Andrew's Time Management Strategy

After I came to college, one of my hardest difficulty that I had to overcome was time management. Unlike high school, where you spend most of the time in school and had someone who can help you manage your time, I had to choose my own classes, plan my own schedule, and manage my time well. It was not a easy task at first; I could not handle the freedom that suddenly came out of nowhere. Comparing to high school, I did not have that much of pressure about studying, so I spend most of the time with my friends or goofing off in the Internet. During my first semester, the only time I studyed was when I was in class and when I was doing homework. But, I soon realized that I was not managing my time wisely. I was not satisfied with my grades, and thought that I need to manage my time better at my second semester.

Luckily, at CLS 105, I learned several time management strategies that could help my studying in college. Among those time management strategies that we learned, I thought that the fritter finder and the 20 minute test prep will help me the most, because I thought that these two strategies will help me use time efficiently. The first strategy that I made was the fritter finder. This strategy helped me realize how much free time I have when I exclude my class times. I always thought that classes take lot of my time during my daily routine. However, after I completed the fritter finder, I found out that there are a lot of free times.

This is a picture of my fritter finder; the blue part is my free time, and the white part with red 'Class' in it is the time when I have class. The schedule starts from 8:00 a.m. (when I wake up) to 2:00 a..m. (when I sleep). I was suprised to see that there were lots of free time that I could use. I often thought that I did not have much time to complete all of works that were required. But, after I made this, I began to manage my time better and used my time more wisely than I used to.

The second strategy I chose was the 20 minute test prep. I usually go over the notes that I took in class only before test or exam. Unless then, I do not go over the notes; in other word, I do not review the lecture after the class ends. So, it usually takes me more time when I try to go over the informations that the class went over. When the test or exam period comes up, I do not remember most of the materials that the professors taught us. I sometimes struggle trying to remember the informations when I review the notes and the textbooks. For this reason, the 20 minute test prep is a big help. I save my time studying more later (like right before exam). The strategy also helped me memorize the class materials better because I reviewed them right after class. I used this strategy for my AST 104 class, which have a lot of things to go over.

One note is the note that I took during class. After the class, I reorganize the note by making a new one. I use the green pen for the title, blue pen for the examples, black pen for important term, and red pen for exculsive information. While I reorganize the note, it helps me go over the materials.