Analyze Your Assessment Results

The number of hours you spend on certain tasks can be surprising, especially when you begin to compare the totals. You may discover that you're spending almost as much time on extracurriculars as on academics. The few hours marked "Sleep" may explain why you feel tired most of the time. Are there any hours marked "Free Time"?

As you evaluate your current time expenditures, consider the questions in each section below. Based on your answers, enter new figures in the second column of the Time Distribution Assessment, showing the number of hours you want to spend on each activity. Each section also includes relevant advice and links to further information.

If you would like more specific feedback about your plans, your advisor (and, if you have one, associate advisor) are excellent resources for advice on time management. We in the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP) would also be happy to meet with you: visit the Contact Us page to make an appointment.

Academics

To estimate how much time you should be spending on academics, use the Academic Load Breakdown.

When planning your academic time ask yourself...

• How am I doing academically? Do I need more time for reading and reviewing notes, more time to write papers and do psets, or both?
• Which are my more challenging subjects? (These will require more study time.) Would a regular tutoring session or study group help reduce my individual study time?
• Am I completing assignments on time? Do I have to stay up very late to meet deadlines?
• How often do I procrastinate? Am I wasting time worrying about work to be done?
• Is there room in my schedule to add extra hours to study for an exam?

To build enough time for academics into your schedule, see Tips for Planning Study Time on the Construct a Balanced Schedule page.

Jobs

Many MIT students must work for pay as part of their financial aid package. Others choose to work to earn spending money or to contribute to their family's budget. More than 80 percent of MIT undergraduates work in a UROP at least once during their four years; many UROPs are paying positions, and all of them demand significant amounts of time.

When planning for work time ask yourself...

• Do I need to work, or could I get through one or more terms without working?
• If I must work, what is the minimum income I have to earn per week? How many hours will it take to earn that amount of money?
• Have the demands of a job interfered with my academics in the past?
• What other activities might I have to eliminate in favor of working more hours?

Working one or more jobs can be as difficult to balance with academics as extracurricular activities. Keep in mind that the more you work, the less time you will have for extracurriculars: the use of time is a zero-sum game.

UROP and other jobs may be flexible about scheduling, allowing you to adjust your hours to accommodate busy academic periods, but don't assume this: ask about it during interviews.

For help with finances, including finding a job, visit Student Financial Services online or in room 11-120.

Meals

Eating and sleeping are essential supports for your academic work and the rest of your activities. Brain cells, just as much as muscles, need fuel.

How do you acquire your meals during the day? Do you make them yourself or grab something already prepared? Do you sometimes fall into the trap of not eating because you don't have time to make or buy something?

When planning for meal time ask yourself...

• Am I okay with eating food prepared for me (dining hall, food court, trucks) or do I prefer to cook for myself or as part of a group?
• Do my other commitments (work, extracurriculars) allow time for shopping and preparing food, or do I need to depend on others to prepare my food?
• How many bought meals per week does my budget allow?
• Am I sometimes so hungry in class that I can't concentrate on learning? What can I do about that?

We're surrounded by nutritional advice, but among all the fads and news is the core: regular, moderate-size meals with a balance of foods promote health and wellbeing.

Here are a couple of specifics for students:

• Always eat something in the morning, even if it is just a breakfast bar on the way to class.
• Carry healthy snacks with you wherever you go. If you get stuck in the lab or need to go to office hours after lecture, take five minutes to refuel. Easily portable snacks include peanuts and raisins, an apple, baby carrots, celery sticks. You can even find online a plastic case to safely carry a banana in your backpack! Be careful with energy and granola bars: many are high in sugar and fats.
• Plan to make sit-down time with friends for lunch and dinner—not only because you need the fuel, but because you need physical, mental, and emotional breaks in your day. Meals can rejuvenate you on all of these levels.
• MIT dorms and FSILGs have many kitchens, and cooking is really just applied chemistry. It's never too late to learn. Many dorms and some living groups have established structures for residents who want to cook and eat together. Ask around.
• Take advantage of local sources of fresh and healthy food: the weekly Produce Market on campus, grocery stores within walking or biking distance, Cambridge Farmer's Markets, etc. Preparing food from scratch not only saves money but often increases the nutritional value of the meal.

Relax, eat well, and enjoy yourself. For extensive information on eating well, including guides to campus food sources and special advice for athletes, consult MIT Medical Community Wellness Program areas.

Sleep

MIT people don't need sleep, right? Wrong! While it's true that a few high-flyers can get by on four hours of sleep night after night, most college students need at least six and do much better on eight or even nine.

