Skip to content

Month: May 2022

Published on

In order to maintain a healthy school-life balance one must prioritize, self-reflect, and manage time effectively. 

Prioritization is the act of ranking activities or tasks by importance and urgency. This is an important skill to have because it allows you to allocate enough time and effort to complete your tasks. For example: if you prioritize tasks that are due soon instead of those that are due later, you will be able to meet your most pressing deadlines. 

Self-reflection helps individuals recognize what is important to them, how they work best, and what their goals are. Using this information, you can make sure to incorporate the things you enjoy into your day while also scheduling the things you need to do for school or for other commitments. By reflecting on what matters to you, you can make sure your days align with your priorities, and are planned with your goals and work habits in mind. 

Time management skills will help you balance personal and academic priorities using tools such as a Priority Matrix. Being organized, designating time in the day for planning purposes, using a to-do list, and focusing on one task at a time can help you become more effective at doing so. 

To become better at prioritization, self-reflection, and time management, please visit the resources linked at the bottom of the page and read on below for the perspectives of students who have been able to successfully maintain balance.  

Tanaka (‘25) is a student and talented musician here at Dartmouth. In order to keep up with her school work, extracurriculars, and social commitments, she schedules her weeks to optimize balance. On the weekdays, she suggests being as productive as possible so that on the weekend, you can have the chance to relax. Tanaka likes to set Saturday as a “no-work” day so she can go outside, spend time with friends, and have fun. As a result of her time-management skills, she is able to enjoy this relaxing day and be refreshed for the week ahead. 

WISP participants Abby (‘25) and Eunice (‘25) conduct medical research on top of their classes. Eunice finds taking intentional breaks important for mental well-being and productivity. She says that “if you feel your mind closing down [after a day of studying], it’s best to close down for the night.” Abby notes that even though it is tempting to reschedule your plans to align with those of your friends, it is important to find a schedule that works for you because what is best for others might not be what's best for you. 

Robert Orben once said “Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.” With time management skills, a deep understanding of what’s important to you, and self-reflection, you will be able to navigate your Dartmouth experience with greater ease and purpose. 

Resources:

The E-Guide: “Academic Success at Dartmouth”

Time Management Tips | Academic Skills Center (dartmouth.edu)

Making a Schedule | Academic Skills Center (dartmouth.edu)

Planners and Outlines | Academic Skills Center (dartmouth.edu)

Online Calendars | Academic Skills Center (dartmouth.edu)

Academic Success Coaching | Academic Skills Center (dartmouth.edu)

Published on

As a college student, building relationships with professors and other staff or faculty on campus is very important. Students who take the time to connect with their professors will find themselves enriched by the experience both academically and personally. Professors and faculty have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with their students. They can provide you with additional resources if you are struggling in a class, serve as mentors, inform you of interesting opportunities in their field, and write valuable letters of recommendations for jobs, internships, and study abroad programs. Getting to know professors may seem intimidating, but it is important to remember that professors teach because they love working with students. Read on to find out about easy strategies to build relationships with professors during your time here at Dartmouth and beyond. 

Strategy #1 - Read Your Syllabus Carefully

A syllabus contains a lot of useful information. Ideally, you should read it at the beginning of the term to gain a better understanding of what the course will be like and also how the professor operates. You typically find the time and location of office hours, if X-hours are used and for what purpose, and whether there will be tutorials, recitations, or study sessions run by professors by reading it. You can also find out how the professors like to communicate with students, whether that’s through email, Canvas, or Slack. 

Strategy #2 - Engage, Engage, Engage

Students will receive many benefits from engaging with professors during class and by attending office or X-hours. However, many students don’t go to office hours because they feel a bit intimidated or don’t know what they should say. Try bringing a classmate or friend and refer to some of the talking points below to get you started. Don’t forget to say thank you when you leave!

  • Professor, I had a few questions about the material we covered in class. Could you tell me more about ___ ?
  • I’m interested in studying ___ , do you have recommendations about what classes I should take or opportunities I should be on the lookout for?
  • Professor, could we discuss my latest assignment or exam? I was wondering ____
  • I would like to understand this topic better. What additional resources would you recommend?
  • Hi Professor, could we go over the expectations for ____ assignment or exam?

