College Success Tip – Have Excellent Time Management Skills
If you manage your time efficiently, you will be able to accomplish 10 times as much as an “average” student would without having to work 10 times as hard. By following a few easy time management tips, you will be able to produce bigger and better results.
The first thing you need is a calendar that has everything you do scheduled on it. On the first day of class when you are handed a syllabus, immediately put all important dates on your calendar. All of your exams, projects and other due dates should be placed in the appropriate dates. Also put the dates/times for all of the other activities you are involved with, such as weekly meetings, intramural sports games, the un’versity’s football schedule and anything else that you know you will be doing.
As you’re building your schedule, make sure that you are in control of it. Don’t let it control you. In other words, get all of your obligations out of the way as early as possible so that you can spend the evening going out or relaxing. Don’t schedule a group meeting for 10pm if you can all meet at noon – the longer you drag out your obligations, the longer your day will feel and the longer it will take to accomplish the same results. Managing your time effectively means scheduling things back-to-back as much as possible so that you don’t have a bunch of wasted time in the middle of your day.
At the end of each day, take 5 minutes to plan out the following day. You can use a notepad, a note card or blank place in your calendar to list the following: times you need to be places (class, meetings, gym, etc) and the tasks you need to accomplish for the day (prioritized by importance). The more specifically you schedule your day, the more you can accomplish. If you plan on taking a nap then put it on the agenda; the more you can plan the better. Imagine how good it will feel every morning to wake up and know exactly what you need to accomplish for the day to be successful – meanwhile, your friends will be stressed out, annoyed, overwhelmed and confused because they don’t have a clue what they need to get done first every morning when they wake up!
The Bottom Line: Anyone can wake up and work hard all day, but the truly successful students are the ones who have a plan and can produce results each day. The better you manage your time, the more you can accomplish in a certain amount of time. When you combine a hard work ethic with a well planned day, you will be unstoppable and feel in control!
