This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Miami (OH) chapter.
As unbelievable as it is, the first week of school has swept past us and we are now on our way to being bombarded by the stress of homework, pages upon pages of reading, and endless studying. Just when we were getting bored of summer, we now more than ever wish we were back to working our part time summer jobs, sleeping until noon, spending our days at the pool or in bed with Netflix (no judgement here).
The truth is, we have a whole semester ahead of us. For now, we have to manage our time in order to make free time because remember, college is a time for both work and play! As a fifth year senior, I like to think that I have a little bit of advice to offer when it comes to time management to help you start your semester off organized.
First… Preview what’s going on during your week. Any tests? Papers due? Special meetings? Write them all down in your planner, or whatever you use to keep important things written down. When you know what’s going on ahead of time you won’t be as overwhelmed. Planning ahead is the key to this preview. Knowing test dates can give you more time to make study guides and flashcards. You can plan your time around your important meetings to make sure that you won’t be behind after everything on your to-do list.
Second… Once you have written down what you need to accomplish for the week, begin to cross off completed tasks in your planner. Whatever you don’t finish, write down on a separate post-it note so you know you still have to do them during the next week. Every Sunday night I do this. I see all of the things I completed, and make sure everything’s checked off in my planner. When I know that I still haven’t made my hair appointments, or returned my library books, I know what I have to finish for next week. This may sound redundant, but at least you won’t forget what you need to do!
Third… When you have planned ahead for the week, you can then see how much free time you will have. I use this time to plan activities like hanging out with friends or making dinner plans with my roommate.
The main idea here is to use a planner, as middle school-ish as it may sound. Your life will seem more organized and you can begin to let your anxiety go, because you will know everything that’s going on in your life!
Working ahead is also key. If you have free time and know that you have a four page paper due in a week, write one to two pages early, and a lot of the stress will be gone. Organizing and working ahead can go a long way during a college semester. Don’t worry, it will be winter break and you’ll be itching to be back on campus before you know it!