Tips to manage time for students

College is like juggling. Five balls in the air that you're trying to not let drop. Between going to class, doing the homework, taking the tests, perhaps holding down a job, raising a family well, and how's a mere mortal supposed to do all this stuff? It boils down to managing your time. However, how are you supposed to do that? Here are our top 12 tips for managing your overcrowded schedule:

1. Block your courses. Many students think that they'll learn better if they scatter their courses throughout the day, with frequent off-hours. Wrong. If you take your courses back to back as much as possible, you'll have larger blocks of time to devote to concerted bouts of studying. Usually, if you have a gap of 50 minutes between classes, it's much more likely to end up as Twitter or Facebook time rather than study time. And if you can group your classes on only two or three days, it will free whole days for studying.

2. Make a plan. It's never too early to start figuring out how you'll do all the work in each of your five classes. In fact, the very first day of classes is the right time. Enter all the assignments including weekly assignments, quizzes, and exercises or short papers into your electronic or print calendar. Then develop a plan for both your run-of-the-mill weekly studying and the mondo research paper or killer final.

Rule of Thumb: 1 hour of lecture time = 2 hours of study time. Plan accordingly.

3. Aim to make all the classes. Going to classes is one of the most time-efficient things you can do. When you miss class, it takes much more time to learn the material you missed than it would have taken if you went to class in the first place. And you never learn it as well. Who could, getting notes from that guy who writes illegibly?

4. Determine whether you're an owl or a rooster. Schedule your studying for times when you can seriously engage with the work. This can be very different, depending on your biochronology. Some students find 11 p.m. the perfect time to focus, others 7 a.m. Just because your roommate or partner studies at a particular time doesn't mean it will work for you.

Extra Pointer. Be sure to schedule time for sleep. Whether you study in the depths of night or at the crack of dawn, you'll need seven or eight hours of sleep. What good is it managing your waking time if you're so wasted that you can't concentrate on what you're doing?

5. Keep a log. Especially at the beginning of the semester, you should track how long it takes you to do the homework in each of your classes, prepare for quizzes and tests, and write short papers. Knowing this can help you plan the time frame for future course assignments. Also, writing it down will prevent you from overestimating how long you're really studying (at least if you're recording honestly).

4. Star Tip. Adjust your study plan dynamically as the semester progresses. Typically, you'll find that some courses get harder as they go, that some projects take longer than you planned, and that the workload is divided unevenly over the semester in some courses. The more flexible and open-minded you are about time management, the more successfully you will do it.

6. Do your homework on time. Even though there's no parent or teacher to stand over you, be sure you're doing the outside-of-class work when it's assigned. Doing the reading in advance of the lecture, studying for each quiz as it comes along, and memorizing what needs to be memorized on a week-by-week basis are all strategies that will increase your efficiency and cut down on overall study time. Sure, it's tempting to blow off the homework when there's no test looming or when the prof doesn't bother to call on anyone in class. But the fun will quickly diminish when you have 500 pages of reading to catch Aup on two days before the test.

7. Balance your courses. Every professor thinks his or her course is the most important activity in the universe. Learn to triage your courses that is, to spend different amounts of time on each course, depending on how important or difficult that course is. Do not spend all your time on the course you find most enjoyable or easiest to do. And if you find you're spending every waking hour on one of your courses, cut back. Keep in mind that you've signed up for four or five courses, each of which will count for 25 or 20 percent of your grade.

8. Learn to focus. You're used to getting your content in 140-character units, in 20-second bursts, or with lots of video to go with it. But college is not Twitter, YouTube, or Hulu. In college, whether in the lecture, the reading, or the problem sets, sustained attention is needed. Learn to focus without breaks and without additional stimulation for 15- to 20-minute units. We know it's hard to reprogram your brain. But doing so will prevent your having to start focusing again and overcoming your resistance 50 times an hour.

9. Plan to do each task once. It's very time-inefficient to do things twice. Some students think they'll learn better by copying their notes over (more neatly this time) or listening to the same lecture twice (once in person, once on their mp3 player), or doing the reading three times (once to get the general idea, once to focus on the plot and characters, and once to take notes). Fuggetaboutit. All these are incredible time-wasters. And it's not likely that you'll be able to focus or understand better the second time. Advice? Do it once, and do it right.

10. Divide and conquer. Break up larger projects, such as research papers, field studies, and cumulative finals, into manageable chunks. And spread the stages over a reasonable number of days. Always add some extra time above what you think you need, because usually there's a major crunch or crisis toward the end. It's better to have a little extra time than to find yourself running around like a madman when your computer crashes at 4 o'clock the morning before a paper is due.

11. Don't take 10-day holidays. Some students think it's their God-given right to take off a few days before Thanksgiving holidays and spring break and a few days after. Instead, consider it your religious duty to tote your textbooks to Cancun and consult them while bonging your beer.

12. Tell them where to go. During periods of peak work midterms, seminar presentations, and exam times, for instance shed commitments that are not absolutely necessary. Tell your parents you can't worry about their Christmas plans; tell your frat head that you can't be bothered with his community service project; tell your boss you need a much-reduced work schedule; and tell your minister (gasp) that someone else needs to help with the reception after church. There are only 168 hours in a week, and you'll be managing your time a whole lot better if you devote yourself exclusively to schoolwork. At least a few weeks a semester.

Source:https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/professors-guide/2009/10/14/top-12-time-management-tips

College years are something that many people remember with a smile of happiness all their lives. Well, they mostly remember partying, meeting life-long friends and romantic adventures. In between those fun things, students have to squeeze the actual studying. Many of them do it so skillfully, that their professors would not even guess that they partied all night. How do students do it? How do they manage to complete a huge number of assignments and still find the time to have fun? Time management! Students learn to use their time right.

Here are 12 effective time management tips that can be used outside of college too.

1. Exchange favors.

Let’s say, your friend is sick and misses a very important class. You can help him by telling something you have learned there and borrowing him your notes. Next time you won’t have time to read a book you need to read and this very friend can retell it to you highlighting the key points. The point is to help people around and some day they will help you not to fail your deadline.

2. Less theory, more practice.

Reading is great if you have time. If time is limited, it is better to try and do something intuitively. At the end, it is better to try and regret than not to try and regret your whole life. Students often complete assignments without wasting much time on reading how these assignments should be done. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it is still worth trying.

3. Use technologies.

Many modern students can back up the fact that technologies make studying easier and faster. You don’t always have to waste time to go to a library when you can find everything online. You can save time on calculating things and solving different problems as there are now many apps for that. Using technologies for work is also a must if you want to improve your productivity.

4. Give yourself a treat.

All people need some incentives to work hard. Students get grades. When you work, you, of course, have financial incentives, but it is sometimes not enough to be productive the whole day. You can give yourself some small treats for finishing small tasks. For example, if you have a task for an hour, promise yourself to have coffee and biscuits if you manage to do that in time. It is a nice motivation to be productive.

5. Learn something new all the time.

Smart students complete their tasks faster. They know that the more knowledge you possess, the easier it can be for you to get out of different situations. You need to be hungry for knowledge. Many people who graduate from college think that they’ve learnt all the secrets of the universe and have nothing more to study. However, you still need to give some work to your brain. Read books, learn new skills and languages. It’ll all make you smarter and more productive.

6. Have fun!

Working non-stop is always a bad idea. Human bodies and minds need to have rest to be productive. If you regularly have fun and rest, you should be energetic and productive. Thus, you will do