Among the midst of academics, work, family and friends, it can be difficult to manage your time as a college student.
Balancing your time in college can be a challenge in itself. There’re projects that need to be done, chores to be taken care of, and a social life going on.
Time management is a skill that not many people have. That doesn’t mean people can’t learn this skill.
Research shows that effective time management can help reduce stress, prioritize the most important tasks of your life, and improve work-life balance among other things.
Learning how to improve time management is a matter of effort. It’s not rocket science, and all it takes is developing new habits.
I’m lucky enough to have naturally been born with good time management. The following are tips I would recommend to be more efficient with your time:
Prioritize Classes
Don’t get me wrong, prioritizing doesn’t mean only passing certain classes. It means ranking the classes by importance to your career.
For example, it is better to spend more time on classes that are related to your major. Electives and other school requirements are important, but they shouldn’t be the ones consuming most of your attention.
A good way to prioritize classes is by seeing which ones are expected to be the most challenging. Common sense will tell you that the most challenging classes are the ones that will take up the most time.
Furthermore, it is a good idea to factor in how many exams there are for the semester.
A class that has two quizzes a month can be a good thing because it’ll force you to understand concepts sooner. The more exposure to quizzes, the more likely it’ll be that the materials you learn will be fresh come exam time.
On the other hand, less exams means more materials to cover in one study session. Additionally, it also means more weight on you to do good on that exam. Less exams usually means each exam counts more towards your final grade.
That brings me to the next point, which is to read the syllabus for each class.
On the syllabus, it is worth reading what composes your grade. Classes that have 65% or more composed of exams should rank the highest. If assignments are worth the most, those classes can be prioritized last.
Once you figure out what to prioritize, it’s a matter of taking the time to put in your best work. Prioritizing classes can help balance your workload.
Set Up a Schedule
Now that prioritizing your classes has been done, it’s time to set your schedule.
For those who have a job, it would be a good idea to set a fixed schedule at work. The more predictability you have on your schedule, the better you become with time.
Once classes are in session, try to figure out what time of day you can work on homework/assignments. Try to do this for every day of the week.
For example, maybe Sunday mornings you have time to do homework for a certain class. Try to keep it consistent where you do your homework at the same time every week.
The more consistency there is to your schedule, the more comfortable you will feel.
Identify Timewasters
Timewasters are what people find so difficult to give up. Things such as social media and the internet oftentimes consume so much of our days.
If you have certain timewasters that are affecting your sleep, time to do work, or anything else, it would be a great idea to reduce that time.
I’ve had people in my life complain about not having time to do work, when they would spend hours on social media. You can’t complain if you know exactly what’s distracting you.
Subsequently, I don’t mean to say that you should avoid social media or the web. I know we all need something to distract ourselves from time to time. All I’m saying is that people should limit their screen time on school days.
The weekend will come eventually. That’s when people should take advantage and watch their phones as long as they want. As long as schoolwork is done, by all means, help yourself.
First In-First Out
Sometimes, certain professors will take forever to post assignments. Others will post assignments consistently or early every week.
I used to love those professors who would post everything early or at the same time every week. Again, the more predictability, the better you can be with time.
A good habit I’ve had is to work on assignments as soon as they were out. When possible, I would finish those assignments the day of.
As a result, I would be done with the week assignments a week before they were due. That would free up my time to work on other assignments and/or relax myself.
Basically, don’t procrastinate! If you have the work already, just do it! Don’t wait until two nights before everything is due to scramble.
Procrastination gives you more stress. Ultimately, the faster you get your work done, the more time you have for yourself.
Learn to Say No
One of the hardest things to do as a friend is to say no. However, it is necessary to do so sometimes.
There are many college students who are involved in clubs aside of class and even work. I was there myself my last two years of college.
It’s easy to notice that the people who help out the most in the classroom, club, or work are the most stressed out. They are also the ones who are the most tired as well.
I admire these people and hope they get what they deserve. But at the same time, I tell them to ease the unnecessary burden they put on themselves. There are other people in the club who can help and take turns with the same person.
An extra hour of helping after class or a club meeting is an extra hour someone can use to study. Of course, if there’s not much going on in their life, by all means they should help. It also serves as a distraction.
My main point is that it’s okay to say no to people. Everyone has a life outside of work, school, clubs, and whatever else. Learning to delegate work to others is a helpful skill.
There’s no shame in saying no if there are other responsibilities that need attention immediately.
Use Reminders on Your Phone
With so much going on, it can be easy to forget things.
In a world where technology is at our disposal, we can leverage that to improve our time management. Setting reminders on our phones is a great habit to have.
I used reminders to remind me of certain assignments that were going to be posted. I like to be ahead of the curve always, so the sooner I could get my hands on work, the better.
You can use reminders to tell you if a certain task is due soon. There’s plenty of students who forget due dates.
Outside of school, you can set reminders of events coming up. Birthdays, parties, games, or anything can be reminders.
With all this being said, the main idea is to try to follow a routine. Once you prioritize your classes, make a routine and avoid distractions when necessary. Leverage the technology you have available and delegate work to others.
Time management is an important skill to have in any career. Might as well start soon.
