Learning to manage your online college schedule is vital to your success. Life is a massive balancing act, and so are the essential aspects of it.
Online college requires as much self-management skills as any other form of academic pursuit, probably more.
Sometimes, it can be tricky if you have your hands full with many responsibilities. Don’t worry; online college programs make the art of scheduling a bit more intuitive than you might imagine.
College student checking items on a bulletin board
Merely making a to-do list or calendar doesn’t cut it for self-directed learning. You need a way to ensure that you will stick to your written schedule. We can take a look at some ways you can maximize productivity.
Set realistic goals
There’s a difference between just setting goals and setting realistic goals. Setting realistic goals means being honest with yourself and knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
If you think you can accomplish a project in a week, then good for you. But, if, after taking into consideration all the potential distractions, you have doubts about this, you need to give yourself extra time.
Be honest with your priorities when making your online college schedule
How do you determine what is or is not a priority? Sometimes, when planning, we act as though everything is a priority and have difficulty deciding what can or cannot be postponed.
Long term priority setting is essential as well, but now we are talking about day to day planning.
- Make a list. The night before, or early in the morning, make a list of what absolutely must be done that day. Rank them in order of importance and separate them into urgent and non-urgent categories.
- Honesty is the best policy. Be realistic and only set goals that are attainable and can be achieved in the time frame you set.
- Determine the value of each thing to be accomplished. Some things are more critical than others, and this must be taken into consideration.
- Be flexible. Sometimes, priorities must be changed, and you need to adjust your schedule to accommodate this need.
- Know when to fold. If you are a perfectionist and spend much more time than allotted to complete a task, you need to learn when to stop. The enemy of very good is perfect. Not everything you do must be done perfectly. And, if it keeps you from completing a task at all, it will hurt you in the long run.
A good approach is to observe your behavior first in the early semester. Take notes of your study habits and craft a schedule that adjusts to your priorities, the real ones.
If study habits and schedules have worked for you in the past, give them a chance to work for you now.
If, after a couple of weeks, they are not working, then you can adjust them accordingly. HINT: Exercise and sleep are important priorities to maintain as are personal relationships. Include them in your schedule.
Preparing a schedule for your online college courses
Timing is everything
online college success requires good timing and scheduling
No one size fits all, and in this case, no one schedule fits all. For every person, there is a peak productivity time, depending on your body clock and environment.
If you do not know when your peak productivity time is, just like in the above tip, you need to observe. Do you feel more like studying at night than during the day?
That’s a sign that your peak productivity hour is during the evening. Most adults already know if they are more of a morning lark or a night owl.
Sometimes, our work schedules or family responsibilities will now allow us to study during our peak times, and we have to do our best to adjust.
These tips aren’t the usual tips you’ll hear for schedule management but give them a shot. Online college isn’t your usual way of getting a degree, either, but it works.
See what works for you, and hopefully, your schedules become a tool for productivity.
Here is another article you may find helpful. https://onlinecollegelife.info/how-to-adjust-yourself-for-online-college/
Photos courtesy of Pixabay
