At the beginning of each semester, college bookstores sell a hefty number of datebooks. Some are larger and more elaborate. Others are more sleek and compact. Their strategic staging throughout the store reminds students that there will be a lot going on. It’s better to keep track of everything, and writing it down can help. Datebooks are, indeed, a useful tool for recording obligations and important dates for your classes and activities. Many students also have job and family responsibilities in the mix as well. Recording important reminders in one place allows you to consult one book rather than multiple syllabi, lists, email and class websites. It can make your life easier and your schedule more orderly.

Nonetheless, there’s an additional time management tool many students use. For some, it might be the only calendar they use – long after the bookstore version gets buried in their backpacks. For others, it’s one of many but plays a key role in their academic routine: a semester overview calendar. It’s your entire semester all on one page, and it can provide you with both a quick map of the semester’s major work and perspective on working ahead to get everything done.

Datebooks show you a single day or a week at most on each page. They provide ample space for recording all the daily details of your schedule and regular assignments. A semester overview does something different. It shows you a bird’s eye view of the academic term and the placement of major tests and due dates within it. During the first week of the term, look at all your syllabi from each of your instructors and record major due dates/test and quiz dates for each. Keep this sheet as simple as possible by recording only the “big stuff” (i.e. projects/tests/quizzes you need to prepare for in more than a day) rather than daily assignments. Some students choose to do it in pencil, since instructors will occasionally change a due date later in the term. Put the overview where you will see it every day: the inside of a binder, on the wall by your desk, on the back of your door, etc. Check it regularly to keep a perspective on what’s coming up.

By laying out the big dates, you’ll see when your busy “crunch” weeks are – when you have multiple quizzes, tests or due dates for papers, projects and presentations. Of course, seeing all those dates in one week’s row helps students realize that it’s going to be too much to tackle in a single week. The strategy then becomes how to spread out the work in the weeks prior. The weeks without due dates, of course, still entail plenty of work. You’ll be doing daily assignments and readings for your classes. Nonetheless, you can carve out extra time that week to work ahead for the big crunch you’ll have the following week. Working ahead will allow you more sleep and more success in juggling multiple big projects of each semester.

Below is an example of a semester overview sheet. Look at the “rhythm” of it – where it picks up and where it plateaus. Imagine hitting those truly packed weeks, and brainstorm what could be done to spread out the work into earlier, less busy weeks. Now think of all the possible configurations a semester can take and the kind of perspective this simple sheet can give you. Use a semester overview like this as one of several time management tools to guide your schedule and maximize your success this term.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Quiz 1—Bio.

Week 4

Hist. Quiz 1

Test 1—Psych.

Lit. Paper 1 Due

Week 5

Week 6

Quiz 2—Bio.

Week 7

Conference Overnight

Week 8

Hist. Midterm

Midterm—Bio.

Test 2—Psych.

Lit. Paper 2 Due

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Hist. Quiz 2

Quiz 3—Bio.

Week 12

Test 3—Psych.

Week 13

Hist. Group Project Due

Presentation—Psych.

Week 14

Final Lit. Paper Due

Week 15

Final Hist. Paper Due

Final—Bio.

Final—Psych.

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