Seven Ideas for Finding Time
COMBINE 2 ACTIVITIES: If you ride the bus, use the time to read
a book. When walking to class, mentally review a list from one
of your classes or mentally organize a paper you are writing.
BE PREPARED TO STUDY WHILE YOU WAIT: Whether waiting in a line
for tickets or in the doctor’s office, bring something to study
with you. Twenty minutes reviewing Spanish verbs is a better
use of time than rifling through an old magazine.
USE THE TELEPHONE TO GET INFORMATION: If you need to see if a
book has come into the library, call! Any contact or information
you can gather by phone saves you important travel time.
HAVE A SYSTEM FOR FINDING/LOCATING IMPORTANT THINGS: Be
consistent about where you put things you will need—papers,
pens, keys, books. Save the time you would lose looking for
these things.
DON’T LET A ONE-HOUR TASK TAKE THREE HOURS: If you are working
on a simple task, don’t let it be a time hog. Put the right amount
of time into each assignment. Budget your time.
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME: “If you haven’t got the time to do it
right, when will you find the time to do it over?” A few minutes
or less to make a backup copy of a report may save your great
grief if your paper is lost on the computer’s hard drive.
RUTHLESSLY CUT DOWN ON TELEVISION OR INTERNET SURFING!
New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1994.
