Student time management tips for college and university

Student time management tips for success

These student time management tips will help you succeed in juggling your academic life with work and other extra-curricular activities.

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As a student, I often found myself in a situation in which I was confronted with too much work and not enough time to do it in. This left me with some pretty stark options of lengthening my day (usually by sleeping less), reducing my workload, or becoming more efficient in my habits.

Through trial and error, and commitment to change, I chose the latter option as a student. Now as an academic and time management consultant, I find myself often helping well-intentioned students with their student time management.

By planning your work and then working your plan, you will avoid the trap of last minute cramming sessions and stressful write-ups of assignments the night before – not only will time management reduce your stress it will also increase the quality of your study and improve your grade.

Furthermore time management is a transferable skill that is valued by employers.

So, how do you set up a time management plan?

Plan your time for the semester

Draw up a semester timetable and plan your semester. In the timetable put your assignment due dates and any other assessment dates. Also put your exam dates and a timetable of your lessons. This should give you an overview of your commitments for the semester. It will also highlight bottle necks of intense periods of assignments and assessments, when all hands should be on deck.

Have a goal

What is your goal as a student? By having a vision of what you want to achieve, whether it is good grades or a dream job, and knowing how you will achieve your vision is the essence of goal settings. This student goal setting will keep you motivated, give you confidence and help you to persist when things get tough.

Prioritize your tasks

The first step is to identify what tasks you have to do and when you have to do them by. These tasks need to be ordered in terms of priority. I would suggest that you set out an action plan of what assignments and exams you have to do, and what you need to get them done. For help in setting out an action plan, click here.

Know your prime time

When is your most productive time? If you have tasks that require your full attention and are high priority then do them when you are most alert. This takes advantage of the 80/20 rule. Click here for more information on proactive time management..

Conquer procrastination

Be aware of the tendency to do things that you enjoy and put off what you don’t like. This is one form of procrastination. Procrastination is a war that we all fight between a habit of ease and the discipline of action. Conquer procrastination with these procrastination busters.

Study effectively

Being a student involves readings, attending lectures and tutorials and juggling a social life. To be effective in your use of your time, you need a plan to manage the information. This involves keeping up-to-date with readings and being an active contributor to your learning experience. Use these study skills to manage your time as a student effectively.

Read textbooks in an active manner.

One part of academic performance is being able you connect and relate facts with larger patterns of knowledge, and then communicating them in your own words.

Raise your academic performance will show you how to keep your mind optimally relaxed when taking information in.

Furthermore, reading in a passive way is not as effective as reading actively. Use the active method of reading to learn the content of your textbook in a more effective manner.

Summary

By using these student time management tips, the pressure of an exam deadline or the 3am cramming is a thing of the past. Preparing your work and working your plan is a way to maximize the chances of student success.

These easy to implement student time management tips will guide you to success as a student. Importantly, the skills that you learn here are transferable into many other aspects of your life, and will be valued by any employer.

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