In high school, I would occasionally slack off. I often waited until the last minute to complete assignments, projects, and even to study for tests. When I entered college, a significant change was necessary for me to succeed and ultimately obtain a degree. One of the most significant challenges, both academically and socially, is time management. Figuring out how to balance assignments, classes, exams, friendships, and external responsibilities can be a real struggle, but once you allocate time for everything, it will all fall into place.
One of the ways that I have bettered my time management academically is by taking everything from all of my class syllabuses and adding them to Google Calendar. This way, I can see every assignment or test on a particular date for the week. By doing this, you will always be held accountable. Also, looking at the dashboard feature on Canvas is helpful because you can also see what’s due for the week and can also mark it as complete. In terms of friendships, I have found it easiest to try to complete assignments as soon as you have received them. By doing this you are able to give yourself extra time to hang out with friends. If completing an assignment in advance is not applicable, instead of doing it early you can try to find times to go to the library with friends or have study hours. It is also okay to make sacrifices, especially if you have an important test the next day. Friends are important but at the same time, so are your academics so DO NOT feel guilty for saying no to a hang-out.
Takeaways:
1.) Prepare ahead of time. Use Sundays to figure out what needs to be done for the week and try to get as much done ahead of time. This will open up more time in your schedule to hang out with friends.
2.) Potentially consider creating a Google Calendar or Excel to show all of your assignments due in each class ahead of time so you will never miss an assignment.
3.) Make sacrifices to ensure you succeed in class. Take nights off to study or do homework to not fall behind.
I hope these tips can help you with your time management! :)