Top 11 time management tips for college students
INTRODUCTION
You can’t control time, you can only learn to manage it properly. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead and use your time wisely. But this isn’t something that’s taught to us in school or college. Even though time management problems for students are very real, you need to learn how to overcome them pretty much on your own. Is it any surprise that students struggle to balance their time?
According to a study, 87 percent of students say that better time management and organization skills would help them get better grades and 88 percent of college students want to improve their ability to manage their time.
A study estimates that 90% of college students procrastinate. You procrastinate because you think you have time to do it later.
With proper time management, you’ll feel less stressed and burnt out. you’ll be able to achieve more things and also have more free time to relax and enjoy yourself.
TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS FOR STUDENTS
1. identify time wasters
This is great way to improve your time management skills. You can’t manage your time if you don’t know where it is going. Keeping a time log is a great way to keep track of your time. Jot down every activity you do in your journal or any notebook. You’ll soon be able to see clearly where your time is going.
Once you’ve written every activity you do in a day for at least 15 days, you’ll begin to notice some patterns in how you’re spending your time.
- Are you spending too much time scrolling through social media?
- Do you spend a lot of time traveling?
- Does it take you longer than it should to complete certain tasks?
Only when you understand these patterns, you can look for ways to improve the utilization of your time. Having an awareness of how you’re spending your time is important in order to make the best use of it.
2. set goals
Setting goals is essential in time management because you know where you need to focus most of your time. It also helps put your day-to-day activities in the broader context of long-term goals.
Once you know how you are spending your time, the next step is to set concrete goals with timelines. Always make sure that you set SMART goals i.e. goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
You can set ambitious goals but make sure that you break them down into smaller, actionable steps. These steps should be small enough that you feel like you can complete them easily. If you think that the tasks are too hard, break them down into smaller steps. The goal is to have a series of small enough tasks that you feel motivated to achieve.
“Success is not a big step in the future. Success is a small step taken right now.”
These questions can act as a guideline while setting smaller goals:
- Does it feel easy?
- Will it take more than a few hours?
- Are you excited to do it?
3. develop habits
Setting goals is valuable but unless you develop habits that help you work towards those goals you might quit early. Because no matter how motivated you feel today, you’re bound to lose focus and feel demotivated at some point. So it’s helpful to have habits that keep you on the path of progress and push you to work even when you don’t feel like it.
As they say, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habits are what keeps you going.”
A great way I’ve found works really well for me is using a habit tracker in my bullet journal. I write down the habits I want to inculcate and shade them in the tracker every day that I complete them.
If you want to develop a new habit, the important thing is that you do it every single day. For example, if you want to start exercising every day, make sure that you do one pushup every day. Once you do that one pushup, there’s a high chance you’ll want to do one more, and then one more after that.
Reduce the barrier to entry, and you have a good chance of doing that thing every day. This time management tip will help keep procrastination at bay and motivate you to take action towards your goals.
4. plan ahead
Planning ahead is very important to make the best use of your time. There are hundreds of things you could be doing but you have only a limited number of hours to do them. That’s why it’s so important to prioritize and plan around your goals
You can use tools like a bullet journal or online tools/apps like Notion to plan ahead. You can also use a time blocking to divide your day into different blocks of time.
Having a plan helps you save a lot of time. When you have a plan, you don’t waste a lot of your time deciding what to do next. It helps in better management because you know your priorities and where you need to focus your energy. With proper planning. you understand what all needs to be done urgently and what all can be done a little later.
5. create a routine
If you don’t have a routine then this is what will happen: You wake up, and there are ten things you can do next before that 1 o’clock lecture.
If you’re anything like me and find any sort of decision-making difficult, you’ll spend a lot of your time and energy thinking about the best thing to do in that time. After a point, you’ll feel tired without having done anything. You’ll likely end up procrastinating. And when it’s time for your class, you’ll realize that you’ve done: nothing at all.
Sounds relatable?
Having a routine is a great way to avoid all this. For example, you know that after you come back from a class, it’s time to revise the notes or work on an assignment. And your brain knows it too. So you’re less likely to get distracted by other things. Of course, you can change your routine based on your priorities. but having a general framework of how to go about your day is very helpful in managing your time. It also helps you understand if you have leftover time for other engagements.
The clearer your routine is, the lesser you’ll have to think about when to do certain tasks. This will help you accomplish the tasks you need to finish much quicker.
6. stay organized
As someone who has never been particularly organized, especially when it comes to college, I must admit that keeping things organized has made everything much more efficient for me. Yes, it might be a bit boring and time-consuming at first, but it will help you save a lot of time later on.
It’s very helpful to have proper systems in place to store your class notes, assignments, and reference material for each subject. Instead of writing everything in one book, make sure you have separate books and folders per subject. That way, you won’t need to go through a huge stack of papers to find that one important reference paper for your next test!
You can use a bullet journal binder to keep things organized for different subjects, and if you’re a research student, you can also create your own research or academic journal. If you prefer storing things digitally. I find that Notion has great templates for this. Keeping things organized plays a huge role in saving a lot of time. Try it and see for yourself!
