Gateway Student Services: New Student Time Management

Want to get a head start on study skills? Take a look at the pages below for more information!

• Online courses have the benefit of flexibility, but students who create a study routine are able to manage their workload in a timely manner and avoid cramming the night before an assignment/exam is due. This will help to lessen your stress.
• Set aside time each day to focus on your classes.
• Think in one- to two-hour blocks, not lengthy marathon sessions. Research shows that we lose focus if we try to study for long, unbroken periods. Take frequent, short breaks. Go for a quick walk, make a cup of tea, or find a pet to cuddle.
• Write out a weekly schedule with dates and times for each class.
• Using a chart like the one below

• Mark assignment due dates on your calendar.

If you’re doing more work on your own and your time is less structured, you might be more tempted to multitask. Many people think they can do multiple things at once. But research shows us that only about 2% of the population can multitask. Even if you feel like you’re multitasking, you’re probably not... really, you’re switching between tasks very quickly (some call this “micro-tasking”).

The downsides of multitasking and microtasking:

Assignments take longer. Each time you come back to an assignment (from Instagram for example), you have to get familiar with it, find your spot, remember what you were going to do next, etc.

You’re more likely to make mistakes. Distractions and switching between tasks tires out the brain.

You’ll remember less. When your brain is divided, you’re less able to commit what you’re learning to long-term memory (because it doesn’t get encoded properly into your brain).

What to do instead

When you need to study something important, consider The Magic of Monotasking.

• Focus on one thing at a time.
• Take breaks between tasks.
• Consider the “pomodoro method” to help you focus for 25- or 50-minute periods and then reward your-self with 5- or 10-minute breaks.