Module 2: Time Management

The boot camp moves quickly, and there are times when you will feel overwhelmed by the amount of material. This is totally normal and part of the learning process. Learning how to manage your time over the next 18 weeks will help you feel more confident and in control of your learning experience. Use these tips to help:

• Block time on your calendar. Look ahead and schedule time on your calendar for class, reviewing material, and completing homework assignments. If you allocate how each hour is spent ahead of time, it will help you plan around the different obligations in your life. A potential schedule might look like this:

• Make time for office hours. While office hours are not mandatory, they are a great way to reinforce the material covered in class. To make the best use of office hours, spend 30 minutes between classes reviewing the material covered in the previous class. As you review, identify ideas that you don’t understand in the class material. Then identify places where those ideas are necessary and apply to the unit homework. Ask the TAs or your instructor for help with these specific skills and concepts during office hours.

• Don’t procrastinate on homework. Though homework assignments are due two weeks from the first lesson of a unit, don’t wait until the last minute to begin. Homework stems from class activities. The concepts you need to understand will be discussed in class. However, sometimes concepts will be combined in novel ways. While you’ll need to work through the material in all three classes to fully complete each homework, you can get started before completing all of the lessons. Use these tips to help you with homework:

  • Review the homework immediately after each lesson to identify which skills from that class apply to the assignment. You may even want to create a list of the skills necessary for the homework, and then note the class activities that correspond to the homework task. This will serve as a kind of cheat sheet for your homework.
  • Use office hours to ask questions.
  • Set aside small blocks of time to work on the assignment while the material from class is fresh on your mind.
  • Block out parts of your days off to focus on homework. Since many of you work full-time, your days off are often the best time to focus on the homework assignment.
  • Recognize that homework assignments will overlap. Since you will receive each unit’s homework assignment during the first lesson of a given unit, you will have two homework assignments to consider most weeks. Aim to have most of an assignment complete before the next unit begins. This will allow you to focus on the bulk of an assignment in the first week, and then use the second week to fine tune your work and begin the next assignment.

• Don’t forget about project weeks. You will have two projects during the course. These are fun, but also intensive. Set yourself up for success by keeping up with your homework assignments so you don’t have to worry about completing assignments while working on the projects.

• If you need help visualizing a schedule that balances your personal, student, and professional obligations, use a tool like Google Calendar. You can make a schedule by blocking out class time, outside commitments, homework time, material reviewing sessions, and office hours. If you’re not sure how to do this, don’t worry. We’ve created a quick tutorial as a guide.

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Remember, a boot camp is intense, but also short.

If you’re struggling to keep up with the material, remember that it’s only 18 weeks. Remind yourself that you can keep up with the pace for this short period of time. At the end, you’ll be ready to relax, but you’ll also be prepared to take the next steps in your career!