Time Management

My new classes start on Monday. This time I'm taking two that are requiring a multimedia presentation at the end and one writing course that is four weeks long. I just created the calendars for them. I put all the assignments on a calendar for each class so I have a visual of what is due on what day. The idea behind it is that I can then prioritize my work. Except that is not what happens. I will look at the calendar and see nothing is due until the weekend so do nothing all week. That will not work anymore. These classes are getting harder and harder. I just read somewhere that each credit hour translates to 42 hours worth of work. I'm taking 9.5 credits, that's 399 hours over 12 weeks or ~33 hours a week. That is a lot of time. A. Lot. Of. Time. Let me break down my time in a week:

7 days = 168 hours
Work = 40 hours
Driving = 7.5 hours
Crossfit = 6 hours
Sleep = 56 hours

Leftover= 69.5 hours.

Now theoretically, I have plenty of time to do my work. Yet I spend approximately 70 hours a week goofing off. I watch TV, play games, do nothing. So it is time to master time management. I have tried to-do lists and they work okay providing I actually look at them again. I have tried setting up binders for my classes and putting everything in there. Again, it works okay providing I look at it. I find myself looking online more than at the binders. So I'm trying something a little bit different this time, with a kind of hybrid system. I have a binder that I have put some research in for a class. I also have a notebook for each class. Notes from the reading I'm doing go in the notebook, research goes in the binder. On the binder is a to-do list with the next steps. For example, the first thing is a discussion post that is due next weekend. I have outlined what I need to do for to be ready to write those. I will get them written and rewritten during the week and then I will submit them early. I have to stop waiting until the last minute to turn things in, hell to work on them. I always misjudge the amount of time something will take me. I need to get this weeks assignment done before the weekend, then spend the weekend working on next weeks assignment. It is what I tell my kids to do. I need to practice what I preach.

So the goal this quarter is time management.