- Posted by philene on March 6, 2008
As an online student, time management is an integral skill necessary for success. The average online student works a full time job, has a family and has studying and homework to squeeze in to their life. My day usually starts really early, I wake up, get ready for work, say good morning to my husband, am out the door and in the office until 6 pm. I come home, make dinner, do a load of laundry and next thing I know it is 10 o'clock at night and I still have school work to do. So I take out my books and laptop and get to work. My husband goes to bed and I try to keep my eyes open while I complete my work and thank heaven that I have until Sunday night to turn in my assignments. Does this sound familiar? If so, remember you are not alone! Most of your classmates are probably feeling the same constraints of time and life as you are and your professors do understand! (Next week I will write about communication with your professors!)
Don't get too overwhelmed! It is time for you to take a deep breath and work on your scheduling, ie. time management. Maybe you find starting your schoolwork at 10 pm too late but that seems to be the first time each day that you can get to your studies. Why not try taking your school with you to work. I am not suggesting that you neglect your work duties for school, but every one gets a 15 minute break, a lunch break, etc. So pick one class or one book or to work on today. Take it with you, and during your "free time" work on it. 15 minutes here and another 15 minutes there and all of a sudden, that is 30 more minutes for you at home at night! I recommend if you are going to an appointment and know you are going to have a wait, print out your work before you go and take it with you. Voila! Another 15 minutes for you later at home! Remember, we are online students because we like the flexibility. Flexibility means finding the necessary time to complete your studies when it fits in to your schedule.
Time management doesn't have to mean setting a schedule to stick to each week. Time management is about finding ways to make your schedule work for you so that you can be working smarter, not harder.