VTVLC Student Blog
Time Management and Organization in Online Courses
Time management and organization, especially when it comes to independent classes such as the ones offered through VTVLC, can be incredibly tricky. Yet, these skills are crucial to success not only at VTVLC and in school, but in all aspects of life. As a result, I have developed a number of strategies that have helped me to succeed and motivate myself independently.
One method I use to manage my time is to start my week by taking out a sheet of paper, and seeing how many assignments I have to complete in order to keep up with my desired pace, as set by a pace chart determined by myself and my teachers at the beginning of the course that can be updated as needed.
Pace charts help spread the number assignments you have in total over the number of weeks you want to finish the class by. You can change them at any point in time and they show you how many assignments you have to do every day or week in order to complete the class in the amount of time you have set. I then write the classes one by one and note how many assignments correspond to that course for the week(ex. AP Micro: 5 assignments). Then, I go into each course bin that I’ve created and write down each individual assignment so that I know exactly what I must complete.
As I complete each assignment, I cross it off the list, which feels incredibly rewarding. This rewards system is incredibly helpful in keeping me motivated as I complete the rest of my work. However, what works for me may not work for each person. Everyone needs to try things and see what works best for them to develop their own strategies, but when you find something that works, it really improves your time management.
Another strategy I use is to designate specific times I am going to work on certain classes and assignments. I put these times in my calendar and schedule an alert that sounds 15 minutes beforehand. Even if I sometimes miss things or fall short of what initially planned to accomplish, I am more likely to complete items on my to-do list when I make a plan, write it down, and set alerts and reminders to hold me accountable. This is a strategy that I think translates well to the online classroom, but could easily be transferred to work, school, and life in general.
Organization is also key to success. Organization makes it easier and quicker to complete the assignments needed. It also allows you to do so with less stress.
Organization is also key to success. Organization makes it easier and quicker to complete the assignments needed. It also allows you to do so with less stress. For me, taking good notes and having the notes and necessary information in designated areas so that it is easily accessible is incredibly important in assisting me to complete my assignments well and on pace.
Having high-quality notes takes your organization one step further. In order to take thorough and neat notes, I made sure to start off by labeling my notes. For example, I will label notes with the course name, and the module in the course to which the notes are relevant, e.g. “AP Stats, Module 2, 2.03 Mid Module Check.” This way, I can quickly and easily find these notes at a later time and know precisely what part of the course it pertains to.
I then break up my notes by sections, I use various font sizes to distinguish between headings and individual notes. For me, writing notes by hand helps to foment the information and allows me to recall it better in the future, way more so than typing. This not only helps with organization, as you will remember when and where you wrote these notes, but it also makes studying and understanding the information you are learning on a deeper level more achievable. Lastly, after I finish a section in my notes, I highlight the header. This serves two purposes: making the topic more clear at a later time, and serving as a reward for finishing the section. Again, this method may not be effective for everyone, but it makes notetaking enjoyable and satisfying.
Overall, it is incredibly important to work on time management and organization and figure out what methods work for you. Figuring this out may take time and effort, and likely you will have to try many techniques before you find the ones that work best for you. In the end, not only will it be worth it, but it will bring so much relief and satisfaction.