mANAGING YOUR TIME
I’m sure you’re tired of hearing that you need to better manage your time. It is the one message that is consistently reinforced throughout the college experience. However if you find yourself staying up late at night trying to get assignments done or setting activity goals that you aren’t meeting, time management may be your solution. Everyone has a different strategy on how to plan out their day, so we aren’t here to tell you a one size fits all solution. We do have some tried and true suggestions that can help everyone when it comes to scheduling themselves appropriately.
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Before you can begin managing your time, you need to decide on what method would work best for you. Are you a super tech savy person who has an app for everything? Is color-coding your old school planner the only thing that keeps you sane? No matter what your method, it is important to choose something that you will actually use and that will keep you on track. If you are someone who needs reminders to alert you, using your phone or laptop is probably a better method for you. If you want to allocate your time based on the type of activity you are doing, a color-coding option could be super helpful for you.
Now that you know what you are going to manage your time with, let’s move on to how to best do it. Start with your non-negotiables. These are the things that MUST happen no matter what and should include class, work, study time, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Activities that must happen are considered urgent and/or important, as in if they don’t get done today there will be some form of consequence. Sometimes we think our “to-dos” are urgent and important but when you look at your entire day, you may need to re-evaluate the status of that activity. Next, we want to you consider activities that you want to do. These activities could be buying a new outfit, going to the gym, hanging out with friends at the beach, and so on. These things may not seem essential, but self-care and having a strong support group are super important to your success as a student and a human. Now if you are spending more time with your self-care activities than you are school work and class time, you may need to re-evaluate your priorities. |
Finally, you want to try as must as possible to leave open space on your calendar each day. This space is for the random things that seem to always pop-up. We encourage to allocate this “what if” time for the afternoons after you have completed the majority of your non-negotiable tasks. Afternoons are suggested because from experience we know that when things come up, they typically skew your entire day. If you have accomplished the important activities early on in your day, the pop-up tasks won’t seem as detrimental.
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If you need additional help figuring out schedule and time management strategy, make sure to schedule a Healthy Lifestyle consultation with Ashley in Owls Care.
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