Map your use of study time

Task: Track how much time you spend on study activities to help focus your efforts and make better use of time

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What to do

  1. Map your actual use of study time across a week using the template below

    • Record how much study time you spent on the activities recommended by your course or tutors
    • Draw on guidance available in course material, or ask your tutors for how much time you should be spending

     

  2. Reflect on whether your estimated times for completion broadly matched what happened

 

This activity gives you a sense of how accurate your estimates are, allowing you to make more informed estimates in the future, which improves your planning.

You'll find out how much time gets spent on unplanned activities and where, in practice, all that time you thought you had got whittled away!

Download: Monitor your use of time
  • Are you meeting the expected requirements of your course?
    • Your course is designed with broad assumptions about how you should spend study time
    • Find out what these are and compare them to your own use of time
  • Are getting enough focused independent study time?
    • Two hours put aside for independent study might not translate into 2 hours of actual study if interruptions, breaks, distractions and time-wasting are taken into account
  • Are you leaving accurate amount of time for assignments?
    • It can be hard to know how long to leave for each stage of completing assignments. It is quite individual; some people spend longer on their assignments overall, or on certain aspects of the work
    • To help you plan, time yourself. Compare your assumptions about how long each task would take, and how long each takes you in practice

Having done all this, you may consider mapping out how your time would be better spent.

Do it:

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See also

Content from the Time management module

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