How To Manage Time In College: Top 5 Hacks For College Students
If you have ever wondered how to manage your time in college, this article is for you. As the semester starts and your college studies progress, you may feel that you’re running out of time. How are you going to do all the reading and homework your professor expects you to do? Do you have time for a part time job? Do you have time left for social life?
Life as a student is dense. Your day is full of lectures, homework, projects, and studies – and that is before you even consider socializing. While people who work full time can go home and relax in the evening, college students are never off.
Luckily, there are things you can do to stop stress, master time management, and take control of your life – even while school is in session. In this article, I’ll share five principles that will help you simplify your life and save time. Experiment with these techniques and make it work for you:
How To Manage Time In College:
1. You decide how to spend your time.
Your time is yours – every minute of it – and that means you must decide how to spend it. Begin your time management program by acknowledging the undeniable fact that you are in control. Sometimes we make excuses for ourselves, like, “I can’t exercise because I don’t have time.” In reality, we should say, “I choose not to exercise because I don’t prioritize it in my schedule.” We all personally control how we spend our time.
You have a choice. Even when a professor says, “Come to the review session at 3 p.m. today if you want to do well on the exam,” you are still in control because you decide whether to go to the session. The same goes for class attendance, study time, and time spent on homework.
Decide what you want to accomplish this semester with your time. Instead of assuming that “getting good grades” is your goal, grab a notebook and consider what you can achieve. Then consider the options and narrow it right down to what you truly want to accomplish.
Decide to spend your time primarily on the tasks that will serve your most significant goals. A senior trying to land a post-college job will have very different priorities than a freshman trying to get good grades (less study time and more interview time, for example). Keep a to-do list to help yourself stay on course for your goals.
2. Time management means learning to say NO.
In college, there are many people willing to plan your time – professors and roommates, for example. To be an effective time manager, you cannot let other people decide how you are going to use your time.
In step 1 above, you decided what you wanted to accomplish this semester. Now decide that you’ll say “no” to tasks that do not meet your goals. You’ve decided to keep a to-do list. Take the guidance of author Tim Ferriss by also making a do-not-do list. Items on that list might include television, every kind of unnecessary meetings, unnecessary travel, and other time wasters that you encounter in your daily routine. The purpose of this list is to avoid tasks that will take time away from the things you truly need to do.
Feel good about saying “no” to others when they ask you to do things that aren’t in line with your goals. Students should focus on themselves. You aren’t a greedy person just because you choose to be empowered by your own goals. When you take care of yourself first, you will have more energy to spend with your friends when they truly need you.
Even professors will order you to do things that are contrary to your goals. For example, a professor may ask you to read before each class period. But if your goal is to get good grades, and 80% of your marks are based on final exams, you will probably be better off spending the whole semester practicing for finals than reading possibly irrelevant passages in your textbook.
3. Ditching class = MORE stress.
While you should seriously consider skipping class which is an absolute waste of time, the reality is that attending the majority of class sessions in your college career is a crucial part of succeeding as a student, and will really save you time.
The time you save by missing a 90-minute lecture far outweighs the tasks you must do to make up for the absence – copying class notes, studying material on your own, and studying extra hard because of the uncertainty of what will occur. on the exam.
Also consider the financial side of the equation. You’ve devoted several years of your life to a university education, and you have possibly paid a fortune too. If you miss your class, you are just wasting your money. If you calculate how much money you spend per college class and then divide by how many classes there are in a semester, you may be surprised to realize that you missed classes that cost several hundred dollars.
Unless you have a real emergency, go to class.
4. A healthy lifestyle will save you time.
Lack of sleep, malnutrition, lack of exercise, and all other forms of unhealthy behavior will make it difficult for you to succeed in your studies. Think of how much time students spend napping because they do not get enough sleep at night. Going to the doctor is another big waste of time.
Time management isn’t just about the number of hours you have. It’s also about the amount of productive output you can get from those hours. When you feel good, you can get significant work done much more quickly than when you feel sick. College life requires mental clarity and concentration, so you need to take care of your physical health.
Think about your health practices as a student. Are there any changes you can make to feel better and healthier? Decide to make at least one change now – today – that will help you become healthier.
5. You can beat procrastination.
It’s normal to put off big, intimidating projects like papers, but you will be happier and more productive if you tackle the nasty things on your to-do list first. Here are some ways to overcome your tendency to waste time procrastinating:
Break large tasks into small parts and estimate how much time each part will take. Work backwards from your deadline, schedule in every part of your task.
Use the 10 minute rule. If you do not feel like doing something, just tell yourself you are going to spend ten minutes on it now, then stop. Usually, you will spend more than ten minutes and often you will finish the task, but even if you quit after ten minutes, you will be that much closer to completing the task.
Know when your peak energy time is. If you are a morning person, plan to get your most significant work done first.
Use peer pressure. Study with friends so you can learn from one another. This clearly works only if your friend has similar goals to yours. If group work is wasting your time, stop it.
Apply these anti-procrastination principles to all aspects of your life – not just your schoolwork.
Conclusion
Proper time management will reduce frustration, anxiety, and stress, while avoiding the regrets that come from poor performance. You can be pleased with yourself, your accomplishments in college, and your social life, all at the same time.
Review the five keys outlined above and ensure that you have incorporated each of them into your student’s life. If you take these five principles to heart, you’ll be far better at managing your time than the average student.
Thank you for reading this article how to manage time in college and I actually hope you take my advice to heart. I wish you good luck and that I hope that its content has been a good help to you.
