(TIỂU LUẬN) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIME MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS FOR FTU FRESHMEN IN COVID 19 EPIDEMIC

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORT  INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIME MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS FOR FTU FRESHMEN IN COVID-19 EPIDEMIC Teacher: Miss Le My Huong Team: Group Class: KDOE441 (20192).1 Hanoi, March 2020 Contents Introduction Abstract Problem statement Research study scope Research objectives 5 Research methodology Chapter 1: Students’ Time Management Skills Definition of Time Management: Time management - Purpose and Benefits 2.1 Purpose of time management: .7 2.2 Benefits of time management: .8 2.2.1 Reduce anxiety and enhance leisure satisfaction: .8 2.2.2 Improve work effectiveness and productivity: 2.2.3 Increase creativity: 2.2.4 Develop leadership: The importance of time management skills: 3.1 Make the most of the “golden years”: 10 3.1.1 Academic achievement: 10 3.1.2 Relaxation: 10 3.1.3 Self-development: 10 3.2 Future preparation .10 3.2.1 A plus point for the career 10 3.2.2 A pool of opportunities 10 FTU Freshmen’s time management skills toward Covid-19: 11 Chapter 2: Analyzing the change of FTU freshmen’s time management toward Covid-19 13 Overview 13 2 Before Covid-19 happened 17 After Covid-19 happened 19 Analyze the changes in students’ habit due to Covid-19 epidemic .22 Chapter 3: Reasons and solutions on FTU freshmen’s time management towards Covid-19 23 Reasons for negative changes .23 1.1 Disorder of daily routine .23 1.2 Technology abusement 23 1.3 Family interruptions 24 1.4 Procrastination .24 Reasons for positive changes 24 2.1 Flexibility schedule .24 2.2 Appropriate duration 25 2.3 Time for family 25 Time management tips and solutions for students during the outbreak of Covid-19: 26 3.1 Have a To-Do “List”: 26 3.2 Eliminate Distractions: 28 3.3 Achieve a healthy balance: 28 3.4 Get enough sleep: 28 Time management techniques for students during the outbreak of Covid-19: 28 4.1 The 4D system: 29 4.2 18 Minutes Approach: 29 Conclusion 30 Introduction Abstract In the modern world, time is seen as an indefinitely divisible and usable commodity All the material and human resources can be enhanced or transformed in the course of time; yet the only asset that cannot be changed, purchased or stored is time itself Effective and efficient use of time varies with respect to the tasks performed and there is no one right way to manage our time However, the core involves three primary assumptions: an awareness of time, an awareness of the elements that fill time, and positive working habits (Kelly, 2002) These days, Covid-19 epidemic has become a worldwide issue which badly affects every part of the society and causes daily schedule to change dramatically For students, the university freshmen may suffer more than seniors due to their lack of experience and their shyness At higher education level like FTU, the environment's flexibility and freedom can already derail the first-year who have not mastered time management skills Now that in the time of epidemic, without the development of effective habits, such as such motivation, metacognition, and selfregulation, students are likely to perform poorly and find it difficult to improve future performance (Baothman, Aljefri, Agha, & Khan, 2018) Time management is extremely important, especially when it comes to university students, freshmen in particular because it will boost their grades and enhance their productivity It is a skill that every student should not only know, but also apply During the epidemic, efficient time use is even more of challenge and necessary than ever before Problem statement This study will help to analyze the impacts of Covid-19 epidemic on time management of FTU freshmen It will also help to make some recommendations on tips and techniques that should be applied to use time more effectively during the outbreak Research study scope In our research study, our team will mainly be targeting FTU freshmen They were chosen for the following reasons:  Students at this stage lack awareness, experience and need academic guidance  This is a transitional phase in the academic life of students (from high school to university)  We find it easier to get in contact with them Research objectives  To assist students, especially freshmen with their knowledge of how effective utilization of time can affect their daily productivity  To find the impacts of Covid-19 epidemic on time management of FTU freshmen  To find some effective ways that can lead the first-year students to better time management Research methodology Our team collected data mainly by conducting a survey directed to FTU freshmen The survey consisted of multiple choice questions, Yes/No questions and ranking questions that helped us gather the quantitative data required After we received the results, we analyzed, arranged and displayed them through a complete interpretation process Chapter 1: Students’ Time Management Skills Definition of Time Management: Students' time management can be considered as one of the aspects that can drive a student to be a good student in particular and a successful person on the whole The usage of time by students in higher education institutions