MIT Learning to Learn
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Teaching Yourself to Learn

Implement Simple Ways to Save Time

Here are some easy ways to save time every day.

Use Appropriate Technology

Why carry it all in your head when the market offers a planner for every taste? Use your phone or iPod, a PDA, software on your computer, even a paper pocket calendar to keep track of your appointments and deadlines. Keeping them all in one place saves you from wasting time looking for syllabi, appointment cards, and scribbled notes. Ironically, writing things down actually helps your brain remember them.

You can download MIT's official Academic Calendar to your phone or computer. While you won't need every deadline listed there, having it handy makes it even easier to check, and you can set reminders for things like Add and Drop Dates.

Keep a Daily To-Do List

Use a planner (electronic or paper) to list each task you hope to accomplish tomorrow. Set the priority of each task (1, 2, 3 or other symbols). Check off tasks as you accomplish them, and carry over to the next day those you did not complete.

Your goal is not to do everything in one day, but to keep aware of your obligations and priorities. In this way you will do everything in a timely fashion. A To-Do List is a simple tool, but it saves you from wasting time worrying whether you've forgotten something.

Break Big or Difficult Tasks Into Smaller Ones

Getting started on a challenging problem set, a large research project, or preparing for finals may feel overwhelming. "Where do I start? Will I ever get this done?" Sound familiar?

Use the Assignment Timeline to break a project down into manageable components. This will help you in several ways:

Adapt this technique for smaller, more dense tasks as well, such as reading for a difficult subject.

Embrace your inner child. For larger projects or even each academic subject, post a chart of deadlines on your bulletin board. Check each task off as you accomplish it (gold stars?) and give yourself a reward.

Organize Your Space

Even a brilliant time management plan will run aground if you find yourself constantly looking for misplaced text books, lecture notes, or your student ID. The old proverb, "A place for everything and everything in its place" says it all. Figure out what you use most frequently and keep those things handy. Put other stuff, like out-of-season clothes and athletic equipment, away until needed. Invest a little time in organizing now, and you'll save it many times over when you're in a last-minute rush.

OHIO: Only Handle It Once

When you sort through your mail, do you pick up each piece, open one or two, then leave it all in a pile? Later, to find an overdue bill, you look through everything a second time? Maybe a third time through the same pile to find a flyer for a program that sounded interesting? What a hassle!

Only handle things once. When you open your mail, sort it into three piles, maybe using a desk organizer:

Handling your email and voicemail similarly will also save time.

Consume Information Selectively

You are constantly bombarded with information, from the Web, television, radio, magazines, newspapers, conversations, and more. Your brain does a great job of unconsciously filtering some stimuli, but it's useful to ask yourself every once in a while, "Do I need to know this?" "How will I use this information?" "Is this the best use of my time?" You don't have to be serious and on task all the time, just be aware of making choices.

Stop the Time Thieves

Who interrupts your work? Well-meaning friends and family, in person or on social media, can be a hard-to-resist distraction. Pick a quiet, comfortable study location where you are not likely be disturbed, and tell your friends where you will be only if you can trust them not to interrupt you unnecessarily. If this doesn't work, you might have to be more direct. Most people, especially other students, will understand your need to concentrate on your work.

Turn off your phone: that's what voicemail is for. You might feel as though you are multitasking when you text someone while reading or doing problems, but often the reverse is true. You can get drawn into a conversation so gradually that you're not aware how much time is passing. An assignment done while texting or following tweets will likely take two or three times longer and not turn out as well.

Be conscious and self-protective when using social media. Set yourself a time limit. Send messages that really need to be sent, not just idle greetings. Be clear and succinct in your writing, and stop when time is up. At night, be sure to put your phone further away from your bed than arm's reach. Being intentional and organized gives you plenty of time to socialize, get your work done, and get enough sleep.

If you need someone else to help you get off Facebook or your favorite video site, consider installing site-blocking software. A variety of free and commercial products exists for most browsers. MozillaZine provides a good introduction to both, and TopTenReviews offers a comparison chart for popular commercial products; both include links to the software.

Some site-blocking software allows you to set specific times when all Internet access is blocked; all allow you to block access to certain sites. One way to use this is to create two logins for your device, one for studying (with limited or no Internet access), the other (with full access) for personal and social purposes.

Make Waiting Productive

You will literally spend years of your life waiting—between classes, in line, for appointments and meetings, to catch the bus or train. The list is endless, and the time adds up. Find simple ways to make this time productive: keep note cards handy for review, touch up your lecture notes, continue with a reading assignment, or work on a problem set. Remember that most tasks aren't done completely in one sitting. Make incremental progress whenever possible.

Make Friends with your Alarm

Wake-up and appointment alarms are helpful friends, reminding you that something has to be done—even though they feel like nasty interruptions when you're dreaming or absorbed in a task. Don't ignore your friends! Your alarm clock is one of the few time management tools that will actually pester you to stay on schedule. If you can't rise to the alarm, then chances are you will have a hard time following the rest of your schedule. Getting enough sleep the night before is the key to waking up when the alarm goes off.

Get Some Help

Effective time management is a lifelong process. Setting up good habits during your college years will pay many dividends in your future professional life. If you're having any trouble managing your time now, ask for personalized help: