencies or changes in work schedules. The difference between success and failure in the face of difficulties is the willingness to continue working – to persevere. Discuss with students the importance of perseverance if they wish to attain both short- and long-term goals. Have students discuss alternative strategies they can use when faced with disruptions to their schedules or plans. Provide students with each of the following scenarios and have them identify what they would do if faced with the same situations. Scenario 1 Janet has set up a work schedule that enables her to pick up her children at school and take them to her sister’s house before she heads to her evening classes at the college. One of Janet’s co-workers is ill and will not be able to work for three weeks. Janet’s boss has required her to change her schedule and leave an hour later on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (the same day as her mathematics class). If Janet leaves later, she will be 30 minutes late to class each evening. Mathematics is the course that causes her the greatest stress. What can she do to adjust her schedule so that she doesn’t miss part of each class? Scenario 2 Alonzo is a single-father with three school-aged children. He is attending college and has three courses left before receiving his A.S. degree. Alonzo’s oldest son, Martin, is having a lot of difficulty in school and has been diagnosed as ADHD with learning disabilities. Each day has become more challenging than the last with Martin’s behavior becoming increasingly erratic if Alonzo is not home after school. Alonzo’s school schedule requires that he attend classes until 4:00 p.m. daily. Martin arrives home at 3:30 p.m. What can Alonzo do to help alleviate the stress created by Martin’s behavior and his own tough schedule? Procrastination At one time or another, everyone puts off doing something because the task is not a pleasant one or they just don’t want to do it. Sometimes people don’t complete a task because they’re fearful of not being able to successfully do something. The primary reasons for procrastination include:
Discuss with students the impact of putting off a decision or task on the completion of a specific short- or long-term goal. Discuss the importance of providing rewards for completing tasks that are typically put off until the last minute. Make sure to differentiate between tangible and intangible rewards that students can use. Have students make a list of tasks or activities that they always put off until the last possible moment. Have them work in teams to identify why they put off those specific tasks and ways to make the tasks more manageable. Have each team identify two or three ways they can reward themselves for not putting off a specific task. Directory: documents documents -> Concept stage documents -> Concept stage documents -> The great global switch-off documents -> Nonprofit grant application documents -> The Truth about the Rwandan Genocide documents -> Annual InStructional unit plan documents -> Chaos equipment included Download 1.65 Mb. Share with your friends:
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