Three Time Management Tools for College Students
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I heard that the first step towards changing yourself is to admit you have a problem. So, I admit it. I have a problem. I am a HUGE procrastinator! No matter how long I have to complete an assignment, I always end up putting it off until the last minute. This causes me to have a much more stressful life than I need to have. For example, this semester, for my history and philosophy of science class, I was supposed to write a ten-page term paper. The paper was assigned the first day of the semester, but when did I start working on it? The day before it was due. Needless to say, this past Monday night was no fun whatsoever.
Fortunately, I am not alone in my trial. Many college students have trouble with time management. I cannot even remember how many of my classmates have complained about pulling all-nighters because they put off their work. My sister even forgot to take a test once! The good news is that there are ways to improve your time management skills. You can change if you just put a little bit of effort into it. This article will highlight three tools that can help you make that change: the semester planner, the weekly planner, and the daily planner.
The Semester Planner. One of the first things you should do when you start a new semester of school is create a semester plan. This plan will save you a lot of trouble if you do it correctly the first time. To create a semester plan, gather the syllabus for each of your classes. Then, go through each syllabus and put every homework due date, quiz date, lab date, field trip date, and exam date onto a calender. You can do this on a hard copy of a calender or on a computer-based calender (such as Google Calender or an Outlook calender). Then, color code each item either according to the class or according to the assignment type. I personally prefer the assignment type because I can see right away when my tests and quizzes are. This semester plan provides you an overview of the semester and helps you to keep track of what assignments, tests, and other important events are coming up.
The Weekly Planner. The weekly planner is more detailed than the semester planner and should be filled out every week. Basically, the weekly planner makes you account for every hour of your week. To create a weekly planner, take a week-long calender with hours listed on it and fill out what you will be doing for each and every hour of the week. For example, if you will be in your biology class from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., write that down for those hours on the appropriate day. Write down EVERYTHING: your classes, tests, work, meals, sleep, entertainment, relaxation, studying, etc. When doing this, consider what assignments you have listed in your semester planner for that week. How will you accomplish those assignments? When will you study for those tests? The point is to get you thinking about how you can budget your time to fit in everything you would like to do during the week. For this planner, color code the week by activity (study time=green, work=red, etc.). As you go through the week, create a revised weekly planner that records how you actually spent your time. At the end of the week, compare your budgeted time with your actual time. What activities did you spend too much time on? Which ones could you have spent more time on? Hopefully, each week you will get better at predicting how you will actually spend your time.
The Daily Planner. The daily planner is the most detailed of all the planners, but it can really help you manage your time better. Each evening, you should create a daily planner for the next day. Similar to the weekly planner, you will account for every hour of the next day. This time, though, you will go into even further depth. For study time, for example, you will write down exactly which subjects you will study, how you will study them, and how long you will study them. You can even schedule in short breaks. For your classes, you may write down what topic you will be covering in class. For your work time, you will write down what things you hope to get accomplished and exactly what times you plan on accomplishing those things. Doing this the night before will help prepare your mind for the next day.
If you use these three tools, you will find yourself far on your way to better time management skills. You can modify these to fit your needs. For example, I prefer creating my own calenders on OneNote instead of using an already-made calender. I also use checklists that show just my assignments for the week.
Are you a procrastinator? What is the worst case of procrastination you have ever seen? Do you have any other time-management tips? Please be sure to share with us!
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An excellently helpful blog. Thank you for writing and aggregating this info for the good of many.
Thank you! I am glad you enjoy it. I sure enjoy writing it.
I recently completed my secondary studies and it has suddenly hit me that I have absolutely no clue of the career route I should take. I have always been a “straight A” student, but now that i’ve had several months in the real world, I feel that I have been focusing too much on unrealistic goals. I feel it’s come to a point where i’m goint to have to seek out some kind of career development or something of that nature to guide me in the right direction. Is there anyone that has been in the same boat?