Task Management for Students
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1
Create a Space for Course Materials
Course Syllabi and Schedules provided by instructors are going to be our biggest asset of information in the breakdown and organization of tasks. Gathering these documents into one spot is a good place for us to start.
Create a space where you can gather all of your course schedules and syllabi.
Step 2
Gather Course Materials
After you’ve created a space for your course syllabi and schedules, navigate to your course in your school workspace portal. Download or print out each of these documents and add them to the designated space you created for them.
Note: Each student school workspace portal may be a little different, but the primary task is to locate the syllabus for each class and download it on your computer to store in the Syllabi folder that we had created earlier in step 1.
Step 3
Worksheet Template
We can seamlessly build out a task schedule for ourselves now that we have all the necessary information in one place. The only other thing we’ll need now is the worksheet to use in building your task schedule. If you haven't yet, open up the template here and save a copy of it for yourself to follow along with.
Step 4
Open up the Worksheet
Open up the worksheet and navigate to
Part 1: Listing All Course Tasks for the Week.
Step 5
Open Course Material Folder
Outside of the worksheet, navigate to your syllabus folder and open up the syllabus or course schedule for your first class of the week.
Step 6
Part 1: Listing All Course Tasks for the Week
Refer to your syllabus/course schedule to determine the tasks (assignments, readings, etc.) that need to be done within that week for that course. Write these tasks into the first table of the worksheet and indicate the course these tasks are for in the title above the table. Take note of any due dates or things that need to be done by a specific date (such as prior to a lecture day).
Step 7
(Repetition for Step 6)
Repeat Step 6 for each one of your courses, writing in the course title, assignments, and due dates for each task. Once finished listing, we’ll move on to determining the time estimates of each task in the next step.
Step 8
Define Task Time Estimations
The tasks across courses are going to vary in how much time and energy they will each consume. It’s important for us to estimate how much time each task will take so we have a more concrete idea of how we can fit it all into our actual week's schedule. Below is a chart of assignment types and their corresponding, estimated times of completion.
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Note: The time it takes to complete certain tasks varies from student-to-student. If you already have a good sense of your time estimations, go ahead and write those in! This chart can be used as a starting point if you don’t have a sense of your own time estimations yet.
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Assignment Types & Average Time Estimates
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Lecture Preparation - Materials to read or view prior to class (1-2 hours)
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Weekly Assignment - Small weekly tasks or homework assignments (2-3 hours)
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Project Deliverable - Required components of a major project (3-4 or 4-6 hours)
Step 9
Part 2: Assigning Course Tasks to Each Day of the Week
After filling in the time estimates for each task, you’ve successfully completed Part 1 of the worksheet. Great! Now we’ll move onto Part 2: Assigning Course Tasks to Each Day of the Week.
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Note: Some assignments might require more than one day to complete. Write the assignment on multiple days if necessary, and bold if it falls on the day it is due.
Step 10
Total Task Time Estimation for Each Day
Add up the time estimations for each assignment to determine how much task completion time you should allocate on each day of the week.
Step 11
Incorporate Task Time Into Your Calendar
Determine/add to your calendar what times of each day you can allot based on the task completion time of each day.
Step 12
Double-Check Everything
Go back over everything including the syllabus. Make sure you don't miss anything for that week.
Step 13
Woohoo!
Now you’re ready! Go out and DO IT. Make sure to repeat at the beginning of each school week (Saturday or Sunday).