Building a Semester Plan
As the nights become cooler and we move into fall, those initial well-intentioned habits that you may have developed at the start of the academic semester might be starting to break down.
Have no fear. I want to share with you three scheduling strategies that may aid in helping you stay on track and working toward your academic goals.
‘Big Blue’ (you can name it whatever makes the most sense to you.)
This schedule takes about 30 minutes to complete and is best done with a friend or roommate. You will need to pull all of your course syllabi, highlight any due dates, and input everything into ONE (yes, ONE) paper calendar.
While some due dates may change and instructors may not have scheduled everything yet, don’t worry. The purpose of ‘Big Blue’ is to see all of your academic responsibilities at one glance. Once completed, tape this up in a place you frequent often, maybe next to a mirror or on the back of your door.
Once this is complete, imagine it to look like ocean waves. Some weeks the waves might be large, meaning there are plenty of assignments due that week, while other weeks the waves are calm. Calm weeks can be ideal for increasing self-care activities. The important distinction here is that not all weeks require the same amount of output/energy. In order to stay resilient throughout the semester, it is imperative that you take breaks or ease your pace. By identifying those calm weeks, it can be easier to give yourself permission to rest, get outside, or enjoy something other than flexing your academic muscles.
2. Weekly Planner
Step 1. You may already have a weekly planner; if so, great. Still, consider printing off a planner such as this one (LINK). First, audit your time for the next seven days to assess how you are already spending time instead of scheduling how you would like to spend your time. I often reference Cal Newport’s book - Deep Work. You can watch a brief animated overview below. For example, times when you are productive may not be when your roommate is most productive. Identifying when YOU are most engaged/productive/motivated throughout the day will help when you begin to construct step two.
Step 2. Seven days later, reflect on when you had the most intellectual energy and when you felt most tired or unproductive. Then, look at your classes and assignments and allocate specific times for what Cal Newport calls ‘Deep Work’ and ‘Shallow Work.’ Chuck all of those easy/shallow work tasks together and tackle them when you are generally less motivated. Similarly, chuck your deep work tasks together and approach them when you can engage in a sustained level of focus for anywhere from 45-90 mins. You will need to identify some daily ‘chunks’ of time for deep work.
Deep Work: professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
Shallow work: non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style task, often performed while distracted.
3. The Weekly Contract
I’m sharing a weekly contract. This can be a great handout to use with a friend or roommate. The key is accountability. If you need a little jump start on working toward some goals, consider printing off two or three weekly contracts.
Further Readings and Resources and Citations
Cal Newport’s Deep Work
Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix
Author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
The Self-Help Materials published by the University of Minnesota Student Academic Success team are wonderful and can be found here https://sass.umn.edu/self-help
