Time management is simply the key to success. Graduating online saves you time and money and gives you the flexibility you need.
Here are 8 tips and tricks to help you get the most of your online programme:
1. Find out what is expected of you by each professor/tutor/course/programme
Read each syllabus thoroughly and familiarize yourself with the expectations for each course to optimize your time management. Talk to the programme’s director and to your tutor in order to understand what it is expected from you as a student.
2. Write down due dates
Write down key due dates from the syllabus in one or more additional places where you’ll refer to them regularly. Review these due dates before making professional, social, or personal commitments that may conflict with your school requirements. Check your online campus regularly for assignments and assistance.
3. Create mini-appointments
Create your own “mini” deadlines to help you better monitor your own progress. For instance, a deadline for completing the research for your paper or the first draft. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and wondering how you are going to get it all done, believe that you can do it all. Talk to your fellow cohorts. Share your struggles, discuss solutions.
4. Do not be afraid to ask for help
But few make it on their own. Learning how to ask for (and accept) help is perhaps one of the greatest skills you can develop. Teach yourself how to do it.
5. Prioritize your schoolwork
It’s easier to prioritize when you get in the habit of saying “no” to anything you do not have to do that takes you away from your necessary obligations and your schoolwork. Saying no is easier than you think.
6. Do not procrastinate
Many students put off their schoolwork until the last minute, but do not be one of them. Some call this behaviour procrastination.
It is self-sabotage because when you do something at the last minute, you may not be doing your best because you neglected to take the time necessary to read the required chapters or write and rewrite the necessary reports. You also reduce the likelihood that you’ll get the excellent grades you could and should if you did not hurry (or turn in projects after the due date).
7. Self-directed learning is the key to online learning
If you study too long, you can wear yourself out, but if you do not study long enough, you’ll be ill-prepared. Take a break every twenty minutes or so. This will allow you to recover and read, write, or study more.
8. Back everything up
Make sure you have backed up your work in multiple ways. If you use a computer, back up your data to a cloud service, an external hard drive, a memory stick, or a second computer.
In a nutshell
Getting your work done in a timely manner has other benefits. Most importantly, you’ll feel calmer as you work more focused and efficiently, getting more done in less time.
When you can work more efficiently and plan better, you’ll be less tempted to neglect sleep. Instead, get the hours you need to recharge so you can work, learn, and enjoy your free time. Make the most of your online experience.
Do you have more tips and tricks? Share them with us.
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