This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. John's chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Time is something that we, as college students, never seem to have enough of. It always seems like no matter what we do, we can never manage it! While I’m no pro, I’ve picked up some tricks along the way as a junior that help me stay on track:
- Plan Your Week: Many people avoid planners because they make them feel restricted. If this is you, it could be because you aren’t planning in a way that works for you. If you are someone who prefers spontaneity to scheduling, try scheduling two to three hour-long windows where you can do any of the things you need to do that day! For example, if you need to study, work out and clean your room, in a planner block out 9AM-10AM, 1PM-2PM and 5PM-7PM and allow yourself to pick any of the three time blocks to do whichever task you are feeling. This gives you some structure without rigidity. That way you end the day having done everything you needed to do without constraining yourself to one time. The only rule is you must do at least one task per time window.
- Schedule Relaxation and Fun: Being a full-time college student is time consuming beyond the classroom, and many students believe you need to study 24/7 to get straight A’s. As someone who got all A’s last semester while still going to events, let me tell you that cannot be farther from the truth! The best and most productive version of ourselves is the version that is well-rested. Intentionally setting aside time to do something relaxing or enjoyable on a weekly (if not daily) basis will prevent burnout and help you study without feeling overwhelmed, which overall results in a much more productive semester.
- Find Your Rhythm: Are you a morning person or a night owl? Your answer may determine your ideal productivity window! If you feel most energized and focused in the morning, your ideal study time will be before class or when you first wake up. Waking up early to study 30 minutes completely focused will set you much farther ahead than studying two hours while tired at night. What matters isn’t the amount of time spent studying, it’s the efficacy of the studying you’re doing. If you prefer being up late, a late night study season will work best for you. Remember – an hour of true “locking in” helps retain more usable information than three hours of disorganized, unfocused studying. Planning your studying around these times can improve your grades, efficiency and quality of life.
- “Just do it now” Mindset: The key to staying on top of everything? Use every chance you get to work on the things you need to do. On the bus ride home and have your laptop with you? Start that essay! Have a 45 minute gap between classes? Why not start some practice problems to prepare for a test? Even if you don’t finish a full assignment in one sitting, working on little bits in small intervals builds to big results. Think: 15 minutes a day four times a week = one hour of an assignment done! If you use this rule for all your assignments, it makes homework-heavy classes manageable and you’ll cross things off your to-do list in no time.
These are tricks I use daily and have sworn by since freshman year! It’s never too late to build positive habits and at the end of the day, it’s all about what works for you!