Time Management Tips to Increase Productivity as an Online Student

Written by Abena Sey

August 2, 2020

As an online student, time management is key, particularly if you are balancing full-time work, a family, and other obligations.  I believe that time management begins with establishing a routine and creating a purpose for the time you devote to your studies.  The following are practical time management strategies that I used to help better manage my time as an online graduate student and achieve success.

Establish a Study Routine

Designate times of the day to devote to course work.  These time blocks are periods in the day where you are typically available to work, uninterrupted and distraction-free.  I recommend that you choose more than one time block, in case something unexpected comes up, and you are not able to work during a particular time.  If that happens, you will have peace of mind knowing that you have another time block reserved for your coursework.  Consider times of the day where you are most productive.  By nature, I am a morning person, so I was able to devote 30 minutes before I had to get ready for work to my studies, but I had a sustained amount of time to work on my studies after 9:00 pm, when my children were asleep.  Be flexible, because you may have to play around with your schedule to find time blocks that work best for you and your priorities.  If you are a full-time employee, ask your employer about the possibility of scheduling some time in your work schedule to devote to your coursework, especially if your program of studies benefits your organization.  This wasn’t a possibility for me due to the nature of my work (I was a grade 3 teacher at the time), but I took advantage of small breaks within the day to do some coursework.  Take inventory of your entire day to identify pockets of time that you can use for school.

Prepare Your Workspace

In my previous blog, Preparing Your Online Workspace at Home, I discussed strategies for creating an organized workspace conducive to maximizing productivity.  One strategy mentioned is organizing school supplies needed as an online student.  For the purposes of time management, I recommend that you prepare your workspace, and ensure that the supplies you need to work are organized and readily accessible.  You do not want to waste precious time looking for these items.  Be sure to read my blog post for how to achieve this goal!

Invest in a Planner (Digital or Hard Copy, it’s your choice)

A planner is a valuable investment to help you organize the time you designate for coursework.  You will want to plan in advance what you will specifically work on during that window of time.  Planning in advance will help streamline your workflow.  You can get to work immediately, without having to waste time deciding what needs to be done.  A strategy that worked for me was writing down goals to complete the next time I did coursework.  I evaluated the goals I accomplished during that study timeblock, and planned what I needed to accomplish during my next study timeblock.  Goal setting was an effective tool for me.  I loved checking off the things I was able to accomplish, and whatever did not get done during that time was moved to the next study session.

Read / Study Efficiently

When working on reading assignments, my goal was to always read with the intention of seeking information relevant to the focal question or topic of the week in a timely manner.  Because I knew that I did not have the time to re-read literature, I developed study strategies that helped increase my comprehension of the learning material, find the main points in the literature, and apply the information to my writing efficiently.  

It is good practice to underline and annotate key points and thought-provoking parts of the literature related to your assignment focus.  This strategy also applies to e-books or other digital resources, as most platforms have features that enable you to highlight and annotate the literature, and bookmark pages.  I have even used digital platforms for e-books that show you what other readers have highlighted, which can prove useful in supporting your ideas and thoughts on the topic.  I also used stationary tools such as tabs, binder clips, or sticky notes for any printed texts I read, and would annotate and label sections that I did not want to leave out of my assignment.   

Keep notes (either digitally or in a notebook) of ideas and thoughts that come to mind while reading, as this will help you save time when you are putting together your rough draft.  These can also be used as study notes to help you efficiently memorize and understand the material you are reading.  Be sure to keep these files organized using a management system.   **See my post on how to use cloud storage to facilitate this process.** 

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