The basic definition of time management is the process of planning and controlling your time to increase things like productivity. While this sounds basic enough and like a great idea, implementing good time management can be a challenge. This is especially true for students due to their ever-changing schedules and changing workloads.
Even though it can be challenging, time management for students is especially important. Students often find themselves drowning in work and awake much later than they should be.
With good time management, students can create much better schedules for themselves which help their day-to-day become much smoother.
This post is all about time management tips for students that will drastically improve your day-to-day.
Time Management for Students
What is time management? Why is time management important?
Time management refers to budgeting your time each day. This means planning how long you plan to be awake and what you plan to do each day. Time management is a major skill that can help you make your day more efficient and simpler.
Time management is important because it sets the tone for your entire day. If you have good time management skills, you will find yourself going through your day in a productive way. You will get more done and feel more accomplished as a result. If you have poor time management skills, you will struggle to get much done. Your days will be mostly unplanned, and you will have a hard time remembering all that needs to be done. If there are any surprises in your day, your day might get derailed since nothing is planned in advance.
These reasons make time management an important thing. If you want to become more successful at managing your time, keep reading!
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Why do students need time management?
Students need time management because they have busy, ever-changing schedules that need to be as efficient as possible. As a student, your time is very valuable. Usually, every second of the day is filled with studying, going to class, or social events. This means that time management is more important for students than anyone else. With good time management, students can create a better, more effective schedule that will make their days run more efficiently, creating extra time for decompression from the grind of being a student.
5 Time Management Tips for Students
1. Make your schedules independent of time of day
One of the biggest struggles of being a student is the lack of a consistent schedule. For students, each day is different due to classes, sports, or social events. This can make it hard to make any sort of consistent time management plan.
Typically, when a non-student plans their day, there is a defined wake-up time, a block of time for work, then time after work followed by bedtime. This schedule is usually stable and is easy to repeat every day since people out of school typically work at the same times for the same amount of time each day. For students, schedules shift every day. One day you might have class from 9 AM – 2 PM, while on another day it could be from 12 PM – 6 PM. Or even smaller blocks throughout the day. Timing like this can wreck a typical time management schedule, so students need to try something different.
One approach is to make a schedule independent of time of day. What does this mean? Basically, it comes down to being flexible with your time. With your schedule, you probably won’t be able to work out each morning at 8 AM. Instead, think about how long your workout is, and try to fit it in that way. Do not get stuck thinking about this or that time. Instead, think about the length of activities versus the length of time you have between pre-scheduled blocks of time.
Here are a couple of examples. Let’s say that I have a 45-minute workout that I like to do every day.
- If I have class starting at 10 AM: Maybe it makes sense to get that workout in beforehand.
- If I have class starting at 7 AM and at 11 AM: Maybe it makes sense to work out after my 7 AM but before my 11 AM.
- If I have class starting at 12 PM, but there is a big midterm during that class: I could work out before class, but I would be sacrificing any potential time to finish up studying. Depending on how prepared you feel and the importance of the test, it may be smarter to just get that workout done after the exam. It will work well as a decompression activity in this way!
Now you see a few ways that you can use time management to plan out my day independent of what time my day is meant to get started. Give this strategy a try and stay flexible!
2. Use a planner
The next tip for time management for students is to use a planner! This sounds simple, but you would be surprised about how many people refuse to use planners and let things fall through the cracks as a result. Planners are probably the best way to improve your time management. With a meticulously filled-out planner, you will always be aware of what major events you have going on around you.
For students, this is especially important due to the volume of activities that happen each day. You probably have classes to attend, homework to do, food to cook, social obligations to attend, and tests to study for each day. It can be difficult to keep thoughts straight in your head if you have this volume of activities going on. Things can very easily be forgotten or mixed up.
Use your planner to write down everything you have going on, or even a combination of planners (one for school and one for personal). By using a planner, you will find it much easier to keep your schedule straight and you become much more efficient with your time.
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3. Know when to study on your own
Another time management tip for students is to know when to study on your own. Studying with friends can be fun and can be very helpful, but is not always the best plan of action. Sometimes it is best to sit down somewhere quiet and just focus on your own studying.
When studying with friends, you can quickly fall into time-wasting habits. This includes things like side conversations and “quick” food breaks that can chew up a lot of time very quickly. The other side of this is that studying with other people sometimes lets you gain a new perspective that you have not seen before. Sometimes this can be helpful, like when you are studying for a test that requires a lot of memorization or learning a new method. Sometimes this can be detrimental, like when you are studying for a test that is very individual and requires creative, solo thinking.
Studying on your own means having time to really focus. You can put in your headphones, listen to some music, and just focus on what you need to do. Sometimes this is what you need to do if you really want to focus and get your studying done. I always found that studying on my own was the best way to learn studying in an optimal way.
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4. Leave plenty of buffer time
The next tip for time management for students is to make sure to leave plenty of buffer time in your day. When creating your time management plan, be sure to factor in extra time between activities. You may feel like you can easily run between school and home in only 10 minutes, but things always take longer than expected. For example, you could easily run into a friend or professor on your way. Or you could get stuck waiting for the bus. There is an almost unlimited number of things that could happen and slow you down.
Do not let these small inconveniences get your schedule off track! Instead, plan ahead and include extra time as you go, so that you do not have to follow your plan completely rigidly. With buffer time, you will not have to feel like you are in a constant rush to get things done. Or that you must stay exactly on time in order to accomplish your daily goals.
To do this, try rounding up all of your scheduled activities by about 15 minutes, and double all of your commute times. With extra time added in like this, you will be sure to be more successful and get more done!
5. Be sure to include breaks or fun times
Lastly, students need to be sure to include time for breaks and fun. This may seem counterintuitive. Why should you make time for a break when you are trying to manage your time efficiently? The answer is more straightforward. Basically, you need to work hard, but you cannot constantly be working. You need to factor in breaks or you will certainly get burnt out.
The funny part about adding breaks into your day is that they will actually help you work harder and better. When you take breaks you give yourself time (even a small amount) to relax and decompress. This time can allow you to come back feeling rejuvenated and ready to conquer whatever comes next!
Hopefully, you understand a little bit more about time management for students now! These tips can help students create a much better day-to-day if implemented properly. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to send them to us at ourteam@wellroundedyou.com. Thanks for reading!
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