Time Management
As a college student, time management is essential in functioning to your fullest potential. For example, if your time management skills are weak, your education, extra circulars, and employment are near impossible to balance.
Personally, time management has taken years for me to perfect. However, I want to share a couple of tips that have helped me best manage my time.
1. Set Goals
Yes, I know it sounds broad, but it is very beneficial. The first step is to set goals, big or small. Each week, I set goals for myself. Typically, on Sundays, I focus on homework assignments, upcoming exams, laundry, or other tasks I want to complete for the week. Set goals that are reasonable and achievable.
2. Prioritize & Create a To-Do List
Create a list that ranks tasks and homework assignments from most important to least. For example, if a large project due on Friday, designate time for it starting on Monday. I recommend dividing your list into things to do now and things you can worry about later. Creating a to-do list helps you get right to your tasks, saving time and keeping you on track!
Check out Fun Cheap or Free for a block schedule I use to better manage my time.
3. Small Tasks, FIRST
After setting goals and creating a prioritized list, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with a load of assignments. However, I have found it works best to start with small tasks first. This way, you will ease into your more challenging tasks and have more built-up motivation! Starting right away with small jobs will help save time at the end of the day.
4. Do ONE thing at a time
Coming from a multitasker, I have a terrible habit of trying to manage multiple tasks at once. To an extent, you should complete tasks once at a time. With the exception of possibly starting laundry before you start homework or other similar tasks! Personally, my phone is a large distracting factor while doing homework. I try to convince myself I can text my friends or scroll through Tik Tok while writing a paper, but I prove myself wrong every. time.
Overall, time management is a critical element in being successful as a college student. Perfecting time management will assist in completing homework more efficiently, avoid using your phone, and generates more time in your day for fun!
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10 Comments
Erin Lewis
As someone who feels so overwhelmed, this is supppppper helpful!
Brianna Olstad
Trust me, me too. But I’m glad I could help!
Anna Lichtie
I think that time management is one of the most important factors in any job and I think learning it in college will only help you in the future. I am a peer mentor on campus and I try to remind my mentees that the more you manage your time the more successful you will be in college. Thanks for the tips!
Brianna Olstad
Thank you for your feedback! I hope these tips help your mentees, and yourself, in the future!
Kim Reinders
I think this is one thing a lot of people, not only college students, struggle with. There is a lot that we have to balance in our day to day lives but if we just take a few moments and think about what is going to happen next, then we will be more successful in the long run even after college.
Lindsey Buchanan
I love these tips! I always find that I like finishing the small tasks first because it makes me feel like I accomplished a lot. It also makes me want to get into the larger tasks and I also find that it gives me motivation!! Time management is definetly soo important because when we finish tasks and not procrastinate it gives us extra time withe extra opportunities 🙂
Sawyer
Doing one thing at a time is really important for me because I’m terrible at multitasking. I really can’t do it. Like if someone is trying to talk to me while I’m watching a show, I will only hear whatever I’m looking at and the other sound will be drowned out. Even listening to music with lyrics while working is sometimes hard for me because I’ll start trying to sing along instead of focusing on my work.
Brianna Olstad
I get it! I try really hard to multitask, but I never succeed. Because of this, I have never been able to listen to music while doing homework! Especially if I like the song playing, my brain gets too distracted!
britney
These are all really good tips to for time management in college. Many people have classes along with jobs or sports, and it can be really difficult to manage all of our responsibilites at once.
Brianna Olstad
Thanks for your feedback! It definitely gets overwhelming to balance a full plate!