University of Minnesota Duluth Skip to Content Search | People | Departments | Events | News
College of Liberal Arts
Skip to Content

Time Management Tips

Time management is a life-long skill. Learning how to manage your time and your behavior will make you a more successful student, employee, and person.

Time Management Principles:

Try to apply the following to how you use time:

  1. Get organized.  Know when assignments are due, when tests will be given, and when other personal obligations are taking place.  Don’t let commitments sneak up on you.  Plan accordingly and avoid having more to get done than is humanly possible.
  2. Identify your "best time" for studying.  Everyone has high and low periods of attention and concentration. Are you a "morning person" or a "night person"?  Use your power times to study and use the down times for routines such as laundry and errands. 
  3. Study your most difficult subjects first. When you are fresh, you can process information more quickly and save time as a result. 
  4. Use distributed learning.  Try to study in shorter time blocks with short breaks between. This keeps you from getting fatigued and wasting time. 
  5. Make sure your surroundings are conducive to studying. This will allow you to reduce distractions that waste time.  If there are times in the residence halls or your apartment when you know there will be noise and commotion, use that time for mindless tasks or go to the Library.
  6. Make room for entertainment and relaxation. College is more than studying. You need to have a social life, yet, you need to have a balance in your life. 
  7. Make sure you have time to sleep and you eat properly. Sleep is often an activity (or lack of activity) that students use as their time management "bank."  When they need a few extra hours for studying or socializing, they withdraw a few hours of sleep. This is not a good way to manage yourself in relation to time. 
  8. Try to combine activities.  Use the "two-for" concept. If you are spending time at the laundromat, bring your course notes to study.  
  9. Don’t postpone important tasks.  Begin work on large tasks well in advance.  Postponing the assignments that seem most daunting will only increase your stress level.

Link to Additional Information on the Web

Study Strategies homepage www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/
Time Use Calculator developed by Virginia Tech www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/TMInteractive.html
Writing Assignment Calculator www.lib.umn.edu/help/calculator/

Portions of the Time Management Principles are from the UMD Student Handbook.  Available online at http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/time_man_princ.html