7. limit the number of distractions around you
Take a look around you – there are distractions everywhere, especially the digital ones. Your laptop, phone, iPad.. all serve as sources of distraction.
The easiest way to conquer distractions is by being away from them! Some of the top minds in the world are constantly fighting for your attention span. They want you to keep watching those YouTube videos or scrolling through Instagram endlessly.
It’s very difficult to fight them, especially if you’re used to their presence. So the best way to gain control of your time is to shut them out. But first, you need to figure out what are your top sources of distraction:
- What are the most common distractions for you?
- Can you go at least 30 mins without being interrupted by them?
- Can you eliminate them altogether at least for 30 mins, say by shutting them off?
- Where and when are you the most focused?
These answers will help you stay away from your distractions and manage your time more effectively. There are many apps that you can use to avoid getting distracted from social media while working. If your room is too noisy, consider going to the library or someplace quieter. Limit the distractions and you’ll be a step closer to managing your time as a student in the most efficient way.
8. schedule some me-time every day
This is a very important time management tip for students, especially during Covid. It might seem a bit counterintuitive to some people because you’re not actually doing anything “productive”. but no one can be productive 24/7. In fact, if you take some time for yourself, you’ll be able to utilize the remaining time in a much better and more efficient way.
It’s important that you set aside some time for yourself every day. It needn’t be long, even 15-20 minutes every day will do. Spend this time doing what you love. It might be hanging out with your friends, playing a sport, or simply watching TV or listening to music. You’ll get recharged and feel fresh and motivated after this.
If you don’t know where to start, you can ask yourself this:
- What makes you happy?
- If you didn’t have anything else to do right now, what would you be doing?
- Can that thing be done quickly and easily, without a lot of planning?
If you enjoy something that can’t be done spontaneously, say cooking with some special ingredients or going for a hike, you can schedule it for a later time, perhaps on the weekends. But find out things that you can do quickly, that make you feel relaxed. After all, you can perform your best only when you feel your best!
9. understand when you're the most efficient
This is a great time management hack because when you know when you’re the most productive, you can work during that time. As a result, you’ll be able to complete tasks quickly and efficiently.
Keeping track of your productivity levels provides useful insight into how to manage your time properly. If you’re a night owl and can get most work done at night, there’s not much use in getting up early. Instead, you need to plan a schedule around your productivity zones.
Understand your preferences so you can work better and save a lot of time.
- When are you the most energetic?
- When do you feel like studying?
- When do you often feel bored?
Perhaps you have an extremely difficult course and after those lectures, your brain just doesn’t seem to work anymore. Then plan something fun to do after that. Maybe you could participate in activities of your club or volunteer somewhere.
If you don’t have any urgent tasks, you can choose what sort of work you want to do based on your mood. If you’re feeling a bit dull, you might want to do some mundane tasks that you’ve been putting off for a while, like organization. If you’re feeling focused and motivated, you’re better off studying the subjects or topics that you find particularly hard.
- Do you feel creative? You may want to prioritize working on an assignment.
- Do you feel focused? You could spend the day studying for an upcoming exam.
10. take care of your health
This might not sound very obvious but this time management tip is greatly beneficial for you. Unless you feel healthy, there’s no way you’ll be able to make proper use of your time. so it’s important that you prioritize your mental and physical health.
- Do you feel energised after waking up?
- Are you excited about doing something during your day?
- How well can you deal with the stress of exams?
- Do you often feel physically exhausted even when you haven’t exerted yourself?
Asking yourself similar questions is a good way for you to gauge your mental and physical health. To be healthy, you should eat healthy food and exercise regularly. It’s also important that you get 7-8 hours of sleep every day. Otherwise, you’ll feel groggy and sleepy the entire day, which will lead to inefficiency in your tasks.
Getting sufficient sleep is especially important while you’re in college. Research has found that the GPAS of students receiving 9+ hours of sleep per night were significantly higher (3.24) than those of students receiving 6 or fewer hours of sleep per night. Not getting enough sleep also puts you at risk of developing mental health problems as well as physical diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
You can practice mindfulness and meditation to be mentally healthy. If you’re feeling low, reducing your social media consumption can also help. If the feeling persists for a while, make sure that you seek help. remember, asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness
11. use effective time management techniques that work for you
The Pomodoro technique is one of the most popular time management techniques. It involves working in short, intense timed intervals (called “Pomodoros”), spaced out by short, frequent breaks. This trains your brain to focus for short periods. The short breaks allow your brain to recharge itself.
However, it is not the only technique out there. There are various other time management methods that you could consider using. With the constant stimulation by social media, you’re not used to focusing on just one thing.
But you can increase your focus and attention span by making use of these techniques. The best way to balance your time as a college student is to regain control over your own time, and not be on the search for the next dose of dopamine.
CONCLUSION
So these were the top time management tips I had for you. As with anything, being effective at managing your time comes requires practice. Simply being aware of how you’re spending your time is a great place to start. With time, you’ll definitely be better at managing your time, and this skill will help you throughout your life.
Hope you found this post useful. Have you tried any of these tips before? How has it worked out for you?
Let me know in the comments below!
