Academics · Study Skills

Three things due.
Start with the right one.

When everything is due soon, the work that feels worst is often not the work that matters most tonight. Put in each assignment with its due date, how much it counts and how long it will really take. The organizer scores each one, puts them in order and shows the minutes you have queued for the next two days.

Add an assignmentWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Study skills kit, $29 for 21 items.

Your assignments

The worked example is made up: a biology quiz on Friday, algebra homework due tomorrow and a history poster due in nine days. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Academics · Study Skills$5

What you finish with
A record per assignment: class, task, due date, kind of work, minutes in all, how far along and five start steps. Gives days to the due date, a priority score from 1 to 9 and the minutes still to go, and puts every assignment in order in the side panel with the minutes due in the next two days. Flags late work, work due tomorrow not started, long blocks not split, tests crammed into one night and projects with no first piece planned.
Who it is for
Middle and high school students, and the parents and teachers helping them plan a week.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per assignment. Prints one assignment, every assignment in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Study skills kit ($29) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Study Skills space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Add each assignment with its due date and kind.
  2. Guess the minutes honestly, then add a third.
  3. Mark how far along you are.
  4. Work down the list in the side panel, highest score first.
  5. Split anything over an hour into short pieces.

Add an assignment

Sorting the pile

Urgent or important: where each task goesDo firstDue soon and countsa lot: tests in thenext three days,projects due thisweek.Tonight.ScheduleLater but counts alot: a project twoweeks out, a paperdue next month.Put the first pieceon the calendarnow.Do quicklyDue soon, countsless: tomorrow’spractice set, ashort reading.After the firstcolumn.LastLater and countsless: optionalpractice, extracredit.Only after therest.Urgent or important: where each task goesDo firstDue soon and counts a lot: tests in the nextthree days, projects due this week.Tonight.ScheduleLater but counts a lot: a project two weeksout, a paper due next month.Put the first piece on the calendar now.Do quicklyDue soon, counts less: tomorrow’s practiceset, a short reading.After the first column.LastLater and counts less: optional practice,extra credit.Only after the rest.
The organizer’s score does the same sorting: urgency (3 for due within a day, 2 within three days, 1 later) times weight (3 for tests and projects, 2 for homework, 1 for practice).

Why guess the minutes

People consistently underestimate how long their own tasks take, even tasks they have done before; psychologists call it the planning fallacy. Writing a number down, then checking it afterward, is the fastest way to get better at it.

Spacing beats cramming

Studying for a test in two or three shorter sessions on different days leads to better recall than the same time in one night. Put the first session for any test at least two days out.

Sources

  1. Buehler, R., Griffin, D., and Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the planning fallacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(3), 366 to 381.
  2. Dunlosky, J., et al. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4 to 58.
  3. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493 to 503.
  4. Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the urgent and important matrix. Free Press.

The worked example is made up. The score is a simple ordering rule, not a grade prediction; a teacher’s instructions come first. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.