Like your computer's need for updates and rebooting, both bodies and minds need downtime. During sleep, muscles get rebuilt, wastes are collected, and the brain reorganizes. Getting enough sleep doesn't just make you feel good: research shows that rested people learn faster and more permanently. Without enough sleep, you struggle to concentrate, spend more time on assignments, learn appreciably less, and are more likely to make mistakes.

When planning for sleep time ask yourself...

• How many hours of sleep per night do I need to wake up feeling rested and refreshed?
• Between which hours of the day am I most comfortable sleeping?
• Does my academic and work schedule allow time for a brief nap?

"Power napping" is real: most people gain refreshment and renewed energy from 20-30 minutes of sleep during the day. Anything longer than that risks fooling the body into thinking it's time for a full night's sleep, and waking from that state after only two or three hours is painful. If you have to skimp on sleep for a night or two, do your best to schedule a "power nap" after you submit the pset or project. MIT Medical's Community Wellness downloads page offers other tips.

Frequently feeling tired and lethargic, or falling asleep in class, is not normal. It's a symptom of sleep deprivation. Same thing with losing concentration or suffering headaches during class or study time. Your body is trying to tell you something.

Although it might feel as though you are doing more by sleeping less, the habit isn't sustainable, so sleep well and often, and consider it an investment. For more advice on sleep, including sleep problems, consult MIT Medical online.

Extracurricular Activities

Finding the right balance between academics and extracurricular activities can be difficult. A commitment made to an activity at the start of the term may become harder to continue as your academic work becomes more demanding.

When planning your extracurricular time ask yourself...

• Which of my many interests am I most passionate about? Why?
• Do I prefer well-structured activities with meeting times and established goals, or independent activities pursued at my own pace—or a mix of both?
• Which extracurricular activities would help me relax or work off stress?
• Do I have a history of overcommitment to activities, clubs, or sports?
• Have my extracurricular commitments ever adversely affected my academics?

The best approach is usually a conservative one. Consider participating in a single extracurricular activity for starters, or two if the time commitments are small. Remember that there are a lot of fun one-time events at MIT, and you will want free time to explore those, too.

With many activities you can choose your level of involvement: for example, if you want to play volleyball, you could try to make varsity (highest time commitment), join the club sports or intramural team (medium time commitment), or find a group of friends who want to play a few games per term (lowest time commitment).

After a term or two at MIT, you'll have a clearer sense of how much time and energy you can devote to extracurriculars, but remember that finding internships and making post-graduation plans are jobs in themselves.

Other Personal Essentials

Before you came to MIT your family may have taken care of many routine tasks like laundry, shopping, and cleaning. They weren't part of your schedule. Now you are responsible for most of them. Even if each task feels easy and quick, together they add up to a significant part of your schedule.

When planning for chores ask yourself...

• How long does it usually take me to straighten up my room? Do the laundry? Cook supper?
• Do I enjoy taking care of chores, or do I have to motivate myself each time?
• Do I have responsibility for shared chores in a dorm kitchen or FSILG? Can more hands make lighter work?

Some chores are easy to let slide for a while (especially laundry) but they can't be postponed indefinitely. Set aside some regularly weekly time to attend to chores. Knowing that you have a plan to get them done will give you several less things to worry about during the week, and let you concentrate on your academic work.

Free Time

At last! Are you surprised at the amount of free time that you have? Is it too much or too little? Do you prefer your days to be more flexible and spontaneous or packed and busy? The amount of free time you have at the start of the term might diminish as you find fun things to do and your academics gain momentum.

When planning for free time ask yourself...

• Which of my free-time activities are most important? Which could I give up if necessary to spend time on other things?
• Which of these activities helps me relax and relieve stress?
• Do I occasionally overindulge in one of these activities and end up hurting my study time? Do I need to be more disciplined about limiting these activities?
• Is there something I would really like to do or try but never seem to have the time for? Could I fit it in by reprioritizing other tasks?

Again a conservative approach is often best. Leave yourself some space to unwind and relax every day, then add extra time to handle the unexpected, whether a difficult problem set or going out with friends.

Summary

Time spent analyzing the results of your assessment and constructing a schedule is not at all wasted. Once you've built a realistic and flexible weekly schedule and gotten in the habit of using to-do lists, you'll free up a lot of time formerly spent in worry and trying to figure out if you were forgetting anything. Handing in an assignment early, after a good night's sleep, is a great reward.

See Constructing a Balanced Schedule and Implement Simple Ways to Save Time for more advice on planning your time.