College Students and Intelligent Time Management

College students are often surprised by how quickly they run out of time. Between the hours required for studying, classes, work, socializing, and extracurricular activities, there never seems to be enough time to accomplish everything.

Unfortunately, students quickly feel overwhelmed, leading to spending every moment on studies or letting grades slip in favor of other activities. Effective time management skills, however, can make it possible to accomplish more in less time, and still have time for the fun stuff.

Calendars

Every activity comes with a schedule, from class meeting times to work schedules to activity meetings. Calendars, written agendas, and planners can be used to combine those schedules into one master schedule. Create a master schedule by first writing in your class meeting times for every day of the week, and then adding your work schedule and any other activities. From there, add blocks of time for studying and homework. The schedule shows, at a glance, which blocks of time are committed to specific activities and which blocks are free. It is easy to see when there is free time for socializing, and it is much easier to manage activities without becoming overwhelmed.

There are other options for filling in calendars to create an effective time management system:

• Write in deadlines and due dates for projects and assignments. Including in the calendar specific tasks of a project and a timeline for completing them can also help keep work on track.

• Use different colors of ink for different commitments. For example, class times could be written in blue, while work is written in red. Different colors make the individual commitments stand out on the page, making them more difficult to overlook.

More Time Management Tips

Calendars and schedules are not the only effective time management techniques for college students.

• Rest and nutrition – While rest and proper nutrition may not seem like ways to manage time, they can make a difference in performance. Just as a vehicle needs routine maintenance to run well, and fuel to even start, the human body needs proper nutrients to function effectively. Taking the time to eat regular meals keeps bodily functions regular, increases the ability to think and concentrate, and increases the amount of energy available to perform any task. Without proper rest and nutrition, stress levels, irritability, and the tendency to procrastinate increase.

• Combine activities – Combining activities is an excellent way to increase study time without taking time away from other activities. If getting to work requires riding the city bus, use the travel time to review lecture notes. Music selections while walking or jogging can be replaced with audio recordings of lectures.

• Get organized – Organization can be a real time saver for college students. Keeping textbooks, notebooks, study aids, and writing instruments in one specific place, and readily available, saves time in getting started on homework, studying, and even in getting out the door for class because getting everything ready does not require a massive search effort.

Effective time management skills serve to save time and increase production in every area of college life. By managing time wisely, students are able to accomplish more in less time, while feeling less stressed and still having time for a life outside of school.