Time Management for College Students

College days are great fun, especially for those students who are able to make the most of their college days through effective time management. Today, one of the major challenges encountered by a college student is time management. While some students focus merely on their studies, there are others who are only into sports. This is primarily due to their inability to manage time efficiently. We all know that time once lost cannot be recreated. Our inability to manage time properly leaves us with regrets in the years to come, which is why a college student needs to learn the art of time management during the initial years itself.
Unlike the schooling days, parents won’t take the pain to wake you up every morning. After all, there is no immediate punishment for missing a lecture or two. In fact, professors may not even be aware about your presence. While you will enjoy your newborn freedom, chances are that you might regret some of your decisions that may be a result of your newborn freedom. While the key to effective time management is to be your own boss, it should not be at the expense of losing fruitful opportunities or procrastinating important things in life. One should be accountable for their own acts, rather than relying on their teachers and parents. This can be achieved by learning the art of time management.
Students should schedule their time wisely by prioritizing important tasks so that they are completed in a timely fashion. One of the best ways to manage time effectively is to maintain a journal, which includes a list of activities to be performed day in and day out. Students must not only list their daily schedules in the journal, but they should also list their long term goals in the journal along with the due dates. One should make it a habit to list down important appointments, assignments and other tasks. One must religiously work on the listed tasks in accordance to their importance. Students can also add a visual along with the due dates to strengthen their mental ability to fulfill the commitment.
Setting one’s time 10 minutes ahead of the actual time is a proven trick that has worked for truckloads of people out there to attend important events on time. This trick works until the brain gets used to the trick. Students are also advised to use their extra time wisely. This is one of the keys that can help a person accomplish multiple tasks in a particular day, which would otherwise appear seemingly impossible. For instance, one can jolt down topics for the essay or work on their budget, if one has arrived in the class early. Making use of the extra time constructively will leave you with some additional free time, which can be spent for socializing without the need to sacrifice other important activities.

 Students should not refrain from taking help, whenever they feel the need to do so. In fact, there are loads of students out there who end up wasting lots of time on activities that can be easily accomplished by taking a little help from friends, tutors or professors. What these students fail to realize is that most professors and friends are more than willing to lend a helping hand to them. It’s just a matter of asking them, rather than figuring out things on their own that might kill several hours, which could have been used for other fruitful activities.
Having a flexible schedule always helps. Students should give themselves some extra time to cope up with unwanted distractions and interruptions that may potentially make way into one’s life. One should include recreational activities in their schedule to ensure that they don’t lead a boring college life. College days are meant to be the golden days of one’s life. One must make the most of it by planning things wisely. An ideal schedule should include time for study, recreational activities and work (if any).
The fact that there’s always a tomorrow, one shouldn’t worry about not being able to manage endless numbers of things in a given day. With proper planning one can always make up for the lost opportunities or at least ensure that those mistakes are not repeated. Even experts encounter certain odd days, where they miss out on their whole schedule. Students must review their schedules at the end of each week to see what things worked for them and what didn’t work for them, so that they can accordingly plan their next week’s schedule.
The fact that there are only 24 hours in a day, students must necessarily practice the art of time management to ensure that they make the most of the 24 hours. It’s a proven fact that students who are able to manage time effectively not only perform well academically, but they are also able to squeeze some quality time for social life and other recreational activities. Not to forget the fact that they are less prone to stress as opposed to those students who do not take any efforts to understand the importance of time management.