Some people seem to have everything sorted in their lives. They do tasks, meet friends, spend time with family, and everything else in between.
But how can someone be so sorted?
The answer lies in their ability to manage time effectively. We can also say that they have mastered time management skills.
Time management, as the name suggests, is one’s ability to manage time throughout the day. We know it sounds pretty easy. But it gets hard when you try to do it. All successful people have the same 24 hours. The way they manage the time makes all the difference between them and the regular people.
Time management is even more crucial for college students because they have to take care of multiple things like studying, working, assignments, and meeting friends. If college students don’t learn to manage time, they may fail in subjects and find it difficult to make ends meet.
We know the consequences of poor time management sound scary, but you don’t have to worry because, in this blog, we’ll tell how college students can become pros at managing time.
Let’s begin.
Do A Time Audit
The first step before learning time management is to know the time each task consumes in a day. If you don’t know this, the tips we’ll tell you won’t work.
You can do a time audit in a simple way:
- List all the things you do in a day.
- Write the time you think each task takes.
- Keep a clock with you and identify how much time each task actually takes.
- Identify the difference between the time you thought it took and the time it actually took.
After doing these steps, you’ll know that you were not calculating time correctly. It is because humans are bad at knowing how much time tasks take. So, keeping a clock with you to identify the time correctly is the best option.
Prioritize The Tasks
After you’ve identified the time it takes to complete each task, you have to prioritize them. Prioritizing the tasks is so important because it helps complete them faster.
Some tasks you do during the day may not be that important. But you do them because you haven’t identified their importance. Because of not knowing the importance, you may not have any time left after a day to do the tasks that were actually important.
You can divide the tasks into two categories- high priority tasks and low priority tasks. Separating the tasks initially may be difficult, but after you’ve been following this practice for a week, it will become pretty simple.
Wake Up Early
Waking up early is an obvious step, but many fail to recognize its importance. People who wake up early know how much extra time they have in a day. It just feels unnatural that one can have so much extra time while others have a limited time.
Guess what? Your mom was right when she asked you to wake up at 5:30 AM.
Waking up at 5:30 AM may seem impossible. It does to everyone who wakes up at 8:30 AM or a later time. But when you do this, you’ll start noticing a difference. We know it is easier said than done.
You can build this habit by sleeping when you usually do and waking up at 5:30 AM. After doing it for a few days, try sleeping one or two hours early and wake up at the same time. This way, the tiredness you had in the initial days won’t be a thing anymore.
The energy in the early hours of a day is different as most people are asleep. It’s hard to explain it in words, so we recommend you experience it yourself.
Identify Your Biological Prime Time (BPT)
Each person has a time in a day that they are the most productive. That time of the day is called the Biological Prime Time (BPT). It is separate for everyone because some may feel productive in the early morning, while others may in the afternoon, evening, or late at night.
You can use your BPT to your advantage by doing the most complex tasks at that time. Doing an easy task that you can do at any time of the day would be a waste. We highlighted in a point above why you have to differentiate between the high and low priority tasks. A high-priority task in college is to complete assignments on time.
Caution: You may get amazed with your ability to do work during your Biological Prime Time (BPT).
Do Difficult Tasks First
It is a known fact that when a person completes difficult tasks first, their mind stays at ease throughout the day. This is how a human brain operates.
So, from now on, make sure you complete the most difficult tasks first so that you can complete the other tasks without any pressure. Some people say they love working under pressure because it helps them do the tasks more effectively. But we feel there’s a risk element in doing it.
Set A Time To Answer Emails & Messages
While you’re doing some task, your smartphone may receive a notification of an email or a message from your friends. A regular college student would leave all their tasks and check the email or message. That’s a mistake that no one should make.
Any distraction during the crucial tasks during the day can increase the time to complete the task. We’re not saying that you don’t touch your smartphone. You can do it at a specific time which you have to decide. And in that time, answer all the messages and emails without thinking about any other task.
Set A Time Limit For Each Task
Setting a time limit for each task will help you have a mental picture. It is essential to create a mental image and have an idea of when tasks would get completed.
You don’t have to go too hard on yourself to complete the tasks within the assigned time. It is pretty normal for tasks to take more time than you set for them. You don’t have to go too hard on yourself because it will create unnecessary pressure on your mind.
While setting the time limit, make sure you assign more time to difficult tasks and less time to not-so-difficult ones. Even if you complete a task early, utilize the time you have to check for any errors. We’re explaining why you should not focus on fixing errors when completing a task in the next point.
Don’t Aim For Perfection
We know you love when things are perfect. Everyone does. But achieving perfection is the enemy of time management. That’s because for things to be perfect, you have to review a task multiple times to remove any errors.
Your only aim should be to complete the work. The changes can be made at a later time when you’ve completed all other tasks. Imagine this- you’re writing an assignment, and you constantly check your grammar during the writing. Doing this will slow you down, and you may even forget about some ideas.
Reward Yourself Between Tasks
The last point is about rewarding yourself for doing all the tasks during the day. Rewards can be different for different people. But a common one for most is delicious food.
If food also motivates you, we recommend keeping a pack of chips and cookies in your dorm. Whenever you complete a task, eat some snacks. Make sure you don’t eat them in excess as they can negatively impact your health.
Other students who like funny videos or music as rewards can reward themselves these things between the tasks. And when they do, make sure there is a set time. If there isn’t any set time, it is easy to keep doing the fun activities and forget about the tasks.
Conclusion
Becoming a pro at managing time is not that difficult. It is only difficult for people who don’t know the exact steps that they have to take.
This blog covered everything about time management and told you practical ways to do it successfully. We’ve created this blog, especially for college students. Many of them have learned to manage time effectively in the past. We’re confident you’ll also be able to do it.
Once you start following the steps we talked about in the blog, you’ll discover time management was never that difficult. It was just your lack of effort that was stopping you from becoming good at it.
Start working on them and get back to us when you’ve achieved success with time management.
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