
Planning and organising your time
When making the change to studying at university, it is important to be aware that most of your study time will need to be self-managed. This may be different from your prior learning experiences, where you may have been advised on, or received a timetable, for your study time.
Independent learning and living
Although the University will provide you with a timetable outlining your scheduled sessions, you will be expected to study outside of these hours. Central to this is the expectation that as a student you will be an ‘independent learner’.
This means taking the responsibility to make decisions about what you will focus on and how much time you will spend on each task. It does not mean learning on your own, and there are various ways you will benefit from learning with others both formally (for example, working on group assignments) and informally (for example, forming study groups).
Life at university is not all about study. Other considerations such as managing independent living, social activities and looking after yourself are commitments that need to be in your schedule. You may have been doing some (or even all) of these already, but at university you will need to balance life alongside your simultaneous module commitments, all of which will require independent study time beyond the taught, timetabled aspects.
You will need to balance some or all of the following:
Independent study
- Reading for all modules
- Managing multiple assignments
- Working with peers.
Independent living
- Cooking
- Grocery shopping
- Laundry
- Cleaning.
Life commitments
- Paid work
- Caring commitments.
Health and wellbeing
- Exercising
- Socialising
- Societies
- Downtime.
Therefore, to be an effective independent learner at university you will need to develop good planning and organisation strategies.
Below, you will find a few suggestions as to how you can plan and organise your time effectively, allowing you to make the most of the opportunities available to you at Surrey.
Key takeaways
Before starting university:
- Reflect on how you currently plan and organise your time: What works and is there anything you can improve?
- Think about how you might adapt some of these approaches to the requirements of university study.
When you start university:
- You’ll receive a link to access your personal university timetable, where you’ll also be able to, if you wish, set up a timetable ‘feed’ to automatically populate your electronic calendar
- Be mindful that tasks often take longer than expected, so try sticking to your plan, but always build in contingency time
- You will need to review and update your plans frequently and adapt your schedule accordingly.
What next?
Planning and organising your time well involves scheduling opportunities to keep and maintain excellent notes. On the importance of good note-making at University, see guide 4. Active note-making strategies.