When you’re in college, there is so much that you can be doing at all times, and it can be hard to decide what the best use of your time is. More than that, you’re friends with a lot of people who are in the same position and it can be hard to know how much time you should spend with others, and how much time you should spend worrying about your own responsibilities. Here is how to take control of your time in college.
Make a Detailed Weekly Schedule
In order to make sure that you have enough time to fulfill all of your obligations, you’re going to have to work them into your weekly schedule. You should have either a paper agenda book, or a digital agenda that you use on a daily basis. Everything from lectures, to work shifts, to study time, and even required reading should be added to your schedule. When you put an assignment in your calendar so that you know when it’s due, you also want to schedule in the time that you will need in order to complete that assignment. Always give yourself a little bit of extra time so that you can be surprised with extra leisure time, rather than less.
Keep Checklists
It’s hard to really keep track of what you need to accomplish throughout the day unless you make checklists. You want to actively cross out the tasks on that list throughout the day as well, otherwise, you won’t be able to gauge how much you have left to do and whether or not you’re staying on schedule. Even if you know that you couldn’t possibly forget a certain task, write it down anyway, because it might prevent you from writing down 3 other tasks in its place and committing to something that you don’t actually have time for.
Check Your Schedule Before Committing to Any Social Events
When you’re in college, you’re going to have people asking you if you can make it to all kinds of events all the time. Whether they be related to studying, social action, birthdays or otherwise, you want to be sure that you don’t have anything else that you’ve committed to before you tell someone that you will be somewhere.
Even if you do end up making the responsible choice, you will feel guilty for backing out on someone, rather than feeling good about being honest with the person in the first place. Then again, you might do the irresponsible thing and back out on one of your personal responsibilities for the sake of not hurting someone’s feelings, and that’s how easy it can be to lose control of your time.
Prioritize Down Time
Being strict with yourself when it comes to going to class and showing up for work is one thing, but what about when you make plans to relax and someone asks you for help? If you’re studying for Villanova’s online tax llm, you probably need to give yourself a break once in a while. Do you help that person because you’re a good friend, or do you tell them that you have other plans? Well, it all depends on how much that person needs you and how much you need some time to decompress. If you’re not being interrupted for a true emergency, then it may be better for you to prioritize your rest, especially if there’s someone else who is more equipped to help.
