Wake up, go to class, eat, go to work, write a paper, eat, read a chapter, go to practice, shower, sleep, repeat. Sometimes, college can feel like this never ending cycle of tasks and boring lectures, but it really doesn’t have to be this way. To truly get the most out of your college experience, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks along the way on how to efficiently budget your time so that you might have at least a few seconds in your crazy life to sit down and take a breath.
For me, life is insane. I’m a full-time student with 5 classes, the historian and an active member of my sorority, the events director and a content contributor for Her Campus Towson, a part-time employee for two different departments on campus, a rock climbing enthusiast, and a member of a Dungeons and Dragons group. If there’s anyone I know at this school that can give some advice on having a crazy, hectic schedule, it’s definitely me.
The first thing to do is make a list of priorities. Obviously, classes should be at the top of your list. Following classes should be homework. Here is my example of priorities:
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Classes
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Homework
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Doctors Appointments
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Her Campus
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Sorority
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Job #1
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Job #2
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Sleep
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D&D
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Climbing
YOU HAVE TO FACTOR IN SLEEP. Sleep is so, so, so important for your physical, mental, and emotional health. If you don’t consider it when building your schedule, you’ll hate your life. For me, I can do all of my tasks during the day, so it isn’t necessarily high on my list because it doesn’t get in the way of things.
Something else to consider is doctors appointments. Although they are usually far and few between, it is still something to remember to make time for.
Following that, list your obligations. Her Campus and DPhiE are the things most important in my life, so I rank them pretty high up. The jobs that I have on campus are very flexible and if I need to find someone to cover a shift for me because of an event or appointment, it’s no problem. If your job isn’t like this, consider moving it to a higher spot on your list.
After all of this, include time for your hobbies. I usually meet with my D&D group when everyone is free, which is usually the weekends. Since this is a hobby, I only put it in when I know there is a time I will be completely and truly free from distractions. I also like to go rock climbing off campus, but since it’s a like and not a need, I only put it in my schedule after I have everything else figured out for the week. Surprisingly, this leaves me with 2-3 nights a week, which really isn’t bad!
Once your have all of this figured out, make yourself a calendar. I have a personal calendar on my laptop so that I can put in all of my class, appointment, meeting, and work times so that I can see how my day-to-day will look. After that, I can then schedule for myself nap and climbing times depending on my homework load for that day.
BUY YOURSELF A NICE PLANNER. I cannot emphasize this enough. Collect all of your class syllabi, sit down with a pencil and your planner, and just write out all of your assignments for the next two weeks, month, 3 months, whatever. Write it all down in one, central location. This will tremendously help with balancing all of your classwork.
After you’ve done that, pencil in all of your meetings, appointments, and shifts at work. Do not write down your class times in your planner. If you write them in, you won’t have enough lines for homework reminders and everyday will appear cluttered, which just causes stress. Plus, you already have your laptop/phone calendar with your classes so you won’t forget the times! Once you get into the swing of the semester, you’ll eventually know when your classes are like the back of your hand anyways. Write down the time you’ve given yourself for your free time and hobbies and let food and sleep fall in and between these times.
Following all of this, write down nights when you’ll want to go out to a party and times when you have a free lunch or dinner to spend with friends. These things are important, too. You may be crazy busy and you may have to do some homework in a hung-over stupor, but trust me, when you look back on the good times at college, you’re not going to think about the countless hours spent in the library or that one really good nap you took at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. You’re going to think about that crazy night out with your friends or that one time you all ordered a pizza and stayed in playing board games. This is college; it’s the time in your life to enjoy having the freedom to do what you want and make mistakes and just live however you want to. Don’t go crazy with this freedom, but at the same time, don’t be scared to put yourself out there and have a good time. ‘Be responsibly crazy’ is the best advice I could give.
Budget your time well. Make sure you are giving yourself plenty of time to eat and sleep because self-care is key to life-in-general, whether you’re in college or not. Have fun. Doing all of these things isn’t hard. Efficiently budgeting your time is probably one of these easiest things you can do for yourself to save money and energy. Do all of this and I promise, we’ll make it out of this semester alive and in one piece together.
Good luck and stay organized!
-HCXO