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, and learning time management tips can go a long way in making your life easier and more productive. In this blog, we will look at some time management tips for students that can increase their productivity and help them in the long run. So, stay tuned to learn about the importance of time management for students.
Why is time management important?
Life is a long list of tasks that never seem to end. But when do we find time for ourselves if we are always working? How do we stop being overwhelmed? That’s where time management tips come into play. We can increase our productivity and efficiency by scheduling tasks, organising our task timelines, and overall time management. With these, we can complete our tasks on time and eventually gather open windows in the time frame, which can be utilised for whatever we want to do. time management tips for students are even more important as they need to find a work-study-fun balance.
Time management apps you can try
Of course, we are going to discuss the best time management tips for students, but did you know how today`s digital age can make everything easy for you? Yes, with the help of some apps and tools, you can achieve effective time management techniques in addition to the tips mentioned below. Time management apps are rather simple tools that will help you organize your tasks. Track your time and even prioritize your work for you, making it rather simple to meet those deadlines in essence. These apps will help you increase your productivity and achieve your goals while reducing stress since, well, you are meeting a timeline.
1. Notion
Key feature:
- Task and project management
- Collaboration
- Templates and customization
- Cross-Platform compatibility
Notion is a powerful all-in-one workspace application that goes beyond traditional note-taking. Launched in 2016, Notion has gained immense popularity due to its versatility and collaborative features. Notion is highly flexible and customizable, which makes it a rather versatile app that can be used in a variety of ways. You can even create a Kanban board to manage your tasks, a database to track your time, or even a calendar to plan your schedule.
2. Google Calendar
Key features:
- Multiple calendar views
- Customizable colour coding
- Integration with Google
- Offline access
- Time zone support
- Goal setting
While not strictly a time management app, Google Calendar is a widely used tool for scheduling and organizing events, tasks, and reminders. Launched in 2006, it has become an essential tool for individuals and businesses alike. Google Calendar offers a straightforward yet powerful way to organize and manage events, appointments, and tasks. Key features include the ability to create events with detailed information, set reminders, and invite others to attend.
3. RescueTime:
Key features:
- Automatic time tracking
- Focusced time tracking
- Goal setting
- Daily-weekly reports
- Offline time tracking
- Customizable alerts
This app tracks your digital habits, providing insights into how you spend your time on various apps and websites. RescueTime runs in the background, automatically tracking the time spent on various apps, websites, and activities without manual input. It provides detailed insights into how time is spent on specific websites, applications, and tasks, offering a granular view of digital activities. Users can set goals for productive time or limits for distracting activities, helping to create better habits and stay focused.
Now, that you have become familiar with the apps, and hoping you are just as obsessed with these as we are! You can check out these 15 best time management apps and stick to the ones you like most for better productivity and greater results!
Top 12 time management tips for students
So, how does one navigate through time such that we have time for everything we want to do? How do we do time management? Here are some time management tips for students from someone who could do it. Learn the importance of time and let us spill some beans on the Best time management tips for students.
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. This is one of the time management tips for students that can help them in the long run. 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 to have a mental image and awareness of where the goal is at all times as they move forward. 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 clarity on what you need to dedicate your time towards. This is one of the time management tips for students that will make working easy for them.
3. Set the schedule
Now that we have analyzed 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; this is one of the time management tips for students that will help you prioritise your work. Calendars and weekly and 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, it provides many benefits as you get set with the schedule over time. Being meticulous about what task to do in a particular time slot makes for rapid progress in 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
Many tasks may seem overwhelming at first, and some of them are just that. The trick to deal with them is rather simple. Breaking it down- is one of the bes time management tips. 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 you are 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
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. Utilise apps on your browser to prevent yourself from opening sites that 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 instil a feeling of urgency which can motivate one to finish their tasks on a priority basis. 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. This is one of the time management tips for students, which will make work easy and fun for one.
7. Check-the-lists
Checklists help you stay on top of your tasks as you can 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 are in the middle of a task. Colour code your tasks based on 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 to accomplish your goals, you need to give your brain a break. Wait, a break? Yes, as the inherent solution to any problem lies in the problem itself. Studying or working becomes monotonous and eventually fatigues our minds, slowing our progress, which in turn causes stress, and, in most cases, the amount of work to do adds to it. This is one of the best time management tips for students that can help them channel their energy and make them productive.
9. Use screen-time
As funny as 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 utilise it to manage your time and execute your tasks? Technology may not only be leveraged to help you with your homework but also to help you optimise 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 with the help of studying apps, you can access to boost your productivity. This is definitely one of the best time management tips for students that will boost their productivity and overall performance as well.
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. One of the best time management tips is 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. You can also find out some refer and earn programs for students.
11. Make use of tools
Make sure that you are using certain tools to manage your time and multitask. Especially if you usually live a busy life, making use of proper tools is one of the best time management tips for students. Making a visual plan of dividing your time into certain tasks will help you to achieve all without burnout. Some of the tools could be
- Planners- which can help you keep track of long-term deadlines, such as important essay deadlines, upcoming exams, and appointments and meetings. They often provide a monthly overview each month, as well as day-to-day planning sections so that you can stay ahead.
- Scheduling- if your schedule is jam-packed and you have trouble figuring out what to do and when, scheduling day by day—and sometimes even hour by hour—can help you slot in everything you need to do with less stress.
12. Make realistic goals
Academic work takes a lot of time to do - researching, taking notes, writing reports, and doing assignments. Put extra time into thinking, analysing, and understanding your work, but try not to be a perfectionist. Be realistic about the time you will spend on each task. Setting unrealistic goals and then failing to achieve them will only lead to a piling sense of guilt and pressure. Avoid stress and be flexible with your routine to enjoy the whole process!
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 now! Feel liberated as you stay on top of your work and have more time out with friends. These were some of the best and easiest time management tips for students that can help them become pros and channel their energy in a better way. This will also increase their efficiency and productivity & will prove to be of great help.