Making a Schedule
Episode #6 of the course Learn any subject with your own curriculum by Michelle Gommel
In the last lesson, you took your list of resources and put it in a logical order for learning. In today’s lesson, we will take that order and spread it out over the period of time you previously set. The main idea here is to cover everything while avoiding overload and burnout.
Setting Aside Time
The first question you need to ask yourself is this: How much time per day are you willing to set aside for learning? Do you want to take weekends off, or will you put in more time on those days? Be realistic here; you may be super gung-ho right now, but there will be days when you won’t feel so motivated.
As a side note: I also recommend that you designate a specific time and place that you will complete your work. Having this system will help solidify the habit of learning and aid in concentration and motivation.
Scheduling It Out
Now pull out your favorite scheduling tool. That may be an app or program on your phone or computer, or it may be just plain pencil and paper. Use whatever works best for you, but make sure you are able to see the whole spread of your timeline easily.
Some of the resources you have chosen may already have specific timelines, such as start and end dates, project or assignment due dates, etc. Account for those first and write them down. Remember to allot an appropriate amount of time to complete any assignments, as well as to watch the videos that go along with the course.
After that, consider how much time may be left in your daily or weekly time allotment around those courses. In most cases, there may be significant amounts of free space in which you could easily add in more resources, like the books or videos we talked about in Lesson 4. For covering two resources simultaneously, I recommend making the subjects slightly diverse, so your brain can easily differentiate between the two.
Finally, add in the remaining resources, as close to the order you previously decided on as possible. Sometimes, you may have to be flexible due to time constraints, but as long as you keep it close, you should be fine. Make sure you have plenty of material to fill each day’s time, but not so much that you become overwhelmed and have to rush your work. You won’t learn anything that way!
Planning out your schedule is the easy part. In the next lesson, I’ll give you a few tips and tricks about sticking to that schedule through thick and thin.
Yours truly,
Michelle
Recommended book
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
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