Picking Up Masters. Looking for Good Time Management Applications
July 4, 2022 12:37 PM
I am about to begin a masters in psychology program. All of my classes will be online. The program will be on a quarter systems.
I am looking for ways/apps to help with time management.
For example, I would like to have a weekly to-do list all on (homework, reading etc) for each class and be able to check off what I have completed.
Other examples would be reminders on when papers are due, etc
I am looking for ways/apps to help with time management.
For example, I would like to have a weekly to-do list all on (homework, reading etc) for each class and be able to check off what I have completed.
Other examples would be reminders on when papers are due, etc
I am in online grad school right now. For my due dates and weekly assignments, I have a printed chart that shows all three classes (as columns), divided by weeks (rows). It's handy because it shows me the big picture at glance. (Two classes have something major due in Week 7, but one class is very light in Week 6, so I can strategize appropriately.) I fill out this document for the entire semester as soon as the classes unlock. Every Sunday I look at the chart and strategize my week, deciding what work needs to be done on which day based on what's coming due at the end of the week and what needs to be chipped away at as part of a bigger assignment due later. I don't find that I need reminders because the work is pretty much constant - I do homework every day.
posted by xo at 1:51 PM on July 4, 2022
posted by xo at 1:51 PM on July 4, 2022
Today i just started a similar Counselling masters which is all online and in concentrated six-week modules. Complication factors: ADHD and parenting a 2 year old.
I chose to use Todoist for project and task management and Notion setup for knowledge management. I have todoist setup to sync to my google calendars which are also shared with my spouse. I am actually enjoying the interface of Todoist especially when entering tasks and subtasks from a keyboard. Prior to my ADHD diagnosis I didn't really grok breaking things to do down into smaller tasks or time planning and have had to apply myself to understanding what planning is and that it is about process not just a Software or planner product. However, the Todoist interface and language processing is making that much more fluid and subtasks in particular have helped me with the conceptual understanding of what needs to happen.
This was the first day I had access to the course unit outline with due dates and reading lists etc. I spent about three hours reading through the outline, weekly summaries, online workshop schedule and assessment criteria and then putting it all into Todoist at a pretty granular level eg. * Check next week's reading list * download pdfs *schedule further downloads if print quota depleted * add each reading into citation manager etc etc. I get a visual overview of what needs to be done for the subject and my calendar visualises what happens when. If i need to reschedule within gCal the Todoist task gets updated.
I am happy to share Screenshots of my setup. Feel free to memail me.
posted by pipstar at 2:23 PM on July 4, 2022
I chose to use Todoist for project and task management and Notion setup for knowledge management. I have todoist setup to sync to my google calendars which are also shared with my spouse. I am actually enjoying the interface of Todoist especially when entering tasks and subtasks from a keyboard. Prior to my ADHD diagnosis I didn't really grok breaking things to do down into smaller tasks or time planning and have had to apply myself to understanding what planning is and that it is about process not just a Software or planner product. However, the Todoist interface and language processing is making that much more fluid and subtasks in particular have helped me with the conceptual understanding of what needs to happen.
This was the first day I had access to the course unit outline with due dates and reading lists etc. I spent about three hours reading through the outline, weekly summaries, online workshop schedule and assessment criteria and then putting it all into Todoist at a pretty granular level eg. * Check next week's reading list * download pdfs *schedule further downloads if print quota depleted * add each reading into citation manager etc etc. I get a visual overview of what needs to be done for the subject and my calendar visualises what happens when. If i need to reschedule within gCal the Todoist task gets updated.
I am happy to share Screenshots of my setup. Feel free to memail me.
posted by pipstar at 2:23 PM on July 4, 2022
I tried to use multiple standalone to do list apps, but ultimately settled on Notion for both my knowledge management and task management purposes. The power of it is that you can create interlinked databases, so I created:
1. A database of classes and general milestones (like "dissertation defense"). Each line is labeled with the term and the status (completed, in progress, future). This makes it so I can filter/sort to see what is currently happening in this specific semester. I could also plan ahead for when I planned to take classes and easily change my plans over time, as well as track things like whether I was completing specific types of courses that were required for finishing.
