You have finally achieved the dream of attending college with its freedom, growth, learning, responsibilities and all the possibilities it offers right? But when college starts, it all goes haywire with assignments, exams, plans with friends and sleep times thrown into the mix. So what is the primary link between all of these you ask? The answer is time. Time is the most vital resource there is and learning time management for students can go a long way in making your life easier and productive.
Why is time management important?
Life is a long list of tasks that never seem to end. But, if we are always working, when do we find time for ourselves? How do we stop being overwhelmed? That’s where time management skills come into play. By scheduling tasks, organizing your task timelines and overall time management, we are able to increase our productivity and efficiency as a whole. With these, we are able to complete our tasks on time and eventually gather open windows in the time frame which can be utilized for whatever you want to do. Time management skills for students are even more important as they need to find a work-study-fun balance.
Top time management tips for students
So, how does one navigate through time such that we have time for all the things we would like to do? How do we do time management? Here are some time management tips for students from someone who was able to do it (and fell back again), so read on:
1. Analyze your timeline
We believe the beginning of any change has to start from the core. In this case, your present time utilization. The first step is rather simple this way, sit down with a pen and paper and note down how you have been spending your time up until that point. Once we have it on paper, it will become a whole lot easier to understand where you can implement changes. For example, if you take 2 hours for laundry, you are probably doing something wrong. Note down your observations of where you can save time and where you need to make an effort to make your tasks more time efficient.
2. Eyes on the Goal
A basic tactic strikers use while attempting to score is to keep glancing up at the goal while focusing on the ball in order to have a mental image and awareness of where the goal is at all times as they move forwards. Time management for students works the same way. Setting clear goals/agendas for what you aim to achieve during a set time can go a long way in providing your clarity on what you need to dedicate your time towards.
3. Set the Schedule
Now that we have an analysis of how we’ve spent our time up until now and what we need to achieve. It is time to give shape to our time management skills. That starts through scheduling. Calendars and weekly, daily planners would assist in this regard. Start from the moment you wake up till you head back to snoozeville. While getting into a schedule may be difficult, over time it provides a lot of benefits as you get set with the schedule. Being meticulous about what task to do in a particular time slot makes for rapid progress into time management for students. Allow yourself some leeway in the beginning, but do stick to the times noted as much as possible.
4. Divide & Conquer
A lot of tasks may seem overwhelming at first and some of them are just that. The trick to deal with them is rather simple. Break it down. Like they say, little steps over time is a giant leap. Now, why not just take a giant leap in one go? It will leave you exhausted in a short time frame, making you unable to execute further tasks. Breaking down tasks into smaller sub-tasks will help you manage time while feeling a sense of accomplishment as you complete them. Moreover, finishing most of the smaller tasks will help conserve energy and keep you fresh. Leave the odd small tasks for the end as well, such that even if low on energy, you have an easy finish. Dividing and conquering your tasks is the optimal way to execute time management for students.
5. Get rid of distractions
“Down, down, do your dance, do your dance
A let me see ya do the-”
-Cupid shuffle…see we got distracted. Distractions are the biggest culprit and handling learning how to get around them is one of the biggest time management tips for students. Switch off your notifications and forget social media exists as you head into your study times. Utilize apps on your browser to prevent yourself from opening sites which may be distracting. Reference your schedule, any time dedicated to a particular task or study needs to be distraction free.
6. Deadlines to meet
The most dreaded part of any task, be it laundry, homework or just how much time you have with you to finish your pizza before your roommate gets back, are the deadlines. Even if there are no deadlines, try to make your own which translates over the existing ones such that you have a buffer zone to be on the safe side. Deadlines instill a feeling of urgency which can motivate one to finish their tasks on a priority basis. Rather neat trick for time management for students right? We know deadlines may be stressful and dealing with stress is important so remember, knowing when to start is a victory. Start early, if you complete a task before the time allocated is finished, start another one. Stay on your toes and sting like a bee!
You may always engage in de-stress activities to help you along the way.
7. Check-the-lists
Channel your inner pilot, create checklists. Of course, being a pilot inside is not essential for that. Checklists help you stay on top of your tasks as you are able track your progress easily and at the same time be organized. Being organized has the additional benefit of saving time as you do not have to rack your brain about what to do and where you were in the middle of a task. Color code your tasks on the basis of subjects (MORE COLOR) and integrate them into your schedule for the most efficient tracking method.
8. Make or BREAK
Contrary to the belief that tasks dictate sitting away at a table and firing away those neurons in order to accomplish your goals, you need to give your brain a break. Wait, a break? YES, as the inherent solution to any problems lies in the problem itself. Studying or working becomes monotonous and eventually fatigues our mind, slowing our progress which in turn causes stress and, in most cases, the amount of work to do adds on to it.
All it takes to get over this is a moment to breathe. Taking a breather from your desk goes a long way, be it exercise or just a hop down to the kitchen for a bowl of fruit loops, it can help you clear your mind and calm down enough to create/implement strategies and align your focus to vital goals along with refreshing and relaxing you enough to tackle that desk time. Avoid taking longer breaks as it can induce lethargy and we don’t want that when we are trying to implement time management do we?
9. Use that Screen-time
As funny it may seem for amongst time management skills, screen-time is important. No, not social media. The biggest advantage of the modern world is easy access to prime technology. What better way than to utilize it to manage your time and execute your tasks. Technology may not only be leveraged to help you with your homework (wikipediaaa?) but also to help you optimize daily tasks as well. Youtube videos and articles on how to do a particular task can help in that aspect as well. Moreover, when it comes to studies, there is a plethora of study planning and, well, studying apps which you can access to boost your productivity.
10. Earn rewards
Is it treasure? Or a free trip to Hawaii? We all wished for that, but for now let’s reward ourselves for a job well done with a night out or maybe a large toblerone bar (watch out for Joeys). Take some time out (pun not intended?) to reward yourself, after all recognition for work does help in motivating you and well, keeping you motivated. Moreover, it does provide you with something to look forward to when diving into tasks.
On that note, we should reward you for reading this with a proper send. Play some music (cupid shuffle always does the trick), and start working on your time management for students strategies NOW! Feel liberated as you stay on top of your work and have more time out with friends. All the best!!!
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