Time management: skills to learn and put into practice

Abstract

Purpose The knowledge society determines a work scenario in which it is essential to manage time efficiently; a non-innate skill that should be learned at the university. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This research analyzes the attitude, habits and time management of the Economics and Business students of the UPV/EHU, in order to propose/design/specific activities for its achievement. Through a self-administered questionnaire, the sample data are obtained, which are analyzed at a descriptive and multivariate level. Findings The decisive factor is not the amount of time available but the management that is made of it. In general, students pay attention to short-term planning and lack habits and attitudes in the long term. Practical implications Unaware of the advantages of a correct use of time, students do not develop skills such as self-organization, prioritization of objectives and activities, etc., which is why the intervention of the educational system is necessary in order to develop this skill. Originality/value This study focuses on the importance of developing skills, beyond the strictly technical, essential in professional performance regardless of the function assigned in the organizational chart/organization. It is about assessing time management as an integral part of higher education, competence expressed on paper, but not developed in practice. The originality and novelty of this research consists of defining new dimensions of time management and proposing some specific actions to be implemented to get a better time management.

What Questions Are on the Minds of STEM Undergraduate Students and How Can They Be Addressed?

“…Faculty encourage their students to "plan early for projects" and caution that "last minute leads to more stress, time, confusion." Indeed, students often focus on short-term deadlines at the expense of continually working toward longer-term projects (Alvarez Sainz et al, 2019). Dedicating in-course time to discussing the abstract parts of time management could encourage students to implement better strategies.…”

Competencies and success measured by net income among Hungarian HE graduates

“…And vice versa, the generic and specialized have a statistically significant negative effect in the case of CFA but not in EFA. Both should be controlled, but it is probable that in the EFA, the socioemotional one contains some general elements, while in the CFA the generic and specialized play as a counterpart of the socioemotional, participative and organizational competence areas as they are correlated to each other (Alvarez Sainz et al, 2019).…”

“…However, it is not so obvious why the specialized competence set causes a negative effect on salaries. There is evidence in the literature (Alvarez Sainz et al, 2019) that the generic and participative competencies are expected by the side of the employers. The authors think that the correlational elements lie behind, as it is probable that HE makes it impossible to graduate without these skills.…”

Promoting Time Management and Self-Efficacy Through Digital Competence in University Students: A Mediational Model

“…This way of interacting with the world of globalization, in which we have a wide variety of tools and information sources at our disposal in a short time, in turn requires strict control of the environment in which these processes take place, since it is very easy to be wrong, deviate and distract, being necessary to effectively manage some limited resources, such as time (Lara, 2005). Some studies already point to how the essential in the field of technology and computers is not the time you spend with them, but the use that is made of them (Álvarez et al, 2019;Fau & Moreau, 2018). When they are correctly used, as some previous research point out, they contribute to save a significant amount of time, as opposed to if we did not use them (Balasangameshwara, 2015).…”