GET AHEAD POSTGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2014

1. GET AHEADPOSTGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2014 Organising yourself at postgraduate level Sara Steinke s.steinke@bbk.ac.uk

2. Aims of the session • To consider the importance of organising your time and resources as part of postgraduate study - what is meant by time management, including time management techniques - the 3 Ps - procrastination, perfectionism, prioritisation • To identify ways that you can build upon your organisational skills for postgraduate study

3. Importance of being organised • Poor organisational skills prevent students from achieving their best, rarely lack of ability • Related to other academic skills - dedicated study space/resources, essay writing process, presentation skills, exam technique, revision strategy, reading for academic purposes, effective note making • Helps you to achieve your goals - S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) • Link to employability

4. Importance of organising yourself at PG level • Greater responsibility for organising your time and resources as part of independent, self-directed postgraduate study and learning • Required for greater amounts of reading, writing and note making at postgraduate level • Expected of PG level students at university

5. Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook C - Creative have the confidence to use your individual strategies and styles, apply imagination to your learning R - Reflective sit with your experience, analyse and evaluate your own performance and draw lessons from it E - Effective organise your space, time, priorities, state of mind and resources to the maximum benefit A - Active be personally involved, do things, physically and mentally in order to make sense of what you learn M - Motivated be aware of your desired outcomes using short and long-term 'goals'

6. Understand the importance of time management • Define what is meant by time management • Identify where your time goes • Consider how well you use your time

7. Importance of time management ‘Time management is the skill which above all others can make the difference between graduating and drop out.’ Ruth Pickford and Sally Brown, Assessing Skills and Practice (London: Routledge, 2006), page 47

8. What is time management • Time management is about organising your competing priorities in the limited time available • Time management often has very little to do with time • It is about organising your life around what is important to you, dealing with and confronting more emotional issues like fear, inadequacy and other people’s demands on you

9. What current pressures are there on your time? Have you thought about how you are going to fit studying into your wider schedule? Can you foresee any problems which may arise?

10. The 3 Ps • Importance of prioritisation • What is prioritisation • How to prioritise • Goal setting

11. The 3 Ps • Avoid PROCRASTINATION • No such thing as PERFECTIONISM • Learn how to PRIORITISE

12. Procrastination • Avoid lots of displacement activities • Check that your study goals are realistic - are you trying to do too much? - S.M.A.R.T. • Know yourself • Reward yourself • Just do it - something is better than nothing • Talk to your family members/friends, ask them to respect your study time • Identify your time wasters

13. More time-saving suggestions • Invest in your academic skills • Beware of your time wasters • Learn how to prioritise tasks • Use a diary to create ‘to-do’ lists • Establish a study timetable

14. Procrastination • Perfectionism • Lack of self discipline • Worrying • Personal disorganisation • Lack of priorities • Inability to say ‘no’ • Indecisiveness • Socialising (too much) • Intrusions (visitors, calls) • Not finding resources • Excessive family demands • Not able to contact people • Facebook/Twitter/internet • Which of these time wasters apply to you? • How are you going to deal with these time wasters?

15. Use one diary, carry with you at all times • Enter deadlines, lectures, appointments etc, including extra time needed to complete these tasks (eg travel) • Check diary everyday • Do not schedule 100% of your time, allow for emergencies/the unexpected • Plan time for family, friends, eating, shopping • Create to-do list, using prioritisation • Record follow up tasks

17. Have you created a dedicated study space? • Are you comfortable? • Have you enough space to work in? • Do you have all the equipment that you need? • How are you going to organise your notes/ books?

18. Importance of prioritisation • Adult learners have many, often competing, demands on their time; work, family, friends and studying • Helps you to achieve your short, medium and long term goals • Expected of postgraduate students at university • Transferable skill to the workplace

19. What is prioritisation • Quadrant A - Urgent and Important The Quadrant of Necessities - reactive tasks that need to be done, often at the last minute. Crises, 'fire-fighting' and looming deadlines are typical examples. • Quadrant B - Important but not Urgent The Quadrant of Quality - proactive tasks, often habitual, that maintain or improve the quality of your work and life. The more you expand this quadrant, the more you reduce the other three, particularly 'pseudo-emergencies' that should never have been allowed to become so. • Quadrant C - Urgent but not Important The Quadrant of Deception - plenty of people have gone home in the evening wondering where all the time went. Well, it was here! It's so easy to get sucked into doing things that are the wrong side of the 80-20 rule. • Quadrant D - Neither Urgent or Important The Quadrant of Waste - you know what it is and you know when you've been in it. The trick is to know when you're in it. Often, it starts out as restful time (which is Quadrant B).

23. New (academic) year resolutions Psychologists (at the University of Hertfordshire) have identified 5 success factors for individuals who managed to achieve their New Years’ Resolutions. • Breaking down goals into small steps • Rewarding achievement • Telling other people what you’re trying to achieve • Focussing on the benefits of success • Keeping a progress diary

24. Time management and organisation - recap Do you: • have strategies to help you plan and organise your time? • know how much time you have available for your studies? • know what makes studying more effective for you (i.e. when and where you study best)? • keep a diary or calendar so you know when to attend lectures and when assignments are due?

25. Useful resources for organisation skills Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills Handbook, 3rd Edition (London, Palgrave) chapter 4 ‘The C.R.E.A.M. Strategy for learning’ pp.70-79 http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/studyskills/learning/time.asp helpful information on organisational skills on the Skills4Study website http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/studyskills/course timetable academic skills workshops which deal with organisational skills - and other study skills - in greater detail http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead/academic- support/organisational-skills 20 minute interactive tutorial supporting this Student Orientation programme

26. Presentations can be found at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/orientation /getaheadpostgraduate