TIME MANAGEMENT PAPER v.TOPIC? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TIME?
SUMMARY
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
By paper. Englishers can divide time per paper, then work through each one for a number of days before moving on to the next. This allows students to assign more time to a weak paper whilst maintaining equal amounts of time for the rest. Working by paper also allows students to fully immerse themselves in each paper’s historical/literary context.
Anon (1997-2000): I forced myself to revise a section of Troilus and Criseyde every morning right after breakfast. That took about 10 days. I always focused on that in the morning as I really wasn’t keen on this aspect of the course and needed to be ‘fresh’ to cope with going through them. I also spent this time in my room as there were no distractions like in the library. After lunch and in the evenings I revised the other papers, usually in the college library.
By topic. Englishers can also divide time per topic, with 2 or 3 different topics from different papers studied per day. This method allows students to re-visit topics multiple times, with the repetitive aspect aiding memorisation. Working by topic also means each paper has been covered by the end of the revision process - a flaw of the ‘by paper’ method is that, if you don’t stick to your structure strictly, you may end up pressed for time on the last paper(s) you have timetabled. Commentary texts. Some Englishers have a specific way of timetabling their commentary revision - some devote a specific amount of time to studying their two texts in one chunk and others target prime working hours everyday.
Georgia Green (2003-6): I used the principle of spiralling over each paper repeatedly rather than finishing each paper revision chronologically. I did the most mundane work (translations) at the time of day I had least energy. I used a timer on my phone, and switched it off during breaks, so the 6 hours a day really were 6 hours of concentration. Eve Jackson (2006-9): 9 hours revision per day, 3 hours per paper, 1 topic per 3 hour session. Divided my time 9-12, 1-4, 5-9 with dinner in the middle. Matt Lewin (2006-9): I counted back the number of weeks till the beginning of exams. There were 12. This meant I could spend two one-week periods revising for each paper. I then broke down those two weeks into two to three day periods, during which I devoted myself to one author or topic, taking my cue from the way in which they were presented on the course - e.g. Renaissance travel writing, Milton and Marvell, etc.
Self-monitoring, spaces and intensity. Some Englishers use timers to record the amount of time they actually spend working. Others use specific places for studying, depending on their need for focus and the task at hand. Englishers aim to work in short intense sessions rather than ‘lethargic library marathons’. They also see frequent/regular breaks as essential to revision.
(NB: For further comments, see p14)
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