How to manage your time and workload

Time management is a skill which develops with experience. It takes practice and a consistent approach, so you must try things out to find what suits you best – here are 10 things you could try to get you started.

• Start immediately:

Just like some cars, some of us struggle to get started on a journey, but we all know that we won’t get to the end unless we take the first step. When you have a new task, start it as soon as possible, even if ‘starting’ is simply planning what you will do.

• Ritualising routines:

Some routines can stop you from trying new things and curb your creativity, but routines can also help you to manage time. Make routine your friend by creating a ritual out of it. For example, answer emails twice a day for a set amount of time. 

• It's okay to say 'no':

When someone asks you to do something, think before you answer. When someone asks you to do something, think before you answer and remember that if you say ‘yes’ to that activity you are saying ‘no’ to something else.

• Break it down:

From far away they look small but when they come up close elephants can be very scary. Deadlines are exactly the same. How would you approach the task of eating a whole elephant? If you had to do this in one go, it would be overwhelming but if you took things one chunk at a time, eventually the task would be done. 

• Use your time wisely:

Remember you also need time to plan your activities, so make a regular commitment to this, either at the beginning of the day or the beginning of the week. It is also important to be aware of how much of your time is taken up with appointments.

• Organise your workspace:

Making sure you have everything you need and can find things easily will save time in the long run. So, organise your desk, books, files and folders so that all you have to focus on is the task at hand.

• Swallow the frog: 

Identify the hardest task (‘the frog’) and focus on that first. The thinking here is that once you have done the most difficult task, everything else will feel that much easier

• Watch out for the curse of perfectionism:

There comes a time when there is not much to be gained from putting in a great deal more effort. Do enough to do a good job – you will know when this is – and then call a halt and focus on something else.

• Avoid procrastination: 

​​​​​​​We procrastinate for all sorts of reasons. If these are things you don’t want to do, the best approach is to do them first. Or, you may be procrastinating because you don’t know how to complete a particular task. If this is the case, enlist the help of your tutor or mentor to guide you in the right direction.

• Take 20 minutes:

​​​​​​​Once lack of motivation gets a grip, it can become a downward spiral. Doing something for 20 minutes isn’t a huge commitment. If you do, you'll probably end up spending more than 20 minutes and may even complete whatever you set out to do… but if not, you have made a start, so you are now on your way.

This is an edited extract from The Trainee Teacher's Toolkit by Thompson & Wolstencroft.

Arm yourself with good study skills

The right study skills can go a long way in helping you not only manage your time but also help you get better marks in your assessments. From presentations to developing your academic writing skills, take a look at our resources to help you make the most of your time at university

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more study skills support

Make your group work

During your training course, you will most likely find yourself working with a group of peers. This might turn into a wonderfully enriching experience or a bit of a nightmare.

Check out this video for expert tips on how to make group work work for you.

Get referencing right

Tip 1: A bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the books you have read relating to the topic even if you have not cited them within the work. Some institutions only require references to be provided for those texts you have used to inform your work and you have cited within your work.

Tip 2: If you are directly quoting the work of others, then this should be identified by using quotation marks and providing the author’s name, date and the page reference.

Tip 3: There will be times when you might want to use a larger section of others’ work, perhaps if you are then going to critique it or argue with it from another position. In this case, the work should still be referenced with the author, date and page reference, as well as by separating the work from the text.

Tip 4: If you are using a reference from another publication and not the original source then this should be identified by using the terms ‘cited by’, and this is particularly important when writing about learning theory where you may be using a text that examines the writing of Brunner, Piaget or Vygotsky and you have not returned to the original sources.

Tip 5: Avoid cherry picking, even if the quote you want would be more effective when changed to suit your purposes.

*The above tips on referencing are edited extracts from Succeeding on Your Primary PGCE

Want more citation tips? Check out referencing made easy.

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