Managing time in college can seem extremely difficult. Most students are involved in more than just their majors, which makes it feel almost impossible to balance all of the responsibilities that come with being a student.
For me personally, I take on so many obligations daily. I attend James Madison University, where I double major in Dance and Media Art and Design with a focus in journalism. On top of that, I am a sister in the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority, am part of a club called Dance Theatre, create content and am the current editor-in-chief for the JMU Odyssey Online community and attend dance rehearsals and concerts, all while making time for homework and relaxation.
I often get asked how I make balancing all of this possible. It all happens through organization, establishing priorities, rest and sticking to the commitment of following the schedule I've created for myself. If you keep yourself on track, you'll be able to manage your time wisely and still have times for friends and fun.
The initial key to being successful with time management would be to give yourself a set schedule. Document your classes, assignments, events, literally everything. You can do this on a virtual calendar (on google or the calendar app on your phone) or you can write it all down (in a planner, on a dry erase board or on a wall calendar). I choose to do this in a 12-month planner that shows a calendar for each month and pages that provide writing room for every day. In the calendar, I mark deadlines, events, and reminders, while on the weekday slots, I write the assignment descriptions so I know what it is that I'm doing. Setting a schedule can be done in various ways, and everybody has their own ways that work for them. I have discovered that the way I set my schedule does work for me, as I set times for me to complete tasks and follow through with them.
Another thing that is extremely important is to establish your priorities. If you don't figure out what's most important, you will be all over the place in trying to figure out what tasks you need to complete first. For example, I have made my majors my first priority, followed by the Odyssey, and then the clubs that I'm in. This helps me focus on the important things first so that I'm not wasting my time on things that aren't necessary. I've noticed that prioritizing everything not only helps me complete my most important tasks, but all of them. I don't go back and forth on where to start and I just get it all done. In result, I'm rewarded with so much more free time that I can spend with friends or simply just relaxing.
Something else that also makes a huge difference is sleep. You need to give yourself time to rest. As cliche as this sounds, rest is extremely important. The more well rested you are, the more motivated you will be to following your schedule and sticking to it. Now I know exactly what all of you are thinking. "College students don't sleep. We don't have time to." or "College students are way too stressed to fall asleep at night."
While this may be true I've noticed that keeping up with my schedule has made it much easier for me to fall asleep at night. If you've been following my articles from the beginning, you will remember an article I wrote that was based around my inability to sleep at night. After schedule adjustments and prioritizing, it's made sleeping much easier for me and has led to better grades and better performance quality.
Lastly, the glue to all of these mechanisms is to stick with the schedule you've set for yourself. Check your calendar or planner daily. Write down the things you need to do and prioritize which of those things that you need to do first. Make sure you actually do rest. If you're tired on Thirsty Thursday and know you have class the next day, stay in and rest up so you can focus on your class and then enjoy your weekend without stressing about things you should've done before it started. Stay dedicated to your plan. Stick to the plan.
College is so much less stressful once you learn how to balance everything that you're involved in. We are all busy people, but that's not an excuse to start slacking when it comes to our commitments. We all want to have fun, but you have to get the dirty work out of the way in order to reward yourself. You'll be amazed at how much managing your time wisely will you lessen your stress levels, increase your successes and open up windows for more opportunity. Your abilities are in your own hands. It's up to you how successful you want to be.