For most students, college is the first time in their lives where they have the flexibility and independence to set their own schedules. But while you might be enjoying your new-found freedom as a student, you’ll soon find out that managing your time can be more difficult than you imagined. Through high school, your time was most likely organized and structured for you, with clear reminders for what you needed to do and where you needed to be. So, it’s no surprise that college students often get overwhelmed with all the new freedom that they have, and it can be stressful to adjust to a new educational environment.
We’ve put together some tips to help you have fun at college while managing your time wisely
Use Your Technology:
There’s nothing better than a good calendar, timetable or planning app to help a college student stay organized. Instead of trying to rely on your memory to remember all the times of your lectures and classes, exams, assignment and paper due dates, and extra-curricular activities that you take part in, store it in a handy app so that you don’t have to try and remember when it’s all meant to happen.You can even find apps (visit tracktime24.com) that will set a reminder in advance for things like exams and assignments so that you know when to start revising or writing. If distraction is a problem for you, one of the best time management tips is to use a site that blocks apps like Twitter or Instagram when you’re studying.
Stick to a Regular Routine:
When you’re in college, nobody is monitoring where you are and what you’re doing. So, keeping to a regular routine and making sure that you have some structure in your life is one of the best time management strategies in order to avoid procrastinating. It’s easy to procrastinate when you’ve got the freedom to go to the student bar instead of starting your essay, but this only leads to feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. Become used to scheduling time to study and time to relax and have fun. The more consistent your days are, the more productive you will be.
Be Self-Aware:
It’s important to get to really know yourself, especially during these pivotal college years. The more you know about yourself, the easier it is to adapt to the changes and challenges that often come with college life. Sometimes, our needs and wants might be conflicting, so if you know you’re not a morning person, don’t schedule all your classes for 8 AM no matter how much you wish you’d be able to get up for them. Learn what your energy levels are like throughout the day and get to know your personal study preferences and plan your day around them. Knowing when you are at your most alert and best able to focus will help you schedule your classes and homework at times that work best for you.
Keep a Journal:
Keeping a journal can be a great way to document your college years and one day, you’re probably going to look back on it fondly. But there are many other benefits to journaling while you’re in college. By writing down what you do and whether it has a positive or negative impact on you, you can increase your self-awareness and use this information to make better future choices for yourself. Make a note of your habits when it comes to eating, sleeping, and studying, and you will begin to discover how they affect your mood and your ability to perform on tests and assignments.
Learn from Mistakes:
Don’t put yourself down if you make a mistake; you certainly won’t be the first or the last college student to do so during this transitional phase. Often, ‘failure’ can be the best tool for implementing change when we pay attention to what happened and turn it into a positive tool for the future. When you make a mistake, figure out what went wrong and what you could have done differently to avoid it; now you know what steps to take next time you find yourself in a similar situation.
As you adjust to college life, managing your own time might be something that you are fairly new to. By keeping to a routine, getting to know what works for you, and using any technology at your disposal, you can build good time management habits.
