The Secret to Surviving College: Time management

Time management is something that almost all students struggle with when transitioning from high school to college. It is essential for college students to learn how to practice good time management in college to avoid the stress of having to do assignments last minute. But how to you find a good balance between your social life and school?

Time management is something that I never heard anyone talk about in high school. I could easily juggle my academics, sports, and social life because well, high school is like that. However, when I started taking college classes I was in for a rude awakening. It suddenly became much more stressful trying to juggle all of the aspects of my life, and I quickly became miserable because I spent every waking moment of my free time doing homework. I ended up never having time to spend with my friends or even just time to relax. It was miserable! So many college students do it though, and don’t even realize that there are better ways to manage their time.

I’m going to share my time management tips that are helping me get through college while still being able to have a social life.

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Buy A Planner!!!

The number one time management tip that I have is to buy a planner. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but seriously, buy a planner or a calendar. You absolutely NEED somewhere to write down due dates, tests, etc. It is essential. When you get the syllabi, go through and write down all of the due dates and the test dates. I know a lot of people who just refuse to buy planners, and you better believe that they are the same people who are always forgetting to do assignments. A planner is so necessary for practicing good time management. If you don’t have one already, you definitely need to get one asap. Below I have linked some of my favorite planners.

Limit your study time

I have had to learn to do this. It is really important to set limits for study time because if you don’t, you might just end up studying for an unreasonable amount of time and still learn the same amount of things that you could’ve learned in 2 hours. If a test is over a lot of content, spread out your study sessions. Study for 2 hours every day for 5 days rather than studying for 10 hours the day before your test. You will get more out of it that way, too, because you won’t get burned out on studying nearly as fast.

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Consciously study

I can’t tell you how many times that I have “studied” for hours and not learned anything. So many college students have this problem! If you aren’t consciously studying, you might get halfway through a chapter before you realize that you did not retain any of the information that you read for the last 20 pages. Then you have to go back and reread the pages, which is really time consuming. Had you been consciously reading in the first place, it would’ve saved a lot of time. So when you’re studying, make sure that you are really paying attention to what you are reading and making a conscious effort to remember the content.

Find a balance between school and your personal life

Like I said earlier, I have a bad habit of overstudying, and a lot of students do. Overall, not balancing your personal life with your study time can lead to burnout (when your mind can’t handle any more studying). Definitely make sure that you are taking time throughout your day to do the things that you enjoy rather than just being cooped up in your room all day studying.

On the other hand, make sure that you aren’t spending ENOUGH time studying. A lot of college students also slack off and don’t do anything except for hang out with their friends. Don’t do this either! Just work on finding the right balance between your personal life and school.

Good time management is definitely one of the hardest skills to learn when transitioning from high school to college, and so many college students struggle as a result of poor time management. It is about time that students realize that it is indeed possible to juggle social life, sleep, and school.

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