The Official Guide to Time Management

The Holiday season (and finals season) is officially upon us! Between shopping for gifts, making travel arrangements, and studying like crazy, these days are just flying by. Even if this quarter wasn’t your best, you can still finish strong and set yourself up for success in winter quarter by following these steps to managin your time.

1. Just get a planner already!

If you don’t have a planner yet, you should be walking down 33rd, to the bookstore, stat. In college there’s no “I’ll just remember that” because I promise, you will not. Balancing ten weeks of classes plus work, sports/gym time, extracurriculars, co-op interviews, and exams is enough to send anyone’s head spinning. When you don’t structure what little time you do have, details are bound to get lost in the fray.

If you’re like me, and your bookstore planner gets lost and forgotten at the bottom of your bag, Wunderlist and iStudiez Pro are two great apps that can help you start planning out your to-do’s with work, homework, projects, and other commitments.

2. Know your work habits and do what works best for YOU. Are you more productive in study groups or flying solo? Does music set your focus when you work or will your inner fangirl lead you to Livenation to browse tickets for your favorite band’s next performance? And honestly, are you really going to finish that essay if you watch The Walking Dead on Netflix?

You could lose out on hours of productivity every week by not asking yourself these questions and thinking about the best use of your time. If certain activities, like watching a weekly TV series with your roomies is that important to you, then prioritize it and work your schedule around it, instead of letting it distract you. At the end of the day, you’ll have to answer to yourself (and worst case, your test grade—yikes!) for spending three hours with your girlfriends Pinning craft boards, instead of studying.  And if you realize over time that you just can’t work with your friends, they’ll understand! With how fast everything goes on the quarter system, what you put into your classes is what you’ll get out and your friends want to see you succeed just as much as you want to.

3. Make use of the time in your breaks between classes.As tempting as it is to just relax in that awkward 90 minutes between lectures, that’s valuable time you could use to get an assignment done and out of the way! Resist the urge to nap between classes. Instead make yourself a cup of coffee for an afternoon pick-me-up, browse your Instagram feed or the latest Yaks for a few minutes, then sit down and start working. Best of all? You’ll appreciate having less to do at night when your brain is just not in the zone.

4. It’s all about location, location, location!But really, it is. When finals roll around, Club Haggs (i.e., the library) and Race Terrace can actually be some of the most crowded, distracting locations to try and study. But usually you can find some peace and quiet in the upper levels of Ross Commons, or abandoned classrooms in various wings of Main Building. For more of the best study locales, see our article The 8 Best Places to Study on Campus. The point is, you have more options than the library and your desk.

5. Keep calm and take a brain break. At some point, you just have to put the pen down, close the laptop, stand up, and remind yourself that the outside world is in fact a thing that exists. Because after so many hours, you just need to allow your frazzled brain to recharge while you focus on something else. So go on, catch that 7 pm yoga class at the gym, read another chapter of Game of Thrones, or drool over—erm, watch Evan Peters do his thing in an episode of American Horror Story.

Then go get back to work!

6. But sometimes you just have to (responsibly) say no. While you shouldn’t make a habit of shirking your responsibilities or taking on more commitments than you know you can handle, you’ll eventually face a crossroads where you’ll have to sacrifice a commitment for what’s in your best interest. Earlier this term, I had to miss an important lecture because the Drexel Plague had gotten the best of me. It can happen to anyone, really. You may be slammed with studying for a make-it-or-break-it exam for that one class you just pray you’ll pass, and end up having to miss class or a club meeting.

Here’s what to do when this happens:

Whether it’s your coach, club director, or professor, let them know ASAP. Shoot them a quick, courteous email apologizing and explaining your situation (if appropriate—they don’t want to hear about how your grandmother’s sister’s cousin’s cat died) and how you’ll make it up. You may have to come early to the next meeting, contact your TA, get notes from a peer, whatever works. This way you can handle the situation in a responsible, professional manner and show that you really do care.

Approaching the end of the quarter is the most liberating feeling, ever. If you’ve finally gotten the hang of managing your time and juggling all your commitments, it’s smooth sailing through to the end of a crazy term. If not, apply these tips for the end of term and be sure to bring them back in the new year in order to have your most organized and productive term yet!