| Show Time management forms habits that make the grade Kathryn Jones Globe Weekly News A Many students find themselves themselves themselves them them- selves cramming the night before an exam falling asleep in class or trying to keep up with reading assign assign- ments According to State University of New York The primary reason first- first year college students fail out of college is directly related to the poor time management strategies they employ Time management was the number one challenge for new students at Kean University New Jersey according to a 2001 I survey and students at Kean attending attending attending attend attend- ing that year blamed work environment environment the unstructured college environment and not enough structured time for their time management woes Time management habits can either make or break the student If H a person is always try- try ing to beat the clock and somehow never catching up they are living life in Chronos a form of time from the ancient Greeks that was directionless said Christopher Lynch PhD Ph.D. Its the experiment of the rat in the maze Lynch added The rat cant can't see the problem of using the same methods and never gets out of the maze The rat ends up disillusioned and frustrated While you may have many reasons for managing your time the way you do experts such as Prentice Hall suggest that analyzing your failure is the beginning of change Merely sticking with an Ill try attitude or throwing out multiple excuses to relieve yourself of the responsibility ty to change your behavior behavior behavior will do nothing but place you farther in rat chaos Effective time management strategies are needed to stop the rat race and get you back backon on the college track These strategies though as numer- numer ous and varied as attendees at atthe atthe atthe the Utah Arts Festival run on ona ona ona a common theme Students must learn to manage time before time manages them This personal evaluation could be as simple as taking a alook alook alook look at one or two areas of improvement Perhaps students students students stu stu- stu- stu dents who are always late to class because their job fob never lets them off on time should scheduled their classes a bit further apart this will relieve some of the daily stress embarrassment and distraction distraction distraction tion caused by late arrivals Another suggestion from Lynch suggests that reading the material assigned before classes will reinforce what is being help you to raise questions in areas where you need cation Reading is not a onetime onetime onetime one one- time step but a process of re rereading rereading rereading re- re reading and preparing yourself yourself yourself your your- self to raise questions when Time Management Continued on page I Time Continued from page 5 you get to class about the material By reading the assigned material before class students are much better prepared to be bean bean bean an active participant instead of a passive learner 1 read foi ari Pi Prentice Hall sugg l exam 3 2 days before the test is adminis adminis- Two vo hours of studying during the day for every one hour of class time is far more beneficial beneficial beneficial ben ben- than cramming for six hours the night before the exam Lynch and Prentice Hall said Still some students love to procrastinate Its It's difficult for them to keep motivated The whirl of the world including the time spent at work and with their families and friends often takes the front seat Whatever time is left goes to school A Time Management Planning Matrix is is suggested by the University State of NewYork New NewYork NewYork York and can be found at general This matrix allows you to assess your daily ity What do you do each day What might you be spending time doing that could be eliminated completely from your life or at the very least shortened or routed re-routed This chart allows students to see how many hours they are studying compared to the time they may be spending going out with friends or working at their job The matrix is comparable to a chart a student student student stu stu- stu- stu dent might use to record their calorie intake if they wanted to lose weight It is simple and will be be- beable able to show the Student ati at a aVi Vi weekly e glance i th 1 t Our research indicates that students are frequently amazed at the number of hours they waste in a typical week said the University State of New York They plan to study but their roommate interrupts them or orsome orsome orsome some other obstacle occurs that interferes with their study plan University State of New York added that Part of your study plan might include strategies strategies strategies strate strate- gies to avoid disruptions Instead of living directionless according to Chronos you the student remain inspired to continue forward in school You said act according to Kyros Lynch time complaining complain complain- This means not spending ing about how busy you are or tossing and turning in bed because you dread doing a task Lynch said It means approaching your time with a new attitude and from a different different different dif dif- dif dif- ferent perspective |
