Managing Your Time in

FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING

Adapted from :
Learning Strategies Development
Queen’s University
Three part process

Become
Aware

Get Set
Organized Goals

2
Three part process

Become
Aware

Get Set
Organized Goals

3
Research shows: Practicing effective
time management skills can increase
your overall average by 10-15%!
AND (more importantly!)

You will get more out of your courses,

enjoy the subjects more, and
be less stressed out.
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Developing good time management
habits is a life-long journey…

Where are you starting from?

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a) My planner is a thing of beauty. Procrastination is for other
people. I hand in projects before the teacher even has a folder to
put them in.
b) I’ve got all my due dates written down, and try to start bigger
projects well in advance. I do struggle a bit with motivation when
the deadlines are far away, or I don’t really enjoy the course
though.
c) My planning horizon is about two days ahead. More than once
I’ve been surprised when my friends remind me about a deadline
that I had forgotten…
d) Planning ruins my spontaneity. I feel most alive at 4 AM, wired on
Reb Bull, blitzing the 10-page report that is due in 3 hours.

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Which of those students is likely to understand
the material better?

Which of those students is most likely to

overwhelmed when several deadlines hit at
once?

Which of those students do you want to work

with for each Mod 3 project deadline?
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 Your First Year in Engineering

• You are engineering students!

• You have more courses than students in

other faculties.

• You have no ‘easy’ courses.

• So how much studying are we talking

about? 8
There are 168 hours in each week to do
EVERYTHING

• Eat
• Sleep
• Study
• Exercise, socialize, hobbies, volunteer, etc.

9
Activity Hours

YOU TIME 168

10
Activity Hours
Sleep (7 x 8) 56

YOU TIME 112

11
Activity Hours
Sleep (7 x 8) 56
In-Class 26

YOU TIME 86

12
Activity Hours
Sleep (7 x 8) 56
In-Class 26
Studying time 26

YOU TIME 60

13
Activity Hours
Sleep (7 x 8) 56
In-Class 26
Studying time 26
Eating/exercise/showering (7 x 6) 42

YOU TIME 18

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 So…. not a lot of wiggle room.

TIME MANAGEMENT IS KEY TO:

• Getting the most of out of studying,
• Having enough time for yourself, and
• Not feeling guilty about it!

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 Start well, Monitor, Analyse, Revise
Start Well:
Today you will set up a weekly schedule to
manage your time.

Monitor:
Just before mid-terms, monitor your time use
and revise if you need to.
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Three part process

Become
Aware

Get Set
Organized Goals

17
Goals:
• Help us determine a direction
• Assess whether we are on track
• Enables us to celebrate our achievements!

Goals should be:

• Realistic
• Specific
• Measurable
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Sample time management goals

I will make a weekly work plan, and follow that

schedule at least 5 days out of 7.

I will schedule brief nightly review sessions, and

will complete those every weeknight.

In the first three weeks, I will start every

Mastering homework at least 3 days before it is
due. 19
Three part process

Become
Aware

Get Set
Organized Goals
 Strategies for Organizing
Scheduling : reserving time for LEARNING Most
material as well as doing assigned work important
Organizing: your study space, your notes in
binders with tabs, find old exams early in the
term…..
Analyzing: is my schedule working? Am I
focusing on the right things? Should I rearrange
things to improve?
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 Building your own time-managed
weekly schedule
You need to know your section number (e.g. 04, 10)

• If you do not know your section number, sign on to

SOLUS.
• From the ‘other academic…’ drop down menu,
select ‘Class Schedule’.
• Your section number shows up in the last two
numbers of your tutorial and labs.
• (E.g. ‘207’ – Section 07) 22
 Guidelines
1. Problem sets are best done in 1-2 hour
block times - try to schedule these an
evening or two before tutorials.
2. For weekly Mastering/Webwork try and
schedule 2-3 days they close so you have
time to ask about problems you can’t do
right away
3. Reserve at least 30 minutes for clean-up
and review time at the end of every class
day! 23
Course Requirements

APSC 111 PHYSICS 5 hours in total. Weekly assignments due Wednesday evenings (3 hours).

APSC 171 CALCULUS 5 hours in total. Weekly homework problems (3 hours) plus on-line assignment due
Friday at 11:00 am (2 hours).

APSC 131 CHEMISTRY 3 hours in total. Weekly homework practice problems (2 hours).
Weekly Mastering Chemistry online quiz due Monday at 8:30AM (1 hour).

APSC 151 2 hours in total. Studying, and assignments given in labs to either finish then or by the
EARTH SYSTEMS next lab period (2 hours)

APSC 143 COMPUTING 3 hours in total. Additional programming problems for practice.

APSC 100 PROF ENG 6 hours - Module 1 (problem solving): group work and pre-quiz work
SKILLS 2 hours - Module 2 (experimentation): prelab quizzes to be completed the day before
your lab session.
Module 1
Module 2 24
Your turn:

go to:
http://tiny.cc/engtime

[Built as an APSC 100 Mod 3 project, and a

summer Engineering student!]

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Course Requirements

APSC 111 PHYSICS 5 hours in total. Weekly assignments due Wednesday evenings (3 hours).

APSC 171 CALCULUS 5 hours in total. Weekly homework problems (3 hours) plus on-line assignment due
Friday at 11:00 am (2 hours).

APSC 131 CHEMISTRY 3 hours in total. Weekly homework practice problems (2 hours).
Weekly Mastering Chemistry online quiz due Monday at 8:30AM (1 hour).

APSC 151 2 hours in total. Studying, and assignments given in labs to either finish then or by the
EARTH SYSTEMS next lab period (2 hours)

APSC 143 COMPUTING 3 hours in total. Additional programming problems for practice.

APSC 100 PROF ENG 6 hours - Module 1 (problem solving): group work and pre-quiz work
SKILLS 2 hours - Module 2 (experimentation): prelab quizzes to be completed the day before
your lab session.
Module 1
Module 2 26
Check-In: how are you feeling?
a) I totally have this first year thing. I will still have time
to join three design teams and play varsity rugby.
b) Some nervous butterflies, but mostly excited. I’m
going to be busy but it will be okay if I work at it.
c) Feeling a little anxious. I know a lot of students can
handle this, but I’m not sure (yet) that I’m one of
them.
d) Okay, this is a lot of work, and it is freaking me out
(at least a little bit). I would really like to talk to
someone about this… 27
 The hardest times are at the transitions.

Talk to your FRECs, and your undergrad TAs:

with time comes familiarity.

Most of you will feel a lot better about all of

this in a few months!
(If during mid-terms you’re still feeling
overwhelmed, come talk!) 28
 Now…

Go to (your next) class! 

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