is related to their daily routines and activities Time demands faced by college students in some way make their work and life increasingly difficult, especially in those days of high tension from the outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19) Research outside education suggests that effective time management may help students improve their performance in both academic and personal lives The concept of time management is defined as the practice of using the time that you have available in a useful and effective way, especially in your work (Cambridge Dictionary) In a wider view, it means deciding the priorities of the work Modern time management is still to increase productivity, but the best way remains elusive Many researchers have studied the subject and come up with different concepts of effective time management Here are the theories of a few big names in the time management field: Carla Crutsinger - In her 1994 book “Thinking Smarter: Skills for Academic Success” defined effective time management as the process of: - Setting goals - Prioritizing those goals - Deciding how much time to allocate to specific tasks - Adjusting plans as they change - Revisiting the goals and priorities regularly - Observing results In the book “Effective Time-Management Techniques for School Administrators, Neil J Shipman cites the critical skills for time management are: - Being aware of yourself - your habits and your ways of working - Structuring your time - Setting goals and priorities - Increasing personal efficiency and effectiveness - Scheduling specific time for each activity - Scheduling relaxation time in order to regenerate William E Kelly, in his 2002 article on Time Management, defined critical time management skills as: - Making task lists - Organizing resources and work - Setting goals - Creating and reviewing a schedule - Breaking down large tasks into smaller piece The Eisenhower Method, also known as the Eisenhower Matrix or Eisenhower Box by Dwight D Eisenhower, is a method to figure out priorities Important Not important Urgent Critical and immediate Not urgent Critical but not immediate - - Crises - Deadlines - Problems Not critical but immediate Relationship building - Recreation Uncategorized - Some meetings, callers, mails - Pleasant activities - Trivia, busy work Time management - Purpose and Benefits 2.1 Purpose of time management: Time management is associated with time-using and subjective assessments of job performance Time is infinite and immeasurable but it is also a scarce resource All of us always have a strong feeling about time restriction Time restriction or time limit, according to Cambridge dictionary is “the greatest length of time someone is allowed to spend doing something” The limitation of time in the human’s mind is brought about by multiple tasks, which can be affected by several external actions An individual in both a single and multitasking environment is considered to suffer from mental workload (Bin Xie & Gavriel Salvendy) Due to that fact, time management becomes a need to achieve effectiveness and productivity Organizing, setting up, making plans… are some factors that contribute to the art of managing time and ensure work-life balance In conclusion, the purpose of time management skills is goals achievements and equilibrium 2.2 Benefits of time management: 2.2.1 Reduce anxiety and enhance leisure satisfaction: Time is one of many factors affecting to stressors (Goodman, 1933 and LeRoy, 1988) Most people experience stress feeling at some predictable time with a variety of tasks The confusion happening when people cannot arrange and handle all the task forces them to go through physical and psychological impairment (Murphy and Archer, 1996) The only way to prevent stress is time management Time management has been said to reduce stress and increase leisure pursuit (Blake and Vandiver, 1988; Marttlin, Wethington & Kessler, 1990) The positive feeling only happens when people have taken off their burden and satisfy with their performance in a job thanks to an effective schedule 2.2.2 Improve work effectiveness and productivity: The well-organized schedule will point out the priority for each people They have awareness about when the deadline is and what should they first Those acts “that aim at achieving effective use of time while performing certain goal-directed activities” (Claessens et al., 2007, 262) are well organized and apply well management skills in daily lives Furthermore, effective work means that successful task The secret to achieve success or failure in life is effectively managing this resource that everyone possesses equally and paying sufficient emphasis on planning (Macan, Shahani, Dipboye & Phillips, 2000) 2.2.3 Increase creativity: There are some criteria for creativity such as stay focus, free up extra creative hours, organize your mindset… Good time management helps people have more free time to engage in their creative world with their inside world Especially, a well-organized schedule helps you know when to be creative We all have peaks and troughs of creative energy during the day so that you have a chance to utilize time to create new things 2.2.4 Develop leadership: The effective time organizing is important to leadership qualities, as it is proved by the relationship