The effectiveness of your time schedule will depend on the care with which you plan it. Careful consideration of these points will help you to make a schedule which you can control and which will work for you.
1. Plan a schedule of balanced activities. College life has many aspects that are very important to success. Some have fixed time requirements and some are flexible. Some of the most common which you must consider are:
FIXED: eating, organizations, classes, work
FLEXIBLE: sleeping, personal affairs, recreation, relaxation, study
2. Plan enough time in studying to do justice to each subject. Most college classes are planned to require about three hours per week per credit in the course. By multiplying your credit load by three you can get a good idea of the time you should provide for studying.
Of course, if you are a slow reader or have other study difficulties, you may need to plan more time in order to meet the competition of college classes.
3. Study at a regular time and in a regular place. Establishing habits of study is extremely important. Knowing what you are going to study, and when, saves a lot of time in making decisions and retracing your steps to get necessary materials, etc.
Avoid generalizations in your schedule such as "STUDY". Commit yourself more definitely to "STUDY HISTORY" or "STUDY CHEMISTRY" at certain regular hours.
4. Study as soon after your lecture class as possible. One hour spent soon after class will do as much good in developing an understanding of materials as several hours a few days later.
Review lecture notes while they are still fresh in your mind. Start assignments while your memory of the assignment is still accurate.
5. Utilize odd hours during the day for studying. The scattered one-hour or two-hour free periods between classes are easily wasted.
Planning and establishing habits of using them for studying for the class just finished will result in free time for recreation or activities at other times in the week.
6. Limit your blocks of study time to no more than 2 hours on any one course at one time. After 1-1/2 to 2 hours of study you begin to tire rapidly and your ability to concentrate decreases rapidly.
Taking a break and then switching to studying some other course will provide the change necessary to keep up your efficiency.
7. Trade time; don't steal it. When expected events arise that take up time you had planned to study, decide immediately where you can find he time to make up the study missed and adjust your schedule for the week.
Note the three weekend evenings. Most students can afford no more than two of them for recreation, but may wish to use different evenings on different weeks. This "trading agreement" provides for committing one night to study, but rotating it as recreational possibilities vary.
8. Provide for spaced review. A regular weekly period when you will review the work in each of your courses will help to keep you up to date. This review should be cumulative, covering briefly all the work one thus far in the quarter. Such reviews will reduce the need for cramming" later.
9. Practice self-recitation as a device for increasing memory. Organize your notes in a questions and answer form and think in terms of questions and answers about the main ideas of the material as you review weekly. When preparing for exams, try to predict the, questions the instructor may ask.
10. Keep carefully organized notes on both lectures and assignments. Good notes are one of the best bases for review, Watch for key ideas in lectures and try to express them in your own words in your notes.
Watch for headings and bold face type in your reading to give you clues to main ideas for your notes. Take down careful notes as to exactly what assignments are made and when they are due.
12. Determining your class schedule is also as important as developing your time schedule. If possible, don't take all your toughest required courses in the same semester.
There are classes which must be taken in order, but talk with older Brothers who are in the same major about scheduling your classes. They should be able to provide you with information about the courses, their time commitments and the expectations of the instructors.
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