Time Management for College Students
If you read my piece on creating your own routine, you saw how I use what I call Syd’s Systems to keep me organized.
The way I see it, if you don't plan for it, it simply won’t get done. We do much better writing it down than trying to keep track of it in our heads. As a full-time college student who might be working part-time while juggling your roaring social life and leadership roles for your resume, there is A LOT to keep track of and prioritize.
I have a routine for every area of my life, ensuring that each cup has the opportunity to be filled. Now, obviously, our plans cannot be perfectly executed every single time. There will be bad days or circumstantial issues that get in the way, but that’s life!
Here are my 7 cups of life that I try to pour into daily, if not weekly:
Mental Health
Physical Health
Spiritual Health
Finance/Career
Personal Development/Education
Social/Relationships
Giving back
My advice? Pick one goal for each area and start the process of trial and error. Give yourself grace along the journey!
We are in a system that will spit you out as ordinary unless you do something above and beyond to break out of that system.
Organization Techniques For Classes:
Use some sort of Digital planner or Physical planner. Whether it’s a piece of paper or an iPad anything in between; you need to see it written out!
At the beginning of each semester/quarter make an excel sheet of all your assignments and color code them, once they are all listed, organize them by date. "Week one is syllabus week anyway" WRONG, in week one we get organized and plan, plan, plan for success. By Monday of Week 2, you should have a framework set for the wholeeee semester.
From this list, write down all of the "big" projects, tests, or presentations a week before they are due. I write in my planner one week ahead for tests, and at least two weeks ahead for presentations and projects.
If a presentation is due April 15 I write in my planner on the box for April 01, "(Class name) (Course code) - Presentation Coming Due: April 15". It doesn’t mean I start right that second, but at least it's on my horizon and I know it’s urgent!
Once a week check-in will all your syllabi and write out the week ahead in one massive checklist, spread out each assignment throughout the week depending on the amount of time it will take and the difficulty. That massive checklist may seem daunting but we aren't finished! Divide it up by days so that a huge scary list turns into bite-size pieces on the days you have designated for homework.
Time blocking your day and color code it! Put everything in your routine down; not just your classes, but when you plan to do homework, and time for personal development, and time for being social, when you're eating/cooking throughout the day. Think of this as more of a zoomed-out, bird’s eye view of all that is going on in your typical week, instead of experiencing the tunnel vision effect of your stressful assignments.
Use sticky notes or digital sticky notes. Experience the crunch of that sticky note when you have completed the task! Is that just my type A personality speaking? Nothing better!
Create a folder system for your classes in Microsoft Office or in Google Drive.
Make a folder for the whole semester and one for each class
Helpful Tips:
Balance work and fun, make time for both! It should be about 60/40; work to fun. There is no perfect ratio, but your schooling matters just as much as your health.
Start and end each day at the same time!! Going to bed at a consistent time really helps your circadian rhythm work at its best ability.
Lay your tools out! Your gym clothes for the next day, your outfit for the day, your "in class" snacks, fill your water bottle, plan your meals for the next day, and charge your devices all in the first half hour of your winddown routine.
Do homework away from your phone, or if you "have to have it" put it on do not disturb, flip it over, and put it out of sight!
Schedule critical tasks when you are most alert! Are you a morning or night person? Do you function better at the beginning half of the day and slump at around 4 or are you zoned out all morning and magically become energized at around noon?
Have a designated study space where you are alert and focused. Create a designated self-care space that is only meant for winding down or relaxation.
That way when you leave your workspace, your brain leaves the stress there and your body can make the transition out of study mode and into the next thing.
Body Double while you study!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the long study, periods use the Pomodoro technique to try 25/5, 50/10, and 40/20.
Use your phone to remind you of daily occurrences. Use the clock app, customize the alarms, and set them for 10-15 minutes before it’s supposed to happen.
If I have class at 10:00 am, I have an alarm with that class title set for 9:50 am.
Apps To Keep You Organized:
Notion – tricky learning curve but SOO worth it once you get the hang of it, your life will never be the same!
Outlook/Google Calendar for Time Blocking – Use your digital calendar of choice and color code your day. Remember, out of sight out of mind. If it isn't written down, it's not getting done! Schedule more than your classes, or work, schedule your meals, and self-care time too.
Forest - Forest does a good job of persuading you to put away your phone by employing the metaphor of planting a tree. The developers utilize a portion of the earnings to plant trees in real life too.
Pomodoro Method - Francesco Cirillo created the Pomodoro Technique as a time-management technique in the late 1980s. It divides the task into intervals that are typically 25 minutes long and are separated by brief breaks using a kitchen timer. I do a modified version of 50/10 or 40/20. When studying, I use timers on YouTube that are set to lofi beats or jazz.
With love,
