Studying or getting work done doesn’t always have to take hours if you are strategic about your time and create smaller, more manageable tasks
To put it lightly, university students are very busy.
Besides the full-time course load, we often have other duties to attend to such as part-time jobs and student activities. Then, to maintain our mental and physical health, we need to find the time to eat healthy meals, exercise, get enough sleep, and spend time with friends. Herein lies the problem — we don’t normally have large chunks of time available everyday, such as a full-hour or a whole afternoon, to hunker down and get some good studying in. When exams eventually roll in, our time becomes even more cramped, and it can feel impossible to get everything done on time.
So, given the limited amount of large study sessions, how can we keep up with our studies and still be efficient with the rest of our time? For one, we need to creatively make use of the small chunks of time we have available throughout our day.
‘Small chunks of time’ refers to the moments that are sporadic and short in time span such as waiting for class to begin (10 minutes), waiting for the bus (15 minutes), or waiting for laundry to be ready (30 minutes). By creatively using these short waiting times, we can get a lot done and become more efficient learners.
To get started, estimate how much of these small chunks of time you have. For example, your next class is going to take place in 20 minutes, and it is going to take you around 10 minutes to walk there. Once you arrive you’ll have 10 minutes to spare before the class starts.
Once you have an idea of the time that you have, you can review your to-do list and pick out the tasks that can be completed within the 15-, 20-, or 30-minute time slots.
Here are a few ideas for tasks that can be completed within 15 or 20 minutes:
- Reply to a few short emails.
- Review your weekly schedule.
- Skim and scan your textbook or lecture notes.
- Review key concepts in flashcards or self-testing apps.
- Review a list of study questions that you created for the course or that are included as part of the course.
- Review video summaries of your chapter (if available).
- If you have a habit of making audio recordings on the important points from your textbook, you can listen to them.
- Listen to audiobooks that are relevant to your course topics.
With these being said, it’s important that you develop the habit of reviewing your tasks and perhaps breaking down your large tasks into smaller, more manageable ones that can be accomplished within short time intervals, such as reviewing PowerPoint slides and the course learning outcomes. This way, you can populate your to-do list with tasks that can be accomplished at different time intervals and tackle them during the small chunks of times that are available throughout your day.
So, before this coming exam season, get in the habit of making the most out of your small time chunks. Experiment with different tasks and time periods to see what works best for you. This way, you’ll be better prepared to manage your time and effort when December comes.
A version of this article appeared in print in The Ontarion issue 191.3 on Oct. 28, 2021.
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