between principals’ time use and school outcomes (e.g., Grissom, Loeb, and Master, 2013, Horng, Klasik, and Loeb, 2010) Only when people know how to use time wisely than they know how to lead a group of people effectively Because time management points out one’s personality that helps them understand more about themselves and have the ability to empower others Therefore, leadership and time management have a strong connection The importance of time management skills: It is undeniable that time is an expensive asset which no one could ever afford Although there are only 24 hours a day, we always have a lot of tasks that have to be done on time Therefore, it is extremely important for people, especially for college students, to manage their time appropriately That students have to fight around the clock to deal with various essays, go to libraries, researches, participate in projects, etc makes it almost impossible for them to have a well-balanced life Only those who manage to master time management skills could make the impossible possible Here are some reasons why time management is crucial for college students: 3.1 Make the most of the “golden years”: 3.1.1 Academic achievement: Living among the hustle and bustle of college life, students would probably mess their schedules up as a lot of strict deadlines are imposed on them with piles of assignments, researches, and papers Time management helps students to set priorities and finish these tasks in a most effective way Therefore, students who aim to achieve great results not have to stress out to study day and night 3.1.2 Relaxation: Proper time management allows students to enjoy their personal life as well Being able to accomplish more work with less effort and avoiding a huge loss of time give students free time to what they want This will help them to have more balance and fulfillment in their lives 3.1.3 Self-development: years of university will definitely be wasted if students not make use of them to acquire new skills and explore themselves Those who dare to step out of their comfort zone, try new things and be in different positions to maximize their abilities and to get a better hold of themselves will likely to be closer to success than others 3.2 Future preparation 3.2.1 A plus point for the career Mastering time management skills will bring students a lot of advantages when they apply for a job since it is one of the most impressive skills to the 10 Figure 2.3 The amount of time students spending for extracurricular activities The pictures above: 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 describe the way FTU first-year students arrange their time for self-studying, relaxing and extracurricular activities It is clear that based on these pictures a large number of FTU freshmen spend less than hours for self-studying and also participate in extracurricular activities each day, while spend over hours of relaxing The percentage among students decreases when it comes to more relaxing hours, less self-studying and less extra activities time These data show that many students’ habit nowadays concentrate on relaxing Figure 2.4 The extent to which students complete their assignments (rate from 1-5) 19 Figure 2.5 : The time left for students to complete their assignments before the deadline Picture 2.4 reveals that, most FTU freshmen tend to finish their homework usually, while only a few percent of them rarely or never finish their work The data showing in picture 2.5 have the number which nearly the same 21.9% is the figure of different remaining times: 15-30 minutes, hours and 24 hours The number of students still have 1-3 hours after finishing their work is slightly higher, with 34.4% Therefore, they have various amount of time remaining after completing their work before deadline Figure 2.6 The number of students have part-time job In picture 2.6, it is obvious that most FTU first-year students not have a part-time job which takes over 15 hours per week, or their work requires less than 15 hours per week Only 22.9% of them are having a part-time job with over 15 hours of working each week After Covid-19 happened The charts represent time distribution for self-study and entertainment of freshmen in Foreign Trade University during the time of Covid-19 epidemic happened Overall, most students (37.5%) still remain their study time less than hours and spend most of their time (more than hours per days) to take a rest and entertain However, there is a slightly change in students’ study habits that they become to spend more time to study Before Covid-19 epidemic broke out, only 20 9.4% of students self-study, and this proportion rise to 13.5% during the social distancing time Figure 3.1 The amount of time students spend for self-studying Figure 3.2 The amount of time students spending for entertaining During the time at home, most of students not spend much time on extracurricular activities and part-time jobs as they were before The figure shows 66.7% of students spend less than hours per day for additional activities and 16.7% of students not have to spend 15 hours per week for part-time jobs This figure has decreased a bit slightly due to current situation However this means that FTU freshmen have more free time than before Figure 3.3 The amount of time students spending for online