Time Management 
 
Learning to manage your time is one of the most challenging things that must be tackled in 
order to be successful in your academic, personal, and professional life.  While you may have 
been very successful at managing your time and workload in high school, you will find that the 
amount of work will increase dramatically at a university, as will the expectation for the quality 
of your work.  In order to successfully navigate this transition, it will be vital that you commit to 
managing your time.   
 
A large part of managing your time in college is learning assignment management skills.  You 
will receive a syllabus for each course you are taking.  The syllabus outlines what you need for 
success in each class – exams, schedule of lectures, due dates of assignments, and faculty office 
hours.  Each semester, you should do the following: 
 
 Identify and record the reading and assignment due dates 
 Assess the amount of time and effort they will take 
 Schedule enough time to complete the readings and assignments 
o A good rule of thumb is to spend 3 hours out of class for each hour in class 
o Be sure to schedule enough time to seek help 
 Do the work! 
 
Rarely will you be reminded of when assignments are due; your instructors will just expect you 
to do it.  If you have questions, it is your responsibility to bring them up in class or visit office 
hours.  Additionally, some work will not be turned in, but will be used to help prepare for an 
exam or larger project.   
 
As your classes become more intense and you add things like internships, jobs, or campus 
involvement activities, these skills will become even more important.    
 
Before you can effectively schedule your time, you will need to be able to prioritize your 
activities. Below you will find one tool to help you to think about what level of importance you 
should give each activity as you are planning your schedule.  This is the Urgent/Important 
Matrix.  
 The Urgent/Important
Matrix
High

Important Goals Critical Activities

Importance

Distractions Interruptions

Low

Low Urgency High

"What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is

seldom important."
-Eisenhower
 Ideas on how to manage each
sector
High Not Urgent, but Important Urgent and Important

There are two distinct types of urgent and important

These are the activities that help you activities: Ones that you could not foresee, and others
achieve your personal and professional that you have left to the last minute.
goals, and complete important work. You can avoid the latter by planning ahead and
Make sure that you have plenty of time avoiding procrastination.

to do these things properly, so that they Issues and crises, on the other hand, cannot always be
foreseen or avoided. Here, the best approach is to
do not become urgent. And remember to leave some time in your schedule to handle
leave enough time in your schedule to unexpected issues and unplanned important activities.
deal with unforeseen problems. This will And if a major crisis arises, some other activity may
have to be rescheduled.
maximize your chances of keeping on
Importance

schedule, and help you avoid the stress If this happens, identify which of your urgent-
important activities could have been foreseen and
of work becoming more urgent that think about how you could schedule similar activities
necessary. ahead of time, so they do not become urgent.

Not Urgent and Not Important Urgent and Not Important

These activities are just a distraction, and Urgent but not important activities are things that stop
should be avoided if possible. Some can you achieving your goals, and prevent you from
completing your work. Ask yourself whether these
simply be ignored. Others are activities that tasks can be rescheduled, or whether someone else
other people may want you to do, but they could do them.
do not contribute to your own desired
A common source of such interruptions is from other
outcomes. Again, say "No" politely and firmly people in your office. Sometimes it's appropriate to
if you can. say "No" to people, or encourage them to solve the
problem themselves. Alternatively, try allocating time
If people see you are clear about your when you are available so that people only interrupt
you at certain times (a good way of doing this is to
objectives and boundaries, they will often schedule a regular meeting so that all issues can be
not ask you to do "not important" activities dealt with at the same time.) By doing this, you'll be

Low in the future. able to concentrate on your important activities for

longer periods of time.

Low Urgency High

Excerpted from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm

 
Time Management Activity 
 
 
Name: ____________________________ 
 
 
Panther ID:________________________ 
 
 
Today is Wednesday. You have the following on your to‐do list: 
 
 Biology lab report, due next week Friday 
 Math homework, due tonight 11:59 
 Reflections for SLS 1501, due next Monday  
 Cousin’s birthday, Thursday night 
 Shop for present for cousin’s birthday  
 Work on rough draft for a paper due next Monday for English, make an appointment at 
the writing center 
 Feeling anxious, need to see counselor at CAPS 
 Need to meet with advisor to discuss summer and fall courses and the possibility of 
dropping PSY 2012, a course you aren’t doing well in this semester (deadline to drop is 
March 20) 
 Exercise  
 Need to schedule a date night 
 You are not doing well in PSY 2012, but midterm is next Wednesday. You also have your 
Biology lecture midterm on the same day. The midterm for Biology lab is on Monday. 
You need to find time to study.  
 Invited to shoot pool with friends, Sunday night 
 Help significant other’s older brother move, Saturday 
 Catch up on Game of Thrones, The Magicians, and Flip or Flop.  
 Drive grandmother to run errands, sometime this week 
 You feel a cold coming on and feel tired and run down 
 Shop for a nice outfit for the birthday party on Thursday night   
 Your favorite DJ is coming to town and you need tickets. Tickets are available only if you 
stand in line for many hours, next Tuesday night.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Not Important  Important   

   
NOT URGENT 

 
 
URGENT