Strategy #3 - Participate in the “Take a Faculty Member to Lunch Program”

Dartmouth offers students $50 vouchers to take their professors out for a meal. You can use this voucher by yourself or with two other peers to dine at the Pine restaurant or FOCO once per term. This is a great way to get to know your professor outside of class and learn more about their background, research, and other interesting topics!

For more information, visit this link: Take a Faculty Member to Lunch | Undergraduate Deans Office (dartmouth.edu)

Strategy #4 - Don’t be afraid to reach out!

Try asking questions in class, sending an email discussing your interest or inquiries about the material, and/or coming to class early/staying late to discuss something you found intriguing in the lecture. These are simple but great ways to reach out to your professor that can go a long way!

Published on

Many students at Dartmouth may struggle with time management due to the fast pace of the 10 week term and numerous academic, extracurricular, and social commitments. The ASC has compiled a list of free time management apps below that can help you plan, prioritize, and complete tasks in a more timely and organized manner. 

A vector of a small green sprout in dirt against a yellow background is depicted whcih is the logo of the Flora app

Flora (free)

“Forget water, grow your garden with focus and concentration”

Flora is an app designed to gamify your ability to concentrate. Set a timer for how long you want to focus, and if you do not open another app during that time - you grow a tree! Open another app, and your tree dies. The more you concentrate, the bigger a garden you have. If you choose to, you can put a price on your focus where Flora will charge you anything above $5 if your tree dies; the money goes to planting trees in rural communities. If you get a phone call your tree does not die, so you can still respond to emergencies if need be. You can collect your concentration trees in your ‘garden’ and the app gives you an optional daily summary of your ‘time growing trees’. Other cool features include being able to plant seeds with other people! Whether you’re trying to stay off your phone during dinner or working on a group project, you can grow a tree together if both people resist the urge to look at their phones.The app is free and available to both Android and IOS users.

Plan (free)

"Sometimes it's best to go with the plan"

Plan app is both a planner and a project manager all in one. It allows you to add things to a calendar and a daily agenda (including to-do lists for those list lovers out there) with due dates if you would like to. It helps manage group projects particularly, where people can assign tasks to others and track everyone’s progress by creating a new ‘Workspace.’ Documents can be shared via Plan using Google drive too! Not only can you manage your work life here, but you can plan your personal life too. Make categories of different types of tasks and how important they are. Use this app to make to-do lists both for your CVS run and your economics class!  The app also organizes your data into a fact sheet, which is cool - it tells you how many people, places and activities you have had contact with, been to, or done; as well as your average hours per task, average days to complete tasks, and time spent by list. It can be used online on any sort of computer through the web, but the app is only available on iOS (Apple devices).

Remember the Milk (free)

"The ultimate to do list"

This app can be used to create lists of things you need to accomplish on a specific day. These lists are organized according to different parts of your life (school, work, personal, etc.) and the tasks on them can be broken down by day or by week, have set priorities, due dates, and be repeated. You can share your lists and delegate tasks to others on Remember the Milk which makes setting a large amount of reminders and recurring tasks very simple to do.

Focus Keeper (free)

“Tangible Productivity” 

Focus Keeper is an app that helps you do Pomodoros. If you’re not familiar with the Pomodoro Method, you will study for one Pomodoro which is 25 minutes, take a five minute break, then do another Pomodoro, and repeat until you have finished four Pomodoros. Every four Pomodoros, you will take a longer break, often between 15 and 30 minutes. The Pomodoro Method helps you maximize focus and productivity during your study periods. Please note that while you are studying or on break, the clock ticks for the entire 25 or five minutes. If you don’t like the ticking, you can always turn your volume off, but if you do, you will not be able to hear when the alarm goes off. You may find that Focus Keeper is a good tool for you if you have solid self-discipline and want the clock ticking to function as a sort of white noise in the background while you study.

Studious (free)

“A hub for all your planning needs”

Studious is an app that consolidates all your planning needs. Once you input your class schedule, the app will silence your phones during these times automatically, which reduces distraction. The app also will send you reminders at regular intervals to let you know when your homework assignments are due and when your upcoming exams are scheduled. Its built in features for scheduling will allow you to plan when you will work on different assignments and engage in various extracurricular activities. You can even centralize your academics in one place by tracking your progress in each class with up-to-date scores, task lists, and grades.