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ENGLISH STUDIES UNIVERSITY MOHAMMED I FACULTY OF

S. EJJEBLI LETTERS AND HUMAN SCIENCES
FALL 2020

STUDY SKILLS
EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT

It isn't what you know that matters; it's what you think of in time

University is different from school life and employment. There is ample time to do other activities and
socialize, but meeting coursework deadlines can be difficult. Time management techniques are especially
vital (important) for those with a heavy social program, a part-time job, or mature students with a job
running in parallel (at the same time) with the degree. Developing your time management skills should
allow you to do all the tasks efficiently, leaving free time for other activities. University timetables can be
complex, with classes in different places from week to week. So: diaries and a weekly skeleton time table
are necessary.

In your personal time table allocate (assign) longer free sessions for tasks that take more concentration, like
writing, reading and preparing for a tutorial or seminar. Use shorter, 1 hour sessions to do quick jobs, like
tidying files, sorting lecture notes, summarizing the main points from a lecture, reading a paper photocopied
for later, looking at vocabulary, highlighting urgent reading, on-line searches, thinking through an issue and
making a list of points that you need to be clearer about. Don't be tempted to timetable every hour. Leave
time for catching up when plans slip.

Lists. Sort out what you need to do under four headings: Urgent Now, Urgent Next Week, Weekly and
Fun. If you tackle part of the non-urgent task list each week, you will be less overwhelmed by Urgent Now
tasks at a later date.
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Knowing what you want to do with your lectures and research time, saves time. Deciding in advance to go
to the library after a lecture should ensure you head off to the right section with the notes and reading lists
you need.

Tracking deadlines: Deadlines are easily forgotten. For some people a term or semester chart will highlight
deadlines that initially seem far away.

Essay Planning: Assuming the essay is due in five weeks-time. You should:

Day 1: Put the main jobs and deadline dates on your Semester plan and Urgent list.

Day 2: Brainstorm keywords, do library and Internet search, decide on main focus, highlight lecture notes
and references, browse for additional information, start writing.

Day 3: Read and draft sections, review and revise, repeat library and electronic searches.

Day 5: final checking and completing references.

Day 6 : Finish final version.

 Get an alarm clock/buzzer watch/timetable/diary. If the Languages library is full of your best mates
wanting to chat, head to the library.
 Doing tasks require total concentration in comfortable conditions where the lighting is good, the
atmosphere conducive (suitable) to study and no-one interrupts.
 You cannot learn overnight - pace yourself, spread out task over a week or more.
 Plan weekends well ahead; sport, socializing and shopping are crucial. Having worked hard all week,
you need and deserve time off. Following a distracting, socially rich week, maybe there is time for some
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study. Sunday can be a goodtime to draft a report, and a great time for reading and thinking as very few
people interrupt.
 Filing systems with so many modules, so many handouts, take 10 minutes each week to sort out notes
and papers. Indexing files helps.
 In case of a research, investigate the use of bibliographic databases to organize your references. Exploit
your IT skills to save time. Computers and the Internet encourage a positive feeling of hours spent
diligently communicating with the universe. It also takes hours. But ask 'Am I wasting good living
time?'
 Good (OK, some or any) type of organization can save on stress later. Being stressed usually wastes
time. Not all assignments are easy. Recognize that the difficult ones, and especially those everyone
dislikes, will take longer and so you should plan more time for them.
 Divide the tasks into manageable chunks (sections) and tackle them separately. Finishing parts of a task
ahead of time gives you more opportunity to think around the topic.
 Vacations. Recover from a term. Have a really good holiday. Consider taking a typing course, look at a
speed-reading guide, or follow an on-line tutorial to improve IT skills.
 Time has a habit of drifting away very pleasantly. Can you spot and limit a little lost time when the
pressure is on? Minimize wasting time around campus. Ask 'Could I be more time efficient?' Make an
agreement with a friend to do something in a certain time and reward yourselves afterwards.
 View apparently 'dead time', when walking to university or cleaning the room, as a 'thinking
opportunity'. Use it to plan an essay, mentally review lecture ideas, listen to a language tape ...
 Be realistic. Most days do not map out as planned, things (people) happen, but a plan can make you a
little more efficient some of the time.

Find a routine that suits you and recognize that a routine adopted in first year will evolve in following years.
A realistic study timetable should have a balance of social and fitness activities. Don't be too ambitious. If
there was no reading time last week, finding 30 minutes to read one article or story is a step forward.