extracurricular activities 21 Figure 3.4 The number of students have online part-time job These following charts show students’ habits and responses before their deadlines Most of students (41.7%) cannot affirm that they have finished their homework for 100% Only 38 out of total can asset that they completed all the tasks We can easily see that many of them still reluctant about their accomplishments Figure 3.5 The extent to which students complete their assignments (rate from 1-5) On the other hand, the number of students finish their assignment in 1-3 hours early still account for the most (35.8%) There is a positive sign that most of them have tendency to complete the tasks earlier than before Only 17.9% of them finish homework in 15-30 minutes early (4% less than the figure before Covid-19 epidemic broke out) 22 Figure 3.6 The time left for students to complete their assignments before the deadline Analyze the changes in students’ habit due to Covid-19 epidemic Because of the outbreak of Covid-19 epidemic, most of FTU freshmen have many changes in their daily schedule Although this alteration is just slightly, we can analyze the change in their habits Firstly, FTU freshmen have positive modifications They have spent much time for self-study and therefore, they tend to complete the tasks early before the deadlines (up to 24 hours) The number of students spend time for studying have increase from 9.4% to 13.5%, which means that they have awareness to take full advantage of time to study FTU freshmen also turn in their task 6-24 hours earlier before the deadlines This can be a sign of making use of time or putting all concentration on assignments of first year students Secondly, besides the positive changes, some of the students have wasted their time, or in the other words, have not managed their time properly Although the amount of students spending more than hours for self-study has increased slightly but not most of them spend this time to study Many of students still remain less than hours per day for studying Besides, they spent more than hours per day for entertaining The figure of this fact account for 50%, increase 5.2% more than the figure before the outbreak of epidemic Furthermore, students cannot strongly affirm that they have completed all the assignments In this special time, they should have had more free time to complete all tasks but they only complete for 85% or less This may be the consequences of ineffective time management skills when people have too much free time Lastly, many of students usually complete assignment from to hours earlier though they have much time for preparation In conclusion, during the time of Covid-19 outbreak, students have much free time but they cannot manage time properly and cannot make use all of time to improve study and work qualities 23 Chapter 3: Reasons and solutions on FTU freshmen’s time management towards Covid-19 According to the survey that we carried out, approximately 50% of the respondents claim that the COVID-19 pandemic has made considerable changes to their daily schedules The figures from the provided pie charts indicate that students have altered their way of allocating time to different activities of the day Some people think these changes have positive effects on their lives while others find it hard to manage time appropriately and are negatively affected To understand why this pandemic influences first-year students in different ways, we need to break down the causes that lead to the change in time management of those freshmen Here are some reasons for the change in their schedules: Reasons for negative changes 1.1 Disorder of daily routine As students are having the longest “holiday” ever, many of them have the intention of letting off steam after the first intense semester at the university by doing whatever they want regardless of time and health matter Daily activities like eating, sleeping and exercising are likely to be mixed up since students are at ease with the amount of time that they have As a consequence, that the biological clocks are seriously disrupted makes their bodies feel exhausted all day long Therefore, students might spend too much time resting instead of working For instance, series of interesting movies totally engross many people every night and they can barely keep their eyes off the screen until they fall asleep The next morning, they will oversleep as usual and start their day at noon feeling exhausted and things go round in circles Their timetables have changed drastically due to the disorder of their daily routine 1.2 Technology abusement On one hand, technology has made it easier than ever to our jobs and to access to the Internet for an unlimited supply of resources and information Also, the Internet seems to be a perfect means of entertainment for students during this 24 quarantine time On the other hand, it is one of the biggest sources of distractions for them Modern technology has taken their minds off important matters and onto things that are not really necessary Indeed, constant attention to our social media pages, mobile games and applications have reduced their ability to focus on essential tasks For example, TikTok is a video-sharing social network, which has been popular with the young recently Although using this application is an