Time Management and Self-Discipline

 Time Management and Self-Discipline

Let's start our discussion of the academic skills needed for online learning with the most important: time management and self-discipline. These skills might be the most difficult and challenging to gain, but with practice, you can improve in these areas.

 Time Management

 Managing your time efficiently can make all the difference when it comes to succeeding in an online course. Click/tap each bar to read about some helpful time management strategies from Purdue University Global Links to an external site.. 

Plan Ahead

Identify your weekly tasks ahead of time and figure out where they fit in your schedule. Write them down. By actually making a list you ensure you won't forget and you no longer have to be responsible for remembering all those tasks. Be sure to budget extra time for the unexpected.

Establish a Schedule

Carving out some time every day can help you establish a rhythm to your work and not feel overwhelmed. You will also be better able to identify what times work best for your schedule.

Create a Learning Environment

To help with your routine, we recommend you designate a specific area in your apartment, home, or somewhere on campus where you can go to complete coursework. Let people know that when you are there, you are working on schoolwork.

Small Tasks First

Do small independent tasks first. This will ensure you have more time to dedicate to bigger more complicated course activities.

Don't Multitask

You cannot listen to that new podcast episode while writing your paper. It's impossible to create your own awesome argument when your ears are filled with someone else's words. Avoid trying to do two things at once. Focus on a single task and don't move on until it's finished. Then reward yourself by giving that podcast your full attention.

Identify Distractions

Do you find the sound of your text message alerts too tempting? Do you put Netflix on in the background and four episodes later realize you're still writing the first paragraph? Make sure you identify your key distractions and create a strategy to eliminate or minimize them while working on course activities.

Set Goals

Setting goals is important. It can help you resist distractions and make visible progress in your course. These goals can be task-based or time-based. For example, maybe you won't check your phone for 30 minutes or you won't start a new episode until you've finished the chapter.

Delegate

School is work and a big commitment! This may mean you need to ask family for help with household chores and weekly tasks you used to have time to complete. You don't need to do everything. Learn to delegate and work as a team.

Use Breaks Wisely

Do you have a 30 minute bus ride? Or a 20 minute break between meetings? This could be a good time to draft a discussion post or to read that assigned article. Using small breaks throughout the day can help you work more efficiently on course activities.

Take Time Off

It's important to take care of yourself physically and mentally. If you aren't getting anywhere, don't just stare at a blank page. Take a break! Go for a walk, meditate, or stretch. Take a few minutes to recenter and refresh.

In addition to those strategies, here are some tools to help you plan and organize your time.

 Self-Discipline

Now that you know some time management strategies, how do you develop the self-discipline to use them and stick to them? 

You can set rewards for yourself for completing smaller tasks such as planning your week, making to-do lists, etc. However, it can be hard to develop the self-discipline to avoid distractions and multi-tasking for long enough periods of time to fit in schoolwork.

To help do this, you can practice what is called endurance training, similar to what athletes do. The idea of endurance training is to build endurance by starting with short periods of time and then increasing the length of practice until you can do tasks for long periods of time.

To do endurance training:

  1. Pick a task to focus on (reading a chapter, writing a short paper, studying for an exam, etc.).
  2. Set a timer for 10 minutes (5 minutes if 10 minutes is too long to start with) and do that task without letting yourself get distracted until the timer goes off.
  3. When the timer goes off, give yourself a 5-minute break or a reward.
  4. Once you can focus for 10 solid minutes on the task, increase the timer to 12, then 15, then 20, etc.
  5. Repeat the process until you reach the length of time that works for your schedule.