To succeed past your first class here at Kaplan, you need to practice time management. You must take control of how you use your time. Think about how you currently use your time, then devise a plan to use it more effectively. Friends Who Show Up Unexpectedly Television and Telephone Trying to Get Organized (Never Doing It) Being Distracted by Equipment The Weather A Messy House or Residence Room A Hobby or Pleasure Activity Procrastination Exercise: every 15 minutes for 1 week record how you spent that time. You will realize where your time is being used. Why do people procrastinate? Each night, make a list of things to do the next day. Separate the list into categories (Must do, Would like to do, Fun breaks). Rank each item under each category in order of importance (1, 2, 3) Dont create a list that is so overwhelming that you end up not finishing any task on the list! Write down realistic tasks that can be done. Keep a notebook write things down. Do a task immediately so that they dont pile up and then become overwhelming. Perform difficult or unpleasant tasks right away so they arent hanging over your head. Map out what you need to accomplish that week. Use a calendar and fill in your time with the tasks you need to complete. Stick to that schedule and complete the tasks at the time allotted. What are some of your suggestions for how to set daily and/or weekly priorities? What works for you? A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants, SMART stands for: S Specific M Measurable A Attainable R Relevant T Time-bound Reward Yourself for a Job Well Done! Sensory Working (or Short-Term) Long-Term Everyone Remembers AND Forgets Things Our Senses Help Us Take In Information With Very Little Effort, You Can Remember Some Information With Rehearsal (Study), You Can Remember a Great Deal of Information Without Study, Information Is Forgotten Information Needs to Be Filed Information Must Have a Retrieval System What is your favorite study environment, if you have one, and why does it work well for you? If you don't have one, what do you think your ideal study environment would be? How does visualizing help solidify information into long-term memory? What are some ways you can incorporate visualization into your studies? What are some mnemonic devices, and how can they help you study? Make an effort to know information make it a part of your life, relate it to real life situations. If you memorize, you likely forget it after you need it. E.g., memorizing for a test and then forgetting it a day after the test. If you know the information, you will have it in long-term memory. VVisualizing CConcentrating RRelating RRepeating RReviewing Proper sleep Proper nutrition / diet Exercise Mental exercises such as crossword puzzles, brain teasers, name games, etc. A positive mindset The proper environment Scheduled study breaks Repetition and visualization Internal and external distractions Alcohol Drugs Stress Closed mindedness (tuning out things you dont like) Inability to distinguish important facts from unimportant facts Can I relate x to y? Can I illustrate how x does y? Can I compare and contrast x to y? Can I apply x to y in the real world? Can I distinguish x from y? Can I define, identify, name and describe x? Can I solve the problem of x? Can I re-arrange x to make it work with y? Can I support the theory of x and y? Can I defend my knowledge of x or y? SQ3R Method Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review Mnemonic Devices Jingles, Sentences, Words, Story Lines, Pegging Cooperative Learning Questioning, Comparing, Drilling, Brainstorming, Sharing, Mapping Study at school/library (even 30 mins pure study time is proven to be better than 5 hours with distractions) Have crafts and hobbies available Study with your children. Rent movies or let children watch educational TV shows. Invite your childs friend over. Hire a sitter. Does a classmate live nearby? Maybe meet them for coffee or create a study group. Community Center tab on your KU Campus Homepage. Click My Community and you will find valuable resources about for Legal Studies Students. Cyber Caf within the classroom. De-compressurize Ditch the blame game Know what to study Make connections Use your study guide Visualize your material Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! Choose wisely