interesting way to release stress and kill time, it is very addictive and time-consuming Indeed, many people spend hours creating a video which lasts only 15 seconds 1.3 Family interruptions When students are at home and have a limited amount of space to work and study, it is extremely hard for them to concentrate on their work They will likely have to deal with all sorts of interruptions and distractions from the family members Almost every student agrees that finding a good place to attend online classes so that family will not interrupt can also be an issue It's especially hard if you have very young kids, who don't understand that they can see you but you're not available to play Repeatedly saying "no, I don't have time now" is painful Therefore, students may have to adjust their schedules to minimize the disturbance from the family during work 1.4 Procrastination Although staying home during the quarantine may make you feel relaxed and give you more time for different activities, it also can be easy for one to feel demotivated and be inactive They are inclined to procrastinate work that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline Contrary to the competitive environment when students work and study in person with others, working and studying from home lacks the interaction and formality needed, therefore, students may feel unready to work and easily lose motivation This can be one of the causes of the change in students’ schedules Reasons for positive changes 25 2.1 Flexibility schedule According to the survey that we carried out, the most productive time of the day varies from student to student It means that each person has a different way to build their schedule based on their level of energy at particular times of the day These levels are affected by external and internal factors The knowledge of the peak times can help students plan their day better For instance, those who can only have an intensity of focus in the evening should arrange their schedules so that they have time for important and difficult tasks at that time Our performance differs considerably over the course of the day, and what task to at a certain time really depends on the nature of the task If we look at the evidence, we can be doing the right work at the right time so that we reduce the time doing it with the same or even better results 2.2 Appropriate duration As students stay indoors all day long, they have a great deal of time to spend Moreover, they not have to follow any fixed schedule and spend too much time on unnecessary things Instead, they can decide the length of various activities based on the importance level of the tasks or on their interest in these jobs Managing time wisely could help lift up students’ mood and boost their productivity as they use enough time for what they are passionate about and cut down on the time spent on needless things For example, during this quarantine time, students have saved a huge amount of time getting stuck in traffic jams every day Instead of spending hours on streets doing nothing, now they can totally read a good book while enjoying a cup of tea at home 2.3 Time for family One of the reasons for the change in students’ schedules is that they allocate more time for their families On regular days, students spend most of the time studying and taking part in extracurricular activities, therefore, the amount of time they stay with other members of their family is too short So this is a perfect chance for students to make up for the loss of time that they should have spent with their families Consequently, students’ schedules may have to be altered and added 26 several family activities such as doing housework, cooking and watching films together, etc Time management tips and solutions for students during the outbreak of Covid-19: Based on the analysis of the survey, it can be seen that during the outbreak of Covid-19, some students cannot manage time properly Good time management skills help students prioritize tasks, especially students enter universities on the whole, FTU students in particular There are many time management tips for college students to make the most of the “golden years”; however, in those days of high tension from the outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid19), here are some special tips that should be applied: 3.1 Have a To-Do “List”: Having a list is always a time saver A list keeps students focused, motivated and also let them see - and monitor - their progress This will help students prioritize projects and provide a structure to help keep him or her on track to meet due dates A To-Do “list” is not only a list in the traditional way, but students can apply different types of listings and their creativity as long as the list shows them the tasks need doing For example: 27 Figure 1: A traditional To-Do list Figure 2: A To-Do mind map Figure 3: Eisenhower Box by Dwight D Eisenhower The essential thing is not how well-made or creative the list is but rather how well one can accomplish the tasks The list is only useful when the users take it as a reminder and stick to it Make sure you don’t put the most difficult tasks at the bottom and keep mornings for MITs - most important tasks 28 3.2 Eliminate Distractions: Since the bad condition of the Covid-19 epidemic, students now study