Time Management

College is a time of great transition. You are now independent and having to make decisions about your own time every minute of the day. Here are a few tips to help you succeed:

  1. Use a Daily Planner – there is no way you can keep track of every class, homework assignment, meeting, lunch date, etc. that you have in your head. Write everything you do down in a planner/calendar and this will eliminate confusion and forgetfulness.
  2. Make a “To-Do List” – You know how you go to bed at night sometimes and your mind is spinning thinking about all of the things you need to do tomorrow… turn on your lamp, get out a piece of paper or your planner and write down all of these things. You will feel better and will have a list of tasks to accomplish the next day. Whenever you think of things that you need to do and you start to feel overwhelmed – WRITE THEM DOWN!
  3. Make School a Priority – even though school is supposed to be fun and full of extra experiences, your first priority needs to be your studies. Face it, if you flunk out all of the “extra experiences” will be gone. So, put school first. This is your job now – going to classes and getting passing grades. If you can do that then all of the “extra experiences” will follow!
  4. You do have enough time in the week to do it all! Sometimes we think we do not have enough time to complete assignments, study and have a social life. On the Weekly Time Calendar provided follow these steps to help you figure out exactly how much time you do have!
    1. Write down all of the things that you must do in a day. Classes, meals, sleep, work, etc. Do not put study times in yet. Do not put things in that you can skip.
    2. Count up all of the empty squares or hours that you have. This is the time that you have free.
    3. Figure out how many hours you need to study. The rule of thumb for this is 2 hours for every credit hour you are taking (3 hours for a more difficult class). So if you are taking 12 hours you would need approximately 24 hours to study that week.
    4. Now you should be able to see in black and white that the hours you have available or more than enough than the hours you need to study.

No excuses! When your parents ask why you can’t find time to study you cannot tell them you do not have enough time!! If you really do not have enough time – you need to cut back somewhere!

Last Updated: September 21, 2010