Time is the only commodity that matters.– Randy Pausch

Time: We All Have the Same Amount

One wonderful aspect of time is its equality. Regardless of our race, religion or age, all of us have the same amount of time in a day, week, month and year. Wealthy people cannot buy more time (although they can pay people to complete tasks for them), and poor people do not receive less time (although they may have less choice in how they spend there time). A minute for a tall person is the same amount of time for a short person. An hour for a woman is the same amount of time for a man. Regardless of how many languages someone speaks, their sexual orientation, ethnicity, educational background, income or experience, we all have 365 days in a year.

Since time is a popular philosophical concept, there are many sayings about it:

• Time flies when you are having fun.
• That is a waste of time.
• Time is money.
• We have all the time in the world.
• That was an untimely death.
• The time is right.
• I’m having the time of my life.
• Time heals all wounds.
• We have some time to kill.

What do the sayings mean to you?

Time is also how we keep track of when we’re supposed to be where we’re supposed to be (work, home, class, meeting friends and family, et cetera), and people have varying reactions when someone is early, late, or just on time. Think about how many measures of time we have in our homes (clocks, watches, cell phones, TVs, DVRs, computers, microwaves, ovens, thermostats, and more), and it becomes obvious that time carries great significance to us.

The Value of Time

If someone were to negotiate for an hour of your time, how much would that be worth to you? We often equate time with money. Many of us work in positions where we are paid by the hour; this gives us some gauge of what we are worth to our employers. Similarly, some items we purchase because we think they are of good value for their price. Others we pass on. Are some hours of your day more important or more valuable than others? Why? Are you more productive in the morning or in the evening?

Once people realize how valuable time is, they often go to great lengths to protect it because they understand its importance. How much would you pay for an additional hour in a day? What would you do with that time? Why? What is the value of your time? How much is an hour of your time worth? $20? $50? If someone were to pay you $10 to do a job, how much time would that be worth?

One way to make sure you are valuing your time is to be sure to spend it on your priorities.

Do the Most Important Things First

People like to check things off that they have done. It feels good. But don’t confuse productivity with accomplishment of tasks that aren’t important. A long list of unimportant tasks completed certainly isn’t the best use of time. The key is to plan time so that important tasks can be completed with time to produce results the meet or exceed the expectation. If we think about time as it relates to our goals, we can begin to assign importance based on whether or not the item on our to do list will help us accomplish our goals. Creating a sense of purpose and direction when planning how we use our time is very important as we balance the demands of our lives with the demands of college.

Quadrant I (The quadrant of necessity): Important and Urgent

In this section, we may be working on what’s important to our goals but not giving ourselves enough time to put forth our best effort. Crisis activities are in this category, for example dealing with an angry customer at work, filling an empty gas tank before leaving for school, or completing an essay the night before it is due. Students who include exams and papers here are probably not allowing themselves enough time to fully prepare. If they continue working with looming deadlines, they live with constant stress and may burn out. With planning, we can avoid Quadrant 1 and live our lives with more purpose.

Quadrant II (The quadrant of quality and personal leadership): Important and Not Urgent

This is where priorities are defined. What’s important in your life? What will keep you balanced? For example, you may know that good nutrition, sleep, recreation and maintaining healthy social relationships are important, but do you consciously make time for them in your daily or weekly routine? Quadrant II includes preparations and actions that lead to achievement of your goals, such as practicing for a presentation due the next day or prewriting for a paper immediately upon receiving the assignment. Living your life in Quadrant II takes planning, but the time spent planning helps you achieve what is important to you.

Quadrant III (The quadrant of deception): Not Important and Urgent

Interruptions, unscheduled tasks, and spending time cleaning out your email inbox can be examples of Quadrant III activities, which often leave students feeling pulled in too many directions at once. While they may feel that some activities, such as texting a friend, need attention right away, too much time spent on Quadrant III activities can seriously reduce valuable study time and increase stress. Again, the key here is to think of importance in terms of goals. Our relationships should be important to us and need our attention, but we may find it necessary to express our goals to those we care about. Hopefully, the conversation ends with us feeling supported in trying to reach our goals.

Quadrant IV (The quadrant of waste): Not Important and Not Urgent

Students who spend many hours on Quadrant IV activities are either having a great deal of fun or spending a lot of time procrastinating! Remember, the objective is balance. Social media and texting generally fall into this category. Although a case could be made that social media, texting, Netflix, and Youtube are important, how often are they urgent? Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide what is important and urgent to them, but for the context of our academic goals, attending classes, completing assignments, taking time to prepare, and studying should almost universally be more urgent and important than social media and texting.

Here is an adapted version of the matrix, with an emphasis on quadrant II.

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Managing time well comes down to two things. One is identifying (and then prioritizing) goals, and the other is having the discipline to be able to work towards accomplishing them. We all have the same amount of time in a day, week, month and year, yet some people are able to accomplish more than others. Often, it is because they are able to set goals, prioritize those goals, and effectively work on them until they are achieved.

Three Steps to Good Time Management

There are three important steps in learning to effectively manage your time:

1. Identify your time management style
2. Create a schedule
3. Get better at prioritizing

Step 1: Identify Your Time Management Style

Click into the activity below and answer the questions to identify whether your time management style more closely aligns with the early bird, the pressure cooker, the balancing act, or the improviser.

Click here for a text-only version of the activity.

Assessing Your Responses

Which of the four basic time-management personality types did you select the most? Which did you select the least? Do you feel your results are accurate? Do you feel you are a combination of the types? Take time to consider if your previous style has worked well for you or if you think it’s time for a change.

Learn more by reviewing the traits, strengths, challenges, and success tips for each of the four time-management personality types:

The Early Bird

• Traits: You like to make checklists and feel great satisfaction when you can cross something off of your to-do list. When it comes to assignments, you want to get started as soon as possible (and maybe start brainstorming before that), because it lets you stay in control.
• Strengths: You know what you want and are driven to figure out how to achieve it. Motivation is never really a problem for you.
• Challenges: Sometimes you can get caught up in getting things done as quickly as possible and not give yourself enough time to really mull over issues in all of their complexity.
• Tips for Success: You’re extremely organized and on top of your schoolwork, so make sure you take time to really enjoy learning in your classes. Remember, school isn’t all deadlines and checkboxes—you also have the opportunity to think about big-picture intellectual problems that don’t necessarily have clear answers.

The Balancing Act

• Traits: You really know what you’re capable of and are ready to do what it takes to get the most out of your classes. You should have the basic organizational skills to succeed in any class, as long as you keep your balance.
• Strengths: Your strength really lies in your ability to be well-rounded. You may not always complete assignments perfectly every time, but you are remarkably consistent and usually manage to do very well in classes.
• Challenges: Because you’re so consistent, sometimes you can get in a bit of a rut and begin to coast in class, rather than really challenging yourself.
• Tips for Success: Instead of simply doing what works, use each class as an opportunity for growth by engaging thoughtfully with the material and constantly pushing the boundaries of your own expectations for yourself.

The Pressure Cooker

• Traits: Full of good ideas, you always get things done and almost always at the last minute.
• Strengths: You work well under pressure, and when you do finally sit down to accomplish a task, you can sit and work for hours. In these times, you can be extremely focused and shut out the rest of the world in order to complete what’s needed.
• Challenges: You sometimes use your ability to work under pressure as an excuse to procrastinate. Although you can really focus when the deadline is tomorrow, is it really the best work you could produce if you had had a couple of days of cushion?
• Tips for Success: Give yourself small, achievable deadlines, and stick to them. Make sure they’re goals that you really could (and would) achieve in a day. Then don’t allow yourself to make excuses. You’ll find that it’s actually a lot more enjoyable to not be stressed out when completing schoolwork.

The Improviser

• Traits: You frequently wait until the last minute to do assignments, but it’s because you’ve been able to get away with this habit in many classes. Sometimes you miss an assignment or two or have to pretend to have done reading that you haven’t actually completed.
• Strengths: You think quickly on your feet, and while this is a true strength, it also can be a crutch that prevents you from being really successful in a class.
• Challenges: As the saying goes, old habits die hard. If you find that you lack a foundation of discipline and personal accountability, it can be difficult to change, especially when the course material becomes challenging or you find yourself struggling to keep up with the pace of the class.
• Tips for Success: The good news is you can turn this around! Make a plan to organize your time and materials in a reasonable way, and really stick with it. Immediately upon receiving them, break big assignments into small, achievable tasks. Don’t be afraid to ask your instructor for help, and be sure to do it before, rather than after, you fall behind.

Step 2: Create a Schedule

Now that you’ve evaluated how you have done things in the past, you’ll want to think about how you might create a schedule for managing your time well going forward. The best schedules have some flexibility built into them, as unexpected situations and circumstances will likely arise during your time as a student.

Your schedule will be unique to you, depending on the level of detail you find helpful. There are some things—due dates and exam dates, for example—that should be included in your schedule no matter what. But you also might find it helpful to break down assignments into steps (or milestones) that you can schedule, as well.

Do you want to keep a record of only the major deadlines you need to keep in mind? Or does it help you to plan out every day so you stay on track? Your answers to these questions will vary depending on the course, the complexity of your schedule, and your own personal preferences.

Your schedule will also vary depending on the courses you’re taking. The first thing to do for each class is consult the syllabus and try to determine the its rhythm by looking at the following factors:

• Will you have tests or exams in this course? When are those scheduled?
• Are there assignments and papers? When are those due?
• Are there any group or collaborative assignments? You’ll want to pay particular attention to the timing of any assignment that requires you to work with others

We all have exactly 168 hours per week. How do you spend yours? How much time will you be willing to devote to your studies? In the following section of this text, “Your Use of Time,” we’ll work more on mapping out and prioritizing our time. In addition to blocking out class time and important due dates on your schedule, remember that you’ll need to allot 2 to 3 hours of work/study time for every hour you’re in class for every class you’re taking. The most effective students prioritize their class and study time over other, less important tasks.

Step 3: Get Better at Prioritizing

Due dates are important. Set your short- and long-term goals accordingly. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What needs to get done today?
• What needs to get done this week?
• What needs to get done by the end the first month of the semester?
• What needs to get done by the end the second month of the semester?
• What needs to get done by the end of the semester?

Your time is valuable. Treat it accordingly by getting the most you can out of it.

We have a limited amount of time. Most of us cannot complete everything we wish to complete—either in a day or in a lifetime. We hear people say, “I wish there was more time” or “If there was more time, I would have done this.” We have enough time to do many of the things we wish to do. People run into difficulty when they spend time on things that are not the most important things for them.