at home online Among cell phones, social media, and friends, there are a lot of other activities that can distract students from their school work What they should is to:  Determine what is significant and what deserves their time based on importance and urgency  Remove non-essential tasks/activities to spend more time on genuinely important things  Take distracting things such as phones, food/snacks away, shut your door, turn the television off 3.3 Achieve a healthy balance: Students should strike a balance between rest, relaxation and school work, self-study It can’t be all work and no play During the time of Covid-19 epidemic; however, the situation can be opposite: It can’t be all play and no work The tip is taking short breaks Smart time management isn’t always about doing something or the other It also emphasizes on the fact that little breaks after an hour or so can take your productivity to another level 3.4 Get enough sleep: Enough sleep is about 8-10 hours Now that students study from home, some of them have the habit of sleeping in or even spend half of day sleeping The difference between a productive and a horribly disorganized day can be just an extra hour or two of sleep Go to sleep before mid-night is also important It can be because of staying up late, the next day is full of tiredness If it is possible, wake up early to make your day longer 29 Time management techniques for students during the outbreak of Covid-19: Besides the above time management tips, there are some time management techniques that will make students succeed in managing time Embracing time management techniques is not about grasping a lot of tasks into a day but to simplify how to work to things better 4.1 The 4D system: Simply put, 4D refers to Delete, Delegate, Defer, and Do: Delete (Drop): There are always some unnecessary tasks that could be simply deleted from To-Do list Delegate: Reach out for help when it isn’t working This is what school counselors, resource personnel and friends are for! Defer: Not everything is supposed to be done immediately If there is something could be done later and has no serious repercussions, defer it Do: If there is something important to and there is the time to it, get it done there and then 4.2 18 Minutes Approach: The 18 Minutes approach (Peter Bregman, 2011) allows students to reclaim their days from distractions and focus time on things that are important  Five minutes in the morning: Sit down and think about what they need to today to make it successful Then write those things down and schedule them into a To-Do list  One minute per hour: Refocus Set an alarm every hour and when it beeps, “take a deep breath and ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively.” (Peter Bregman, 2011)  Five minutes in the evening: Turn off the computer, phone and review how the day went 30 31 Conclusion It is clear that the COVID-19 epidemic has exerted a great impact on students’ daily schedules, especially for those in the first year With the aim of helping those freshmen get through this hard time without hindering their academic performance and tipping the balance of their daily lives, we decided to conduct a study of time management which targets at FTU first-year students The research has raised students’ awareness of the precious and limited amount of time that they have and indicated how they use the amount of time makes all the difference to their lives Therefore, developing the time management skills is extremely important and necessary Responding to the increase in the need of acquiring time management skills during this period of quarantine, we have gone into analyzing the difference in the behaviors and habits of students arranging time before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic According to the survey data, besides those having positive modifications, some of the students have wasted their time, in the other words, have not managed their time properly Therefore, we have found out some common reasons for both changes and proposed several effective solutions to these time management problems Lesson learned: Time is precious as there are banks to store money but no bank for time is found Time management skill is crucial for a well-balanced life Its importance and usefulness lie in allowing people to accomplish more tasks faster with the same results or even better results Not only having improved students’ academic performances, but time management skill also has various positive effects on other aspects of life Some proposed tips to manage time:  Have a to-do list  Eliminate distractions 32  Achieve a healthy balance  Get enough sleep effective time management techniques:  The 4D system  18 minutes approach 33 ... plus point for the career 10 3.2.2 A pool of opportunities 10 FTU Freshmen? ??s time management skills toward Covid- 19: 11 Chapter 2: Analyzing the change of FTU freshmen? ??s time management. .. Crutsinger - In her 199 4 book “Thinking Smarter: Skills for Academic Success” defined effective time management as the process of: - Setting goals - Prioritizing those goals - Deciding how much time. .. Therefore, controlling daily time will not be easy, when many FTU freshmen tend to become lazy during this time During this time, some students, including FTU first-year students, start to find