Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

Time management for assessments 
Managing your time efectively has a signifcant impact on your 
anxiety levels. For example, a study of nursing students in China 

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Coping with online assessment 173 
found that when they were given training in time management tech-
niques, their anxiety levels fell (Zhang et al., 2021). Other research 
has shown that when students feel they are managing their time 
well, their performance in assessments improves (Adams and Blair, 
2019). Indeed, this study showed that this was more important than 
other factors such as age, gender, entrance qualifcations, and the 
number of semesters of being a student. It is an indication that time 
management is fundamental to preparation for assessments. 
One problem with being an online student is that it is much easier 
to avoid time management than is the case for those students on 
campus. Studying alone, at a distance, means you can be more 
easily distracted, and you also do not have the encouragement of 
other students around you. It’s all too easy to stay under the duvet 
and watch Netfix instead of getting on with work on planning 
your assignment. As a result, online students must get to grips 
with time management. When you manage your time well, you 
will feel less anxious, and that, in turn, will help you gain better 
marks in assignments and exams. 
Te late American psychologist, Professor Steven Covey, estab-
lished a method of time management in the late 1980s and ear-
ly 1990s that has since become a gold standard method. It is the 
basis of many time management systems. In his book about time 
management, 
First Tings First
, Professor Covey explained that 
there are only two elements to a task that we need to consider 
(Covey, 1994). Te frst of these is the urgency of the item – how 
soon does it need to be completed? Te second is whether the 
item is important or not. 
y
If an item is neither urgent nor important, frankly, you can for-
get it. 
y
If an item is urgent but it is not important that you do it, then 
you can delegate it. Get someone else to do it. 
y
If an item is not urgent, but it is important you do it, then stick 
it in your diary for a future date. 
y
If an item is both urgent and important, then you need to get 
on with it. You need to do it. 

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