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You have too many things going on at once and you are running out of time! You are feeling stressed out, which is making life even more difficult. Looking back, you realize that you could have budgeted your time better, but it's too late now. There are deadlines to meet. What should you do? When you are in circumstances like these, it is time to rethink your priorities and to develop a plan. Setting priorities is not difficult if you can stop working and stop fretting for a few minutes. Take some precious time to review what you need to do. Think about your goals and obligations. Consider the consequences if goals are not reached or are postponed. Ask yourself what resources, like other people, can help you out. Break your goals down into specific tasks. Then answer these three questions: 1) What tasks do I have to do? 2) What tasks should I do? 3) What tasks would I like to do? Most systems for setting priorities involve dividing tasks into high, medium, and low priorities. Once you have developed these three lists, you can make better use of your remaining time to salvage everything you can from a potentially bad situation. Estimate the time it will take to complete each task and then develop a schedule, assigning specific days/times for completing the highest priority items. You might be surprised at how much you can accomplish when you have a plan and you are committed to working diligently. Final exam periods are often occasions when you'll wish that you had more time to study. Finding study time at the end of the semester is difficult. You will have papers to turn in, other test to take, or presentations to give. You may already be stressed, and then final exams sneak up on you. You'll save yourself some grief if you take some time now to review your syllabi and look over the final exam schedule. Find out what kind of final is going to be given in each class and see how much the final exam contributes to your final grade. Try to determine where you stand in each course. Then develop a study plan. Set priorities. What things do you have to do to be prepared for finals for each course? What should you do? What would you like to do? Then schedule your study time to match these priorities. Finals are your last chance to improve your grades. You will want to be prepared. One method to use when you have to cram is called the "spiral down
technique." Start with the most general (or most important information)
and then work your way down through more specific information towards the
most detailed information. If you do run out of time, then at least you
will have reviewed the most important information. For example, your spiral
down list for a comprehensive final might look like this:
You may never have enough time to get to the bottom of the list, but if you have set your priorities well, then you will have used your time as wisely as possible. The order that you work on these study tasks, the types of things you do to study, and the amount of time you should spend on each item will vary. The basic idea to follow is to approach your studying strategically. Develop a plan, making sure that you complete those tasks that will benefit you the most. Start now to study for finals to avoid some stress later. Set priorities and develop a plan. Find some time each day to get ready for finals. If it turns out that you have to cram, then you really need to plan. Work on what is most important first. Be sure that you eat well and get enough sleep. Remember that you are at the finish line, you can relax after you've completed the race. Run strong at the end. |
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Page edited 06/18/02 © Mark S. May/Eastern Illinois University