TIME MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION—Your Assessment Results

The number of hours you spend on certain tasks can be surprising, especially when you begin to compare the totals. Do you spend almost as much time doing extracurricular activities as you do academics? Do you sleep-- at all? Are most of your meals eaten on the run? Do you wish you had more free time?

As you begin to evaluate your current time expenditures, consider some of the points below. Make adjustments to your time distribution as necessary using the second column on the Time Distribution Assessment. If you would like more specific feedback about your plans, your advisor and associate advisor are excellent resources for advice on time management. We would also be happy to meet with you in the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP).

Academics

To get an idea of how much of your time subjects will require at MIT, read our Course Load Breakdown.

When planning your academic time ask yourself...

How are you doing academically? Are you happy with your progress or do you feel you need to put more time into your work? Do you need more time for studying, assignments or both?
Which subjects are more challenging for you and require more of your time? Would it be helpful to attend a tutoring session or join a study group?
Are you able to complete assignments on time? Do you have to stay up very late the night before an assignment is due to finish?
How often do you find yourself procrastinating on assignments? Do you need to work on using the academic time you have more effectively?
Do you currently use weekend time to study and do assignments?
Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do?
Do you usually study more than 2 days in advance of an exam? Are you able to prepare adequately for tests?

Extracurricular Activities

Finding the right balance between academics and extracurricular activities can be difficult. A commitment made to an activity at the start of the term might not be easy to continue if classes become consuming. The best approach is usually a conservative one, at least until you have spent a full term at the Institute and know what to expect. Consider participating in a single extracurricular activity for starters, or two if the time commitments are small. Remember that there are a lot of fun things to do at MIT that are not extracurricular, and you will want free time to explore those too.

When planning your extracurricular time ask yourself...

Which of your extracurricular activities is most important to you? Why?
Which of these activities help you to relax? Which help you to relieve or work off stress?
Does your enthusiasm sometimes lead you to overcorrecting to activities, clubs, sports, etc.?
Have your extracurricular commitments ever adversely affected your academics? Are they adversely affecting your academics now?
Which do you enjoy more: well-structured activities with meeting times and established goals or independent activities that you pursue at your own pace?
Which of your extracurricular activities could you pursue in other ways? For instance, instead of being on the track team, you could go running regularly on your own or with friends? This would be much a much more flexible task to schedule.

Jobs

One or more jobs can be as difficult to balance as extracurricular activities, and although extracurriculars are voluntary, it might be necessary for you to work to some degree. Keep in mind that the more you work, the less time you will have for extracurriculars, and vice versa.

When planning for work time ask yourself...

Do you need to work as part of your financial aid package?
What is the minimum income you need to earn per week?
To what degree is/are your job(s) flexible about scheduling? Are you able to adjust your hours to accommodate busy academic periods?
Are you comfortable with the amount of time you are working now? Has it impacted your academics adversely?

Sleep

Students love to sleep, yet it is the first thing they give up when pressed for time. Not only is sleep necessary for your physical and mental well-being, you will simply not be about to concentrate well if you are tired, distracted and mentally run down. You will spend more time on assignments, learn appreciably less and be vulnerable to making obvious mistakes on exams and projects. Although it might feel as though you are doing more by sleeping less, the habit isn't sustainable, so sleep well and often, and consider it an investment.

For peak efficiency, students should sleep at least six, if not eight hours per night.

When planning for sleep time ask yourself...

How many hours of sleep per night is ideal for you? How many hours of sleep do you need to wake up feeling rested and refreshed, but not groggy?
Between which hours of the day are you most comfortable sleeping?
Do you feel that you get enough sleep now?
When you run short of time on assignments, do you sacrifice sleep to make up the balance?
Do you often feel tired or lethargic in class, especially in the morning?
Do you sometimes have difficulty concentrating in class and/or have headaches due to fatigue?
Do you occasionally fall asleep in class?
Do you often wish for (or take) a nap during the day?
Are you able to get out of bed when the alarm clock rings the first time?

Meals

Eating is just as important as sleeping for all the same reasons. Always eat something in the morning, even if it is just a breakfast bar on the way to class. Plan to make sit-down time for lunch and dinner-- not only because you need the fuel, but because you need physical, mental and emotional breaks in your day. Meals can rejuvenate you on all of these levels. Plan to eat with friends or do some other 30-minute activity that gives you a much-needed break from your studies. Relax, eat well and enjoy yourself.

When planning for meal time ask yourself...

Do you make a point of eating regularly and well? Although you can't always have a healthy, well-balanced meal, do you usually try to make health-conscious decisions?
Do you occasionally skip meals? How do you feel when you do?
Does being hungry sometimes distract you in class?
How do you acquire your meals during the day? Do you make them yourself or grab something already prepared? Do you sometimes fall into the trap of not eating because you don't have time to make or buy something?

Other Personal Essentials

These tasks are routine and often don't take much time, and because of this it is easy to take them for granted and let them slide indefinitely. Set aside some weekly time to attend to chores. Knowing that you have a plan to get them done will give you several less things to worry about during the week.

When planning for chores ask yourself...

Did you family often take care of some of these things for you? You will have to spend more time on laundry and food preparation now then you did in high school.
Do you usually let chore-like tasks go until you must do them?

Free Time!

At last! Are you surprised at the amount of free time that you have? Is it too much or too little? Do you prefer your days to be more flexible and spontaneous or packed and busy? The amount of free time that you have at the start of the term might diminish as you find fun things to do and your academics gain momentum. Again a conservative approach is often best: Leave yourself some space to unwind and relax every day, and extra time to handle the unexpected-- whether it is a difficult problem set or going out with friends.

When planning for free time ask yourself...

Which of your free time activities are most important to you? Which could you give up if you wanted or needed to spend time on other things?
Which of these activities help you to relax? Which help you to relieve or work off stress?
Do you occasionally find yourself procrastinating by overindulging in one of these activities? Do you need to be more disciplined about limiting these activities?
Is there something that you would really like to do or try, but you never seem to have the time? Could you fit it in by re-prioritizing your other tasks?