Many working adults go back for study by taking distance learning programme while continuing their working life. Although distance lear-ning gives you the flexibility of planning your learning schedule at your own pace, you need to treat it seriously to manage it and allocate time to complete it. Here are some tips on how to manage your time effectively:

Allocate at least two hours

Plan your study activities into your daily routine work. This is to keep you focused on what you need to learn. Many distance learners tend to forget about their online study when they are too busy with their work. Hence, you need to integrate your online study into your daily routine so that you won’t forget about it. Try to schedule at least two hours daily just to focus on your study. Even though you do not need to attend classes in a distance learning programme, you will still have to complete assignments and study at your own pace.

Use free time effectively

One of the biggest advantages of distance learning is that you can login to online learning system of the school from any location as long as you have internet connection. You can utilise your leisure time such as lunch time to login to the online learning system for study, download your assignments, search for information from internet or online library of the school.

Print out reading materials

Unless you are making separate notes after reading the lectures from the computer, it’s better to print out the reading materials so that you can make remarks by highlighting on the important points while readings. Don’t expect to remember everything just by

reading from the computer without making any note and you will waste a lot of time if you have to go back and reread the information

again. In addition, you could bring along the print out materials and read it whenever you have time.

Put a deadline on every assignment

Most distance learning programmes allow you to complete your assignments at your own pace, but it is important for you to stay on task and be productive. You should put a deadline

on every assignment or course work and make sure you complete your task on time.

Reduce optional activities

You have only 24 hours a day. After deducting your sleeping time, working time and daily tasks, you may find it difficult to allocate enough time for your study. Try to write down your weekly activities on a piece of paper, you may be surprised that you actually can get more time by just reducing some of the activities such as movies, parties and other sources of entertainment. — Jullie Harvard