The Veteran Supported Education Service Treatment Manual: VetSEd

i. Time Management for Large Projects and Exams
One of the most challenging aspects of time management when in school is organizing
one‘s time to complete both weekly reading and homework assignments, as well as also
preparing for term papers, research projects, group presentations and projects, and midterm
and final exams. An important tool for this success can be to use a macro school
calendar (whether on paper or electronic). On this calendar, there should be due dates
for large projects such as term papers and exams. The next step is to break each of these
large tasks into manageable steps. Next, assign due dates for each step. Steps can then
be broken into sub steps which can help organize and orient the Veteran to the sequence
of tasks needed. Then by working backwards from the due date of the project, identify
when each of the major and minor goals needs to be accomplished so that there will be
enough time to finish (with some wiggle room in case of emergencies). Work with the
Veteran so that these due dates are appropriately inserted into the Veteran‘s daily
calendar in addition to time set aside to also complete weekly homework assignments.
Complete this process for each of the major projects on the syllabus.
Example: Term paper steps and dates for American History class
Steps
Dates
Pick a topic February 1
Sub-tasks
A. Review paper guidelines and past topics Jan 15
B. Review assignments from professor weeks 1-3 Jan 20
C. Come up with three potential topic ideas Jan 25
D. Review these options with professor Jan 30
E. With her feedback, select one option to pursue Feb 1
Gather research articles February 28
Review articles and books March 14
Outline paper March 21
Write sections of the outline April 14
Review, revise and edit April 30
Hand in Final Paper May 1
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