Managing your time might seem as difficult as balancing the national budget, but with planning and attention it is possible. Time management is an important concept in campus life and is covered in the University Studies course. In order to manage time, students must first see where they spend most of their time. According to Marlene Shaffer, an adviser at University College, students must keep a chart of their actual activities for one week.
Then, they must look at the chart and figure out which areas they are spending most of their time, such as: academics, social and personal maintenance. Next, students must find their time wasters, things that they do for long periods of time that are not productive.
Common time wasters include watching television, playing solitaire and surfing the Internet.
Once students identify personal time challenges, they must make changes that allow them to free up time in order to get their most important goals accomplished. For example, cutting television watching and spending those extra hours in the library studying would be more productive.
Amy Hebert, Manager of Information for University College, has advice to pass on to students from monster.com, “Have a nine to five mentality. Treat college as a job.”
Students should have a planner or calendar in which they can write down assignments, deadlines and lecture dates for every class. Also, they should be realistic about their schedule expectations. Working forty hours or more per week, a student may not be able to carry a full class load, Shaffer said.
Olinda Ricard, president of the Student Government Association and double major in business administration and sociology, knows all about time management. Ricard said she carries a full class load, maintains a B average, deals with student complaints and still finds time to study, work and be active in student life.
“I go everywhere with my calendar and I write every assignment or deadline in it,” Ricard said. Her best advice for students is to stop procrastinating and to do their work as early as they can.
A resource for developing time management skills on campus is Counseling Services. Students are given these suggestions for time management: know your goals, set priorities, learn to say “no,” think through a job (or assignment) before starting and be prepared.
Students can talk to a counselor at University Counseling Services if they are having problems managing their time.
Effects of a poorly managed schedule could be missed assignments, getting behind at work or forgetting classes. The consequences of not managing your time properly could be damaging to your academic career, according to Counseling Services.
