YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY SCHEDULE

At the beginning of every school term, make a typical weekly schedule. This schedule includes all your regular courses, work, and family obligations and gives you a realistic sense of whether you can handle these obligations. To make a weekly schedule, follow these steps.

Make a handwritten chart, create a table online, or download a version of this chart here.

Fill in your class times, your work hours (if they are fairly regular), and other regular obligations. Color-coding helps distinguish classes from work and personal obligations. Your schedule might now look something like this:

Now schedule two other essentials: study/homework time and free time. Scheduling free time may sound odd, but it is important because it gives you something to look forward to and helps you avoid procrastinating. Scheduling study and homework time is also essential because it is such a major part of your week. The general rule of thumb for college classes is that you should budget two hours of study and homework time for every hour you spend in class. Yes, that’s right: two hours of study time for every hour you spend in class. Not every week or every class will require the same amount of study time, but this is a good formula to use as a basis for setting up your weekly calendar. requires that, but some will take more time, so it’s a good general rule. In addition, schedule some “catch-up study time” each week to spend on whichever class needs extra attention at the time. Of course, some weeks you will need more time and some weeks you will need less, but careful time management helps you balance that out and make the workload manageable even in those weeks when you have two tests and a big project due. For example, weeks where you have extra time in your study budget can be a great opportunity to read ahead in class or prepare for big projects coming up.

Here’s what your schedule might look like once you’ve included study time and free time:

The week is pretty full, but it does include room for fun, family, and friends, and a little bit of unstructured time for whatever arises.

Making a typical week schedule and keeping a printed copy with you keeps you on track. You may also want to print out a copy for the important people in your life so that they can see all your obligations. Those friends and family members who do not completely “get” what college is like may need to see it on paper to understand how busy you really are.