get ahead postgraduate summer programme 2014 organising yourself at postgraduate level sara steinke...
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GET AHEADPOSTGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2014
Organising yourself at postgraduate level
Sara Steinke [email protected]
Aims of the session
• To consider the importance of organising your time and resources as part of postgraduate study
- what is meant by time management, including time management techniques
- the 3 Ps - procrastination, perfectionism, prioritisation
• To identify ways that you can build upon your organisational skills for postgraduate study
Importance of being organised
• Poor organisational skills prevent students from achieving their best, rarely lack of ability
• Related to other academic skills - dedicated study space/resources, essay writing process, presentation skills, exam technique, revision strategy, reading for academic purposes, effective note making
• Helps you to achieve your goals - S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)
• Link to employability
Importance of organising yourself at PG level
• Greater responsibility for organising your time and resources as part of independent, self-directed postgraduate study and learning
• Required for greater amounts of reading, writing and note making at postgraduate level
• Expected of PG level students at university
Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook
C - Creativehave the confidence to use your individual strategies and styles, applyimagination to your learning
R - Reflectivesit with your experience, analyse and evaluate your own performanceand draw lessons from it
E - Effectiveorganise your space, time, priorities, state of mind and resources to the maximum benefit
A - Activebe personally involved, do things, physically and mentally in order to make sense of what you learn
M - Motivatedbe aware of your desired outcomes using short and long-term 'goals'
• Understand the importance of time management
• Define what is meant by time management
• Identify where your time goes
• Consider how well you use your time
Importance of time management
‘Time management is the skill which above all others can make the difference
between graduating and drop out.’
Ruth Pickford and Sally Brown, Assessing Skills and Practice (London: Routledge, 2006), page 47
What is time management
• Time management is about organising your competing priorities in the limited time available
• Time management often has very little to do with time
• It is about organising your life around what is important to you, dealing with and confronting more emotional issues like fear, inadequacy and other people’s demands on you
Studying lectures, reading, writing
sleeping/
eating
exercise/relaxation
home/personnel
work
travel
socialising
What current pressures are there on your time?
Have you thought about how you are going to fitstudying into your wider schedule?
Can you foresee any problems which may arise?
• The 3 Ps
• Importance of prioritisation
• What is prioritisation
• How to prioritise
• Goal setting
The 3 Ps
• Avoid PROCRASTINATION
• No such thing as PERFECTIONISM
• Learn how to PRIORITISE
Procrastination
• Avoid lots of displacement activities
• Check that your study goals are realistic - are you trying to do too much? - S.M.A.R.T.
• Know yourself
• Reward yourself
• Just do it - something is better than nothing
• Talk to your family members/friends, ask them to respect your study time
• Identify your time wasters
More time-saving suggestions
• Invest in your academic skills
• Beware of your time wasters
• Learn how to prioritise tasks
• Use a diary to create ‘to-do’ lists
• Establish a study timetable
• Procrastination• Perfectionism• Lack of self discipline• Worrying• Personal disorganisation• Lack of priorities• Inability to say ‘no’• Indecisiveness• Socialising (too much)• Intrusions (visitors, calls)• Not finding resources• Excessive family demands• Not able to contact people• Facebook/Twitter/internet
1. Which of these time wasters apply to you?
2. How are you going to deal with these time wasters?
• Use one diary, carry with you at all times• Enter deadlines, lectures, appointments
etc, including extra time needed to complete these tasks (eg travel)
• Check diary everyday • Do not schedule 100% of your time,
allow for emergencies/the unexpected• Plan time for family, friends, eating,
shopping• Create to-do list, using prioritisation• Record follow up tasks
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
am8-12
Gym/Work
Work Gym/Work
Work Work HW and errands
HW and errands
pm12-6
Work Work Work Work Work Study Family/Friends/Fun
Eve6-9
BBK BBK BBK Gym Family/Friends/Fun
Study TV
Night9-12
TV Library Key reading
Key reading
Family/Friends/Fun
Family/Friends/Fun
TV
1. Have you created a dedicated study space?
2. Are you comfortable?
3. Have you enough space to work in?
4. Do you have all the equipment that you need?
5. How are you going to organise your notes/ books?
Importance of prioritisation
• Adult learners have many, often competing, demands on their time; work, family, friends and studying
• Helps you to achieve your short, medium and long term goals
• Expected of postgraduate students at university
• Transferable skill to the workplace
What is prioritisation• Quadrant A - Urgent and Important The Quadrant of Necessities - reactive tasks that need to be done, often at the last minute. Crises, 'fire-fighting' and looming deadlines are typical examples.• Quadrant B - Important but not UrgentThe Quadrant of Quality - proactive tasks, often habitual, that maintain or improve the quality of your work and life. The more you expand this quadrant, the more you reduce the other three, particularly 'pseudo-emergencies' that should never have been allowed to become so.• Quadrant C - Urgent but not ImportantThe Quadrant of Deception - plenty of people have gone home in the evening wondering where all the time went. Well, it was here! It's so easy to get sucked into doing things that are the wrong side of the 80-20 rule.• Quadrant D - Neither Urgent or ImportantThe Quadrant of Waste - you know what it is and you know when you've been in it. The trick is to know when you're in it. Often, it starts out as restful time (which is Quadrant B).
List of things to do
AImportanceNeed to do
scale 6 (unimportant)
to 10 (essential)
BUrgency Do now
scale 1 (must be done at once)
to 5 (it can wait)
CSubtract the
score in column B from column
A.The higher scores in column C are
priorities.
DOrder of priority/
When to doNumber the
order of priorities
1. Print/submit essay for today’s deadline2. Start to prepare presentation for next week’s seminar3. Sick child requiring urgent doctor’s appt.4. Plan for work meeting taking place tomorrow5. Book holiday for next summer
List of things to do
AImportanceNeed to do
scale 6 (unimportant)
to 10 (essential)
BUrgency Do now
scale 1 (must be done at once)
to 5 (it can wait)
CSubtract the
score in column B from column
A.The higher scores in column C are
priorities.
DOrder of priority/
When to doNumber the
order of priorities
1. Print/submit essay for today’s deadline
10 1 9
2. Start to prepare presentation for next week’s seminar
8 3 5
3. Sick child requiring urgent doctor’s appt.
10 1 9
4. Plan for work meeting taking place tomorrow
9 2 7
5. Book holiday for next summer 6 5 1
New (academic) year resolutions
Psychologists (at the University of Hertfordshire) have identified 5 success factors for individuals who managed to achieve their New Years’ Resolutions.
1. Breaking down goals into small steps2. Rewarding achievement3. Telling other people what you’re trying to achieve4. Focussing on the benefits of success5. Keeping a progress diary
Time management and organisation - recap
Do you:have strategies to help you plan and organise
your time?know how much time you have available for
your studies?know what makes studying more effective for
you (i.e. when and where you study best)?keep a diary or calendar so you know when to
attend lectures and when assignments are due?
Useful resources for organisation skillsCottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills Handbook, 3rd Edition (London, Palgrave) chapter 4 ‘The C.R.E.A.M. Strategy for learning’ pp.70-79http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/studyskills/learning/time.asp
helpful information on organisational skills on the Skills4Study websitehttp://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/studyskills/course timetable
academic skills workshops which deal with organisational skills - and other study skills - in greater detailhttp://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead/academic-support/organisational-skills
20 minute interactive tutorial supporting this Student Orientation programme
Presentations can be found at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/orientation/getaheadpostgraduate