Free University Time Management: Useful Skills

Time is finite. We all have the same 24 hours in a day so time management is key to having a successful college semester and the year overall. University can be tough for students because you need to juggle school, work and for some family.

A study by Georgetown University shows that in the age bracket of 16-29, 40% of students work while in the age bracket of 30-54, 76% of students work. There are many things that require our priority, but with proper planning, this can be put under control. As a student, you need to know how to manage time for study.

With that said, here are some useful skills for time management for students.

1. Plan and Organize

As the old adage goes, “Failing to plan means planning to fail.” Time spent planning and organizing is time well spent. The problem that many students face is using a planning and organizing system that doesn’t work best for them.

Students tend to adopt a system that they’ve heard or read somewhere. You need to use a planning and organizing system that works best for you. It could be a color-coded calendar or the use of a to-do list app.

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2. Take advantage of the most powerful device in your hands: a phone

Your phone is a very powerful device that can be used to help increase your productivity and time management. It’s the answer to how to manage time for studies. Apps such as Facebook and Instagram can distract you, but you could use distraction blocking apps to mitigate that.

As a student, you can use your phone as a portable calendar with schedules and reminders for different school events such as due dates, classes and seminars. Whenever you are lagging behind or lack ideas on college assignments, dissertation and thesis, use an online service like EduBirdie in the UK. It will ensure that you save time, remain stress-free and present everything to your teacher right on time.

There are also to-do list and project management apps such as Trello and Notion that you can use to manage your tasks and for team collaboration.

3. Establish Routines

Time management won’t be complete without the use of a routine. By establishing a routine, you make it easier for yourself to get things done. It also makes it easier for you to form healthy habits.

For instance, you could set a routine to wake up early in the morning to study because your house is quiet at that time. The best time to set routines is early on in the semester. This gives you enough time to adjust and change, depending on what will work best for you.

Remember to always fit in time for other engagements such as socializing and relaxing in your routine.

4. Avoid Multitasking when possible

A study done by the University of London shows that people who multi-task see a drop in their IQs similar to people who don’t sleep at night. Multi-tasking does more harm than good.

What you should do is focus on one task until it’s completed before jumping on another one. You should also try to limit the distractions in your area of work such as emails and social media notifications. This will help you concentrate on the task at hand.

5. Rewards are a good thing

Many students just want to spend all if not most of their time working. This is not a bad thing, but this is not sustainable in the long run. You’re going to get burnt out. What you need to do is to reward yourself from time to time. Kind of like a cheat week/day/hour.

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The main aim here is to achieve a balance between enjoyment and working hard. A productivity technique that has been found to align with this viewpoint is the Pomodoro technique.

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In this technique, you work on a task for a certain amount of time and then rest for a certain amount of time. This technique is great, especially if you don’t want to take long break periods from your work.

Conclusion

Time management is key for your success in university. These tips will help you achieve that balance and be successful. Work hard, but also remember to rest. You can also take advantage of academic resources. Many universities offer peer to peer and faculty support for busy university students.

About The Author

Elizabeth Skinner is a career counselor with decades of experience in helping students, their parents and the teachers to solve the critical question of how to achieve success. She holds coaching classes for underperforming students to help them reach newer levels of high-performance. When she’s not at work, she spends time with her daughters while cooking, playing and reading story books to them.