How Can I Make the Best Use of My Time?
Taken from: Mosby's Tour Guide to Nursing School by Melodie Chenevert, RN, BSN, MN, MA


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Attend Class. Every hour you spend in class will save you three hours of study time. If you are going to cut corners somewhere, go to class and skimp on study time. Attend every class.

Budget Your Time. Most students claim they just don't have enough time. Yet every student has all the time there is: 168 hours per week, no more and no less. Therefore managing your time becomes even more important than managing your money because once the time is spent, you can't earn more.

To make sure you use each day to the maximum, buy a pocket-sized daily planner or an electronic PDA (personal digital assistant) and keep it with you. If necessary, buy a jumbo calendar to keep track of major events. Scope the whole term, marking out such milestones as exams, term papers, and research projects. Block out all clinical times. Don't forget to allow time for preclinical work such as reading charts, making care plans, and interviewing patients.

Approach being a student as you would a job. Plan to be at it 40 hours a week. Small-business owners will tell you they average closer to 60 hours a week, and you qualify as a small business.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that because you have only one class on Tuesday and no class on Thursday, those are your "days off." Actually, those are the days when you can really get down to business; although it is important to use every fragment of time, it is even more important to schedule large blocks of uninterrupted study time lasting 2 or 3 hours.

Get the Necessary Materials.
Have a ready supply of pens, pencils, paper, notecards, computer disks, and printer cartridges on hand. There is nothing more inconvenient than having to make a mad dash to an all-night convenience store.

Invest in the latest edition of each required textbook. Should you buy a used book? Buying a pre-owned book is like buying a used car. If the previous owner was a straight-A student, the yellow highlights and scribbles in the margins may be a godsend. Unfortunately, most straight-A students keep their books. The market is flooded with C-minus students' books. If your eye is easily distracted, buy a new one. To avoid frequent trips to the library for minor tidbits of information, build your own mini-reference library. Besides a standard dictionary and thesaurus, include a medical/nursing dictionary, drug handbook, Merck Medical Manual, and __________________. (Ask you instructors for suggestions to fill in the blank.)

Create a Filing System.
With the "it-must-be-here-somewhere" filing system, you will not only lose time, you will lose your temper. Browse at the local bookstore for a filing system that meets your needs. If you can't afford what's in the store, go behind the store and get a sturdy cardboard box from the trash. Keep everything together. Put all papers pertaining to a certain class in one folder, and keep all folders for the current term in one box. Once the term is over, take all those folders and move them to an under-the-bed storage box. That way the stuff will be out of sight but easily accessible. Then when your classroom studies are focused on the renal system but you find yourself caring for a pregnant schizophrenic with a broken leg, you can quickly find your notes from last term or even last year.

Prioritize Your Time.
Think of class attendance, library time, and study sessions as "deposits." Even brief moments, like small change, can add up to something big. One student tucked chemical formulas into her ski boot and memorized them on the chairlift.

Learn to prioritize.
Invest in high-payoff activities. Required classes take priority over electives. Nursing classes take priority over any other class. Studying for an exam that makes up 50 percent of your grade takes precedence over studying for an exam that only makes up 10 percent of a grade. And so on.

Create Lists.
Make lists and use them. It's the best way to keep organized and avoid wasted motion. Lists help you consolidate errands so that you make two trips instead of 20. Lists help you arrive prepared and ready for action.

Efficiency experts suggest you make a list each evening for the following day. List the six most critical things that have to be done. Rank them in order of importance. The next day, begin with Number One and work it through before going on to anything else. Continue down the list. Your productivity will skyrocket.