Post By: COYD Staff
Yesterday we talked about the top 6 most common obstacles a student experiences their first year of college. Time management was one of the ones we highlighted because a lack of time management skills can tremendously affect your academic success as well as your “social” success in college. Below are a few things you can do this summer to sharpen your time management skills:
1) Test out different “planning” systems
Some students like having their schedule in one place. Others need it in several places. If you haven’t used a planner before, you will need to in college. College academics are not only more rigorous than high school but the social and extracurricular activities will be more plentiful. In addition, you won’t be having the aid of your parents reminding you of everything you have to get done.
Some students like the electronic PDA (iPhone or Blackberry), others like the traditional planner where they can write down their schedule. Whatever it is, figure out what best works for you before you start college.
2) Utilize your planner.
A lot of students have nifty PDAs or beautiful leather bound planners but they don’t actually write much down in them. You should start writing down your summer’s daily activities to get yourself used to writing things down. If you have NEVER written down a daily schedule, you probably need a few months to start developing this new habit.
3) Plan ahead and prioritize your lists.
Once you start writing things down in your planner, make sure to create prioritized to-do lists. List tasks you must complete in order of priority and cross them off your list as you complete them.
If you have a huge project due at the end of the semester, start planning ahead so that you can utilize each week before the deadline to dedicate to the project. You should “pencil” in deliverables and milestones so that when the deadline arrives, you will be on track in submitting an excellent product on time.
4) Be flexible.
Things come up last minute. Don’t live and breathe by your planner. A planner is supposed to simplify your life, not stress you out. Leave cushion room in your schedule so you aren’t running from one appointment to another.
5) Find a backup system.
Many times students lose their backpack, PDA or planner. This causes great stress for many students because their whole life’s schedule is on that planner. Make sure to have one ‘backup’ copy just in case you lose your primary planner. If you have a PDA, you can sync it with your computer or even sync it with your Google account via Google Sync. Research different methods out there and find one that works for you.
