Page 77 - Keys To Community College Success

4. Schedule Priority 2 items around existing items. Once you have the essentials
set, put in study time, workouts, study group meetings, and other important
but flexible items. Schedule class prep time—reading and studying, writing, and
working on assignments and projects—in the planner as you would any other
activity. As a rule, schedule at least two hours of preparation for every hour of
class—that is, if you take 12 credits, you’ll spend 24 hours or more a week on
course-related activities in and out of class.
5. Include Priority 3 items where possible. Schedule these items, such as social time
or doing errands, around the items already locked in.
When you are scheduling and evaluating the potential rewards of various tasks, be
careful not to equate “reward” with “fun.” They are not necessarily one and the same.
For example, you might consider spending an hour on Instagram a lot more fun than
studying for a test for that same hour. However, the reward for working toward a good
test grade may ultimately be more desirable to you than whatever you would gain from
posting and liking photos.

Link Tasks to Long-Term Goals
Linking day-to-day events in your planner to your values and long-term goals gives
meaning to your efforts and keeps you motivated. For example, planning study time
for an economics test will mean more to you if you link that time to your goal of being
accepted into business school and your value of meaningful employment. If you were a
student with a goal of entering business school, you might link these action steps for
the next year to your goal:
■ This year. Maintain my class standing while completing enough courses to meet
curriculum requirements for business school.
■ This term. Complete my economics class with a B average or higher.
■ This month. Set up economics study group schedule to coincide with quizzes
and tests.
■ This week. Meet with study group; go over material for Friday’s test.
■ Today. Go over Chapter 3 in economics text.
You can then arrange a schedule that moves you in the direction of your goal,
scheduling activities that support your short-term goal of doing well on your economics Values, Goals, and Time
test and entering them in your planner. Your long-term goal of going to business school
provides motivation to do well.
Another important way to link short-term tasks to a long-term goal is to schedule
milestones toward major papers and assignments. If you know you have a huge project
or research paper due at the end of the term, brainstorm a list of steps toward that
goal—for example, research goals, different drafts, peer review—and set them up in
your calendar.
Before each week begins, remind yourself of your long-term goals and what you
can accomplish over the next seven days to move you closer to those goals. Every once
in a while, take a hard look at your schedule to see if you are spending enough time on
what you really value.

Make To-Do Lists

When you have a cluster of tasks to accomplish, you may find it useful to create a to-do
list and check off the items as you complete them. A to-do list can be helpful during
exam week, in anticipation of an especially busy day, for a long-term or complicated
assignment, or when keyed to a special event. Some people keep a separate to-do list
focused on low-priority tasks.
Use a code to prioritize the items on your list so that you address the most impor-
tant items first. Some people just list items in priority order and number them. Some use

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