2. A database of actions. This database is linked to database 1, so for any given action I can specify that it is for a specific class. I set the actions to have a status (future, in progress, completed) and due dates. I also played around with "do dates", the date that I actually planned to do the work, though that was a bit more hit and miss.
The real power in this is that each item in a database is also a page. So, within each class (from database 1), I could then embed a view of database 2 (actions) that was filtered to only show the actions for that class. That means that:
- From a class's page: I could easily see what items I needed to do for that particular class at the same time as I might be adding notes. Any todo items that I add on this page automatically include the parameters of the filter that's applied (i.e. if I am on a class's page, and add a todo list item to that filtered table, it will automatically make that todo action linked to that class).
- From the database of actions: I can see all actions across classes at a glance, either as a list or as a calendar view.
It took a couple of hours to set up initially, and I'd usually take maybe an hour per class at the start of each semester going through the syllabus and entering all of the assignments as actions with due dates. It's been deeply satisfying to see the work check off over time. Please feel free to memail me as well if you'd like to see any examples.
posted by past unusual at 3:43 PM on July 4, 2022
1. A database of classes and general milestones (like "dissertation defense"). Each line is labeled with the term and the status (completed, in progress, future). This makes it so I can filter/sort to see what is currently happening in this specific semester. I could also plan ahead for when I planned to take classes and easily change my plans over time, as well as track things like whether I was completing specific types of courses that were required for finishing.
2. A database of actions. This database is linked to database 1, so for any given action I can specify that it is for a specific class. I set the actions to have a status (future, in progress, completed) and due dates. I also played around with "do dates", the date that I actually planned to do the work, though that was a bit more hit and miss.
The real power in this is that each item in a database is also a page. So, within each class (from database 1), I could then embed a view of database 2 (actions) that was filtered to only show the actions for that class. That means that:
- From a class's page: I could easily see what items I needed to do for that particular class at the same time as I might be adding notes. Any todo items that I add on this page automatically include the parameters of the filter that's applied (i.e. if I am on a class's page, and add a todo list item to that filtered table, it will automatically make that todo action linked to that class).
- From the database of actions: I can see all actions across classes at a glance, either as a list or as a calendar view.
It took a couple of hours to set up initially, and I'd usually take maybe an hour per class at the start of each semester going through the syllabus and entering all of the assignments as actions with due dates. It's been deeply satisfying to see the work check off over time. Please feel free to memail me as well if you'd like to see any examples.
posted by past unusual at 3:43 PM on July 4, 2022
If your institution uses Canvas, the Calendar function has both an agenda view (tasks, activities, due dates) and the ability to sync the course calendar feed to your own. Because my program has assignments every week I haven't needed this, but I assume you could set reminders in whichever calendar app you are using.
posted by sm1tten at 5:12 PM on July 4, 2022
posted by sm1tten at 5:12 PM on July 4, 2022
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I had a system where I created a notebook "stack" for every semester, and all my classes for that semester were notebooks in that stack. All my notes for every class meeting, assignments, and even copies of papers I needed were in the notebook for that class.
I also had a todo list note in each semester stack, and on Saturday morning I'd go through all my readings and assignments for the week and add them to my todo list. I would also carry over things from the previous week that still needed my attention. Then I'd spend the week just punching through the list to get my work done.
The only thing I didn't use Evernote for was reminders, partly because I don't think they existed when I first started using Evernote (2007, maybe...?). If I needed a reminder for something I added it to a School list in iOS reminders, or in Google Calendar.
When it came time to do the work, I used a Pomodoro timer to keep me focused. I started off using a physical tomato-shaped kitchen timer I bought at Target, but eventually switched to an iOS app called Focus Keeper.
posted by ralan at 1:17 PM on July 4, 2022