Making Your Schedule Work for You

Is This You?

Do you find yourself wondering where your time has gone at the end of a long day? Do you spend your time between classes talking with other students, texting, or checking e-mail instead of studying or working on homework? Are you so tired at the end of your classes that you can’t make yourself study or do homework after classes? Read this section carefully. Choose one strategy and use this strategy to imagine a better class schedule in upcoming terms.

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As a first-year student, you might not have had much flexibility in determining your course schedule; by the time you were allowed to register for classes, some sections of the courses you needed might already have been closed. You also might not have known whether you would prefer taking classes back-to-back or giving yourself a break between classes.

How might you wisely use time between classes? This term may have been your first opportunity to take classes that do not meet five days a week. Do you prefer spreading your classes over five or six days of the week, or would you like to go to class just two or three days a week or even once a week for a longer class period? Your attention span and other commitments should influence your decision. In the future you might have more control over how you schedule your classes. Before you register, think about how to make your class schedule work for you; in other words, consider how you can create a schedule that allows you to use your time more efficiently. Also consider your own biorhythms and recognize the part of the day or evening in which you are most alert and engaged.