Time Management and Motivational Strategies for
the Student Leader
How can a student leader strive for excellence? I asked myself this question first as a student leader and now as an advisor to student leaders in student activities and housing and residential life. To me the difference between a good student leader and a great one, is time.
There are only twenty-four hours in a day and seven days in a week, yet a good student leader knows how to utilize even the smallest minute. Time is something that we cannot have more of, but we can learn to better utilize through practice. In addition to time constraints of class, study, and club involvement, student leaders need to continually be motivated to perform at exceptional levels within the time restrictions of their day.
Students have many constraints on their time. Students have school and study time and students today additionally have work, friends, family, and social obligations. Time limitations for a student leader are further restricted with student group/ club involvement and time consuming leadership roles in those student groups. Leadership roles added to the typical student work load makes for a busier student.
With this busy lifestyle of student involvement and leadership roles, its no wonder that students become stressed and find what was once enjoyable is now forced and leading to lower grade points. The key to reducing stress for a student leader and any student for that matter and increasing performance, is finding the balance between all student commitments. In finding balance a student needs to be realistic about where a student spends their time. In addition to finding balance, student leaders need to find pleasure in each commitment to ensure continued motivation for themselves and other student organization members.
This task of finding renewed motivation and balance with limited time is a difficult one. Students often become stressed when student involvement that was once fun and stress relieving becomes the stressor due to the increased responsibility of taking on a leadership position. For these reasons I have included a few tips and strategies for better utilization of time and resources as well as to allow for further motivation.
The following tips and strategies for the student leader help a student assess time management, find balance, and delegate tasks at meetings. In addition to simple tips and strategies are easy to follow lists that allow a student to pick and choose the strategies that best suet them. Easy to follow lists and strategies also allow a student to more easily assess what they are doing right and what they need to improve on.
Time Management Assessment
With only twenty-four hours in a day and multiple commitments in a week where can a student leader find more time in the week? Before a student leader can discover more time in the week a student leader must first assess how their time is being utilized. What is important to a student leader? Where do they spend their time? Is what is important to a student leader the same place where they are spending their time? Where should a student spend more time? Where should a student spend less time?
Many students struggle upon entering college with time management issues. Time management in college is difficult because studying in college typically takes more time than it did in high school and students in college are exposed to many new experiences where they can spend their time. Due to increased expectations and experiences college students are often overwhelmed and cannot find balance between their social life and study time.
Eventually, however, a student is able to manage their time and balance school and social life. With this new found balance often comes a new struggle, a student adds new commitments to their schedule as they becoming involved in student activities and programs. Students in this newfound struggle tend to not know where they spend their time or how much time they waste during a week.
According the foundational document, Student Development in Tomorrow’s Higher Education, student development is a total campus effort, not the exclusive province of one segment. Because student development is an entire campus effort it is important for academics to understand that students new to the university may have difficulty balancing commitments. Equally as important is for a group a student is involved in to reorganize the time commitment required for academics. A student is only human and recognition and understanding from staff and faculty will provide better service to students as they work to balance their commitments.
How Well Do You Plan?
Time Management Assessment
Do you plan in advance? Do you use a calendar or a to-do list to keep track of tasks? Do you plan for the unexpected and leave room for flexibility in your plans?
Procrastination and time management play a large role in completion of
Assignments and tasks.
DIRECTIONS: FOR EACH QUESTION, CIRCLE THE NUMBER THAT BEST DESCRIBES YOU.
Never / Seldom / Sometimes / Often / AlwaysHow often do you plan in an effort to keep life from running out of control? / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Do you put
daily plans on paper? / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Do you allow flexibility
in your
plans? / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
How often do you accomplish all you plan for
a given day? / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
How often do you plan time for what matters most
to you? / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
How often is your daily plan destroyed by urgent
interruptions? / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
SCORING: Add the numbers next to your answers.
INTERPRETATION:
6-10: Terrible Planner.
You should consider using new tools and processes to help you plan effectively. A great first step would be to take a time management course.
11-15: Below average planner.
You may already have a planning system, but using it more effectively will help to reduce the stress and lack of control you feel in your life.
16-20: Average planner.
Your planning system is working, but you can do better. You may need help focusing on priorities, dealing with urgent interruptions or writing your daily plan.
21-25: Above-average planner.
Your planning system is working well. Keep up the good work, with periodic reviews to be sure you’re planning around what matters most in your life.
26-30: Excellent planner--or candidate for burnout?
You have mastered planning and should experience the serenity that comes from taking charge of your life. But make sure you’re in control of your planning rather than letting it control you.
Quiz written for USA WEEKEND by time management expert Hyrum Smith, chairman of the Franklin Covey Co., whose Franklin Planners, agendas and planning software are used by 15 million Americans.
Hours of the Week, Time Survey
Hours of the Week, Time Survey
To further break down the hours in a day and days in a week a student can utilize the hours of the week, time survey assessment. Students have already assessed how well they plan, now it is time to put planning to use and see if the student can improve stress levels by being more organized and thoughtful with time.
Is a student spending enough time in the areas they feel are most important, or is a student wasting time in areas that they were not aware? Many times students deem an activity or task important but do not devote the time as such. Not devoting the appropriate amount of time or lying to oneself about the amount of time spent on an activity can be detrimental. When goals and actions do not line up a student is out of balance. Misalignment of activity importance and dedication can further demonstrate a student is miss using time or is overwhelmed with the activities on their plate. According to the 1998, Principles of Good Practice in Student Affairs, (ACPA & NASPA) it is important for Student Affairs Professionals to engage students in active learning and help them develop coherent values and ethical standards. What better way to engage and develop a student than to discuss time management and how to balance actions and dedication to align with a student’s individual goals. Many students may have a goal in mind and may be attempting to reach it, however, are in need of assistance in balancing their life to accommodate for everything that is important to them.
The Time Survey Assessment asks a student to determine the number of hours spent on a particular activity each week. With the knowledge gained from the survey a student will then be able to determine if the amount of time they spend in each area aligns with their goals or is detracting from goals and is time wasted.
Time Survey Assessment
To begin managing and planning your time you first need a clear idea of hours you spend your time. This quick survey will help you to estimate how much time you currently spend in typical activities. To get a more accurate estimate, you might keep track of your time for a week. This will help you get a better idea of how much time you need for each task, how much time you are wasting a learn to better prepare.
The following survey shows the amount of time you spend on various activities. When taking the survey, estimate the amount of time spent on each item. Once you have this number, multiply it by 7 to represent the number of days in a week. After each item is calculated, add all times for a grand total and subtract it from 168, the total hours per week.
1. Number of hours sleep each night ______X 7=______
2. Number of grooming hours per day ______X 7=______
3. Number of hours for meal/ snack per day ______X 7=______
Include prep time
4a. Total travel time weekdays ______X 5=______
4b. Total travel time weekends ______X 2=______
5. Number of hours per week of regularly ______X 7=______
Scheduled clubs, service, meetings etc
6. Number of class hours per week ______X 7=______
7. Number of study hours per week ______X 7=______
8. Number of work hours per week ______X 7=______
9. Number of chore hours per week ______X 7=______
10. Number of social hours per week ______X 7=______
Total ______
Subtract number above from 168 - ______= ______
The remaining hours are the number of hours you have allowed for spontaneous/ unplanned events and flex time throughout the week.
Five Steps to Successful Time Management
Many students find themselves overwhelmed when looking at the amount of work needing to be accomplished in any given day or any given week. The feeling of being overwhelmed can be a response to lack of balance, increased work load, or a number of other things. All of these experiences of being overwhelmed concern time management.
Prior to looking at the Five Step to Successful Time Management, a student will have assessed their ability to plan ahead and assess time used throughout the week. It is hard to form a new habit from scratch and even harder to form a new habit with no assistance or guidance from others successful in that area. The Five Steps to Successful Time Management give students a starting point in balancing life tasks and becoming more organized.
The five steps used on top of the previous assessments will provide a student with bullet points and easy to follow steps for better habits and practice of time management. The five steps may seem simple and easy to follow, and they should, however, it is putting the steps into practice that will prove how much a student has learned. Additionally, when practicing the five steps a student will learn how difficult the steps may prove to be when put into practice in the short and long term.
Five Steps to Successful Time Management
1. Set specific academic and personal goals.
2. Create a term calendar, recording major events.
3. Create a weekly schedule of your classes, labs, drill, meetings, etc.
4. Decide on specific times to work on each course, project or assignment.
5. Make a to-do list for each day the night before or during breakfast.
Time Wasters and Time Savers
Now that new good habits and ways to chart time utilization have been discussed it is time to implement these new good habits. Yes, we have already learned the five steps to successful time management, however, it is sometimes hard to implement a new skill when bad habits are still a part of our practice.
Many individuals when practicing a new skill do not understand what they are doing wrong. In the example of time management, an individual may waste time through lack of planning or through the miscalculation of time used during a day on a certain task. For these reasons it is important for an individual to understand how they are wasting time and in turn hindering their progress. Recognition of bad habits needs to be made before an individual can move forward with a new good habit.
Below is a list of common time wasters that students can look at to better understand where they are wasting time. For some individuals it is easier to implement a new skill such as time management after learning about possible pitfalls. Often times students do not know what they are doing can be improved upon or even fixed making it even more important to look at common time wasters.
Time Wasters:
In looking at ways to improve time management, a student may find it easier to learn the most common pitfalls of time wasters as a way to improve time management. For many, prior to learning common time wasters, students do not know what they are doing can be improved upon or even fixed.