“See, the trouble with time is that it passes by whether we manage it or not. We’ve got to master the management part and let time do its thing,” said Professor Sabrina Mathues.
Managing time as a college student is difficult. Juggling school, work and a social life can seem impossible when it comes to meeting deadlines. The workload doesn’t just disappear once school is over. Having a job requires the same amount of attention schoolwork would, so learning how to successfully manage school, work and friends now could be beneficial.
“Break down any larger tasks into smaller to-dos: for an essay, this might look like doing research, drafting an outline, writing a certain number of pages and proofreading. Then take this larger list for the week and assign days to each item,” Mathues said.
“First note the things that have particular times: like being in class, meetings, regular appointments, or at work. Then fill in your other tasks for the week, assigning each item a day (keeping in mind any deadlines or due dates). Don’t work from the larger to-do list as you go through the week; just focus on the things that you planned to accomplish that specific day, one day at a time,” she said.
According to Mathues, setting a day-by-day agenda of small tasks will help achieve larger academic goals while still leaving some free time.
“This approach will keep you from feeling as overwhelmed by the larger list, while still making progress toward what you need to accomplish…Also, when you finish what you’ve planned to do for each day, relax, have fun with friends, do something that recharges your energy and motivation.”
“In order to meet deadlines and still have a social life I try to get my work done first thing in the morning,” said Eddie Ustaszewski, a 21-year-old public relations major, via email. “I do not allow myself to go on my phone, socialize, or eat even, unless I finish a specific task or assignment. In spite of that, I am not always as disciplined as I should be and fall victim to not following this structure that I have set up.”
“When I have things in order, it is nice to go out and have a social life and I feel better knowing I have no academic stress going to sleep at night,” Ustaszewski said.
It is often hard to prioritize school over social life as school can be difficult but using social media as a form of reward as Ustaszewski does, can help tackle that to-do list.
“Yes, juggling all of it is hard but does get easy when you plan ahead,” said 20-year-old undecided major Gregory Barreto from Neptune, via email. “I do not work when I have my class days. (This) gives me time to get my work done and gives me the time to do the work if I need more time to do it, I can always do it on my break at work or after work.” said undecided 20-year-old, Gregory Barreto from Neptune via email.
There are things in life other than school that take time out of the day, week, month, or year and looking at them from a larger perspective can cause stress. It may seem like there isn’t enough time, but planning and setting aside time to do things will help remove that feeling of being overwhelmed.