Do you sometimes feel like you have no control over your life in college? Writing assignments, reading books, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, tutoring, internships, emergency projects – it all takes time and leaves you with less than a minute to yourself. However, there is always at least one classmate who submits each assignment on time and is never late for class. The most frustrating thing is that he has a lot of free time to have fun and play, for social life, and to participate in personal projects. Is it because he’s a genius? It’s possible. But the most likely explanation is that this person is simply better able to use his or her time efficiently. We all have the same 24 hours a day. Thankfully, you can learn how to manage your time effectively – and this guide will show you how to improve your student time management.
How do I manage my apprenticeship and where do I start?
What is time management? Is the importance of time management undeniable? Some people associate this with a strict schedule that carefully dictates what to do at a given time. For some people, this is the case, and this planning method suits them. However, time management is a set of habits that ensures that you are always engaged in an activity and not wasting time on things that don’t bring you closer to your goals. In the end, you will develop an approach that suits you best. However, you should first try out different techniques and see which one best suits your personality and temperament.
Time management strategies: Enter your solutions
Time-based decisions are probably what most people think of when they hear about time management. You create a calendar and divide each day into periods, dedicating each period to a predetermined task or type of task: e.g. B. 14 to 16 hours of assessment for a test, 17 to 18 hours of writing, etc. The main advantage of this method is that it eliminates the possibility of delay – if you decide to start repeating the test at 2 pm, after a few successful repetitions, you can do so without hesitation or doubt.
However, the time-based methods are far from perfect. The most important thing is that they are inflexible: if your plan is interrupted by an unforeseen event, it is very difficult to get it back on track.
Time management techniques for students: Strategies based on priorities
There are different variants of the same principle, but they all boil down to the same thing: When you make a to-do list for the day (week, month), you need to determine the importance of each action to get closer to your goal. The tasks are divided into three groups: A, B, and C.
- All five are very important – if you fill in at least one, you haven’t lived the day in vain.
- Bis good, but you don’t have to.
- C’s are something you can do if you have some free time.
The basic idea behind this approach is to decide in advance which activities fall into each category, and never to start with B’s until all As are completed. As far as the A’s are concerned, they can be safely ignored in most cases.
This approach allows you to stick to your priorities without limiting yourself to a strict schedule – many people find this liberating.
Here is how ABC prioritization works:
Priority: Critical and urgent (essay tomorrow).
Priority B: Critical AND/OR Urgent (write this essay tomorrow before the irrelevant lecture returns).
Priority C: Neither critical nor urgent (no consequences if you do not address the C priorities).
GTD
GTD stands for Do It All. The management and organizational strategy were originally developed for entrepreneurs, but people from all walks of life have successfully used it to put their lives in order. If you really want to learn it, you have to learn it online, but basically, it comes down to a few principles around which you can build your own system.
Don’t keep your ideas in mind
Using the GTD starts with identifying all your open loops, i.e. everything that needs your attention (unfinished projects, items to buy, information to find, etc.) You have to empty them of their content and write them down so that they don’t distract you while you are doing something else.
Clarification and organization
After unloading the head, you must specify the meaning of each point. You need to determine what each company’s complete success should look like and decide on the next specific physical action to take to get closer to completion. It is not right, for example, to write an essay on history. Instead, write down the full subject of the essay and the deadline. Then decide what you need to do to complete this task. If you are z. B. Be aware that you need to gather some facts on the subject before you start writing your article, this may delay the task. Make a note of this: I ask the librarian for a source where I can find information on the subject of the essay.
Also set deadlines for all your tasks and add them to your agenda.
Start of activity
Once all your projects are on paper and organized, if you’re sure you haven’t forgotten anything, you can open your to-do list, choose what’s most relevant right now, see what your next predetermined action is and start without hesitation.
We can’t advise you on the best approach – the important thing is to decide what’s right for you personally and to work from there.
5 Effective time management skills and techniques for busy people
Whatever strategy you choose, there are tips and tricks to help you improve your time management.
1. Follow your time
Many students have no idea how much time they have and why they are always late with their assignments. There is a useful exercise that can help you better understand the structure of your life. Write down everything you do to the nearest five minutes. If you are distracted, write down exactly what you have distracted and how much time you have spent on it. You’re looking for z. For example, you search the internet for ideas for your thesis and you suddenly come across an interesting link you want to research. If you continue, write it down. Not only does it show what you really spend your time on, but it also provides an extra step between you and the distraction.
Do this experience for at least a week, and you’ll be amazed at how much time you’re wasting on activities such as mindless internet browsing, unnecessary phone chatter, and other forms of procrastination. You can simply write down everything you do, or you can use one of the many technical tools created for this purpose.
2. Breaks are just as important as the work schedule.
A few sleepless nights can save your skin, but it won’t help you to stay in school, neither in high school nor in college. Good time management is not about using every waking hour at work and getting as much sleep as possible. On the contrary, being organized means that you always have enough sleep to be able to sleep when you need it most. There is also a great risk of bad decisions due to lack of sleep (e.g. I am too tired to study now, I will have plenty of time to catch up later).
3. Always start at the end
Each time you start a task, you take a few minutes to decide exactly what you want to achieve. If you’re not sure what your goal is, you don’t know when you’re ready or even if you should be ready. This principle will also be useful after graduation – if you start now, you will be more focused and result-oriented throughout your life, long after graduation.
4. Pause time
Interruptions will occur – no matter what timer you use or what steps you take to avoid them. It’s your job to take care of these three points:
- That you can get back to work quickly after a distraction;
- That you still have plenty of time to finish your work, even if you’re distracted;
- Minimize the number and timing of leads.
5. Blocking leads
This is incredibly important for your results and professional development. Chances are that later on you will work in an environment that is just as distracting, if not more, than the environment in which you are learning now. Make a habit of not being distracted during your studies and this will help you tremendously throughout your career. Contrary to popular belief, most people who do not allow themselves to be distracted do not have an iron will. They just don’t expose themselves to temptation. For example, it is very tempting to look at your phone or open a social media tab when writing a boring paragraph. Especially if you just need to pick up the phone or click on a mouse. You can make this distraction more difficult by using tools such as LeechBlock or RescueTime to block access to certain websites and applications for a certain period of time. They won’t stop you from doing it if you’re really determined, but they’ll make it harder – and that’s usually just an option you need to make a rational decision and get started.
Time management is not a one-off solution that has to be applied in order to always be organized in the future. It is a series of habits that need to be practiced continuously in order to really master them in the course of life. And the sooner you start, the better the results in life.
