Time Management and Postgraduate Study

Eliminate unproductive tasks
allowing you to focus

Balancing work and study is often a juggling act. Your time is precious. Thankfully there are some time management tricks you can employ to stay focused on the task at hand.

If you aren’t one to plan a week or more ahead, begin your day by deciding on the day’s top tasks.

Spend no more than 20 minutes when you first wake up to set achievable goals. Pick only a few of the most important tasks as goals; don’t try and get everything you can possibly think of done.

Eliminate distractions when you’re studying. Avoid answering the phone or emails and refrain from checking social networks. Find a quiet space and clear your thoughts so you can focus.

Eliminate waste. When and where do you waste the most amount of time? In other words, figure out where you spend too much time being unproductive? Limit that time with a reminder, alarm or use that time to critically think. For instance, if you know that the bus always gets stuck in morning traffic, can you bring some notes for daily review?

If you are apt to spend too much time on any given task, set a reasonable time limit. Clutter or poor organisation can also slow some of us down. For instance, if you spend too much time searching through computer files just to find one thing, you might set aside some time in the near future to organise your files. Doing so can simplify the process, saving you time.

Planning ahead enables you to focus
on the most important tasks of the day 

When you are interrupted, you decide how much time you spend in conversation or distracted from what you were doing. Once you’ve been interrupted, it requires greater effort to get back on track.

If you have a hard time sitting still while you study, plan periodic, short breaks. But when you break, don’t lose your train of thought. Continue thinking about or processing the subject matter even as you reach for a banana or visit the restroom.

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Practical Resources for MBA Graduates

Good job! You’ve completed your course of study, but in the real world where do you go to find study guides and notes? Not to fear, there are heaps of resources available to MBA graduates. Here are three things we suggest:

Read business news

Consider -

• The Wall Street Journal: It’s one of the biggest global sources for news on business and finance and for good reason. This must read newspaper for MBA holders is available both online and in print. 
• Harvard Business Review This magazine features business case studies, research and development. According to the publishers, HBR bridges “academia and enterprises around the globe”.
• Forbes: Providing investment advice and news, Forbes showcases stories of the the wealthiest and most powerful business persons in the world.
• The Australian Financial Review: Reports the latest news from business, finance, investment and politics.
• The Australian: Provides in-depth Business News and Political coverage including Lifestyle, Arts and Sports and much more.

Follow professionals on social networks

Find professional role models you can follow on LinkedIn, Twitter, on Google+ or Facebook for inspiration and tips. Use this list to help brainstorm:

• Steve Forbes
• Bill Gates
• Michael Dell 
• Gary Vaynerchuck
• Clive Palmer
• Dick Smith
• Greg Norman

Don’t forget to follow Kaplan on LinkedIn and join the KOHE Networking Group while you’re at it!

Join associations and network
Members of professional bodies and associations connect to others, share the latest industry news and garner respect within their field. Either by joining a recognised body or by connecting on LinkedIn, you’ll be one step closer to finding that dream job to go hand-in-hand with your MBA!

Student Next Steps: What to Do Until Next Trimester?

The trimester may be over, but that doesn’t mean you should place your studies on hold. If you are seeking a postgraduate degree for the right reasons, then you should embrace continuous learning.

If you just graduated, make sure you join the Kaplan Online’s Alumni group on LinkedIn. These networking groups serve as important go-tos for career opportunities, reference requests, business deals and much more. We encourage you to make the most of these free resources.

If you are working full time and studying, use this downtime to catch up on your reading and review your notes. Ask your instructors for recommended reading or catch up on business news blogs if you’re studying for your online MBA. 

Internships are where higher education meets
employment; they allow students to gain
experience working in an organisation 

If you are not working, have you considered completing an internship while you study? You can apply the concepts and practices you’ve learned in real life. This provides fresh insight into course material and will aid you in your career. You can also use this time to start forward planning your study schedule and courses for next semester so you can stay on top of your work.

Your mind doesn’t have to go on vacation between trimesters. Keep your knowledge fresh and you’ll stay on your toes, ready to advance your career path! 

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Test Results are in: Coping with the Postgraduate Blues

No one ever told you the student journey would be easy, or at least you knew studying could be challenging. So what do you do when your grades fall beneath standard?

Well, for starters, don’t panic. Poor test results happen to the best of us. It’s what you do about it that matters most. 

Can you identify why your grades slipped? Was it because you did not understand the material, lack of preparedness or stress in other areas of your life? Identifying the reason will enable you to better cope and address the issue in the future.

Here’s some tips for next time on how to obtain better grades:

First begin by learning to correct the mistakes you made by examining constructive criticism, and trying to break a bad habit when possible. Ask your professor if you can see what you missed on an exam or if your professor can comment on areas of improvement or concepts to master.

Then, pick your head up and start looking forward to the future!

Make use of all your study resources. Take practice exams if possible and study copies of old exams. Ask the instructor for additional resources and use the tools listed in your course outline.

Prioritise and organise your time. Try employing a time-management strategy. Use a calendar to

block out personal commitments and plan regular study intervals you know you can commit to.

Reach out to your course instructors and student advisors. Remember, Kaplan’s student advisers are here for you!

Finally, don’t leave studying to the last minute. Start studying now—before the next trimester starts!

Transferring Knowledge from Online to the Office

Make the most of your study by learning to apply and master the concepts and techniques you’ve learned through your online courses.

You might learn a new skill, a process or a concept that you wish to work toward mastering, either for use in the workplace or for your own personal benefit. But, just because someone introduced you to this new idea does not mean you’ll know how to make it a reality. That part is up to you!

Here’s what you’ll need: a solid understanding or examples of the idea(s) in action, a willingness to change and/or adapt, and a determination to carry out your plan of action.

The first trick is to relate the process, system or technique you’ve learned to real life examples. Doing so will give you a better understanding of how to apply the idea in your world. For example, it might be difficult to conceptualise what re-engineering is without looking at an example of a business going through the re-engineering process. That’s why it’s important to put situational context around your idea by figuring out how it applies to you.

Secondly, you’ll need to be willing to commit to changing and/or adopting this new idea or process. It may sound easy, but sometimes we simply aren’t open to make changes, even if for the better. Maybe you’ve never tried using a concept map before writing a paper, but you’d like to put it into action. It’s going to take a committed effort to change your current paper-planning process to ensure you give it a try.

Then, practice makes perfect. This often requires changing our old habits by forming new ones. To successfully implement your idea, you’ll need a plan of attack whereby you commit to living the idea(s) through repetition, reinforcement or strategy.

Unfortunately, knowing how to apply what you learn is not something that can be easily taught.
However, it can be done by setting a realistic plan of action and committing yourself to following through with it.

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