Managing your time: breaking down a task

Let's assume that your task is to write an essay. You know it's important, and you know the hand-in date.

1. Write down the hand-in date on your chart / schedule.

2. Break down the task into smaller ones. List them in the order in which they should be completed.

For your essay, this might be:

1. Define the task and outline early ideas
2. Extract relevant info from lecture notes
3. Research in Library
4. Contact other organisations for further info
5. Discuss key issues with other students
6. Review notes
7. Plan essay
8. Write first draft
9. Revise content and structure, and write second draft
10. Revise style, grammar, etc and write final draft
11. Hand in
12. Review / evaluate when feedback received.

3. Estimate how long each of these smaller tasks will take.

4. Plot them on your chart / schedule, working backwards from the hand-in date.

Managing your time: breaking down a task

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