3 Time Management
When you are enrolled as a full time student (meaning that you are taking 4 or 5 courses per term), your main job is being a student. University is a commitment – both financially but also timely.
When students start university, they underestimate the true time commitment that will help them be successful in school. The following chart breaks down the amount of time commitment that students should be devoting to school.
| 15 Hours |
|
| 15 Hours |
|
| 2.5 Hours |
|
| 2.5 Hours |
|
| 35 Hours |
|
Time Management Strategies
How can you manage your time more efficiently?
1. Prioritizing
You need to prioritized your tasks on its importance. When you are prioritizing, you need to think of the three following questions:
| Urgency | Important | Significance |
| – How soon does it matter? | – How much does it matter? | – How long does it matter? |
When you ask yourself these questions, you can start realizing the importance of the task at hand. For example, if you have a midterm, then it is way more important and urgent to study for it than go out with friends to watch a movie.
2. Have a planner
Buy an agenda, calendar or reminder app to keep yourself on track with your deadlines! Plan out your semester ahead of time, so that you can well-prepared to study for your exams before you have to write them. Also, expect the unexpected to happen. When you have give yourself plenty of time to do your tasks, you will avoid having a big panic when there is a curve ball!
3. Avoid Procrastination and Distractions
Procrastination occurs when things are unpleasant. You do not want to do certain things, so you push it to the side. Overtime, it becomes an unhealthy and unbreakable cycle. To avoid procrastination to occur, you must make the unpleasant pleasant. When reading a textbook, try to make a connection that might fascinates you (i.e. “According to social psychology, I can now understand why I listen to my parents as that’s my way of obeying them!”). You can also remind yourself of your long term goals. Sometimes, we often forget why we have to do certain things, so having a good refresher can help!
Distractions are used as tool to aid procrastination. This includes watching Netflix, going on social media and hanging out with friends. When this occurs, you need to remind yourself, DON’T DO IT! It’s not worth it. Try to study in an area that is away from your bedroom. Also turn off your social media when you are working. This will help with avoiding distractions that could creep in when you’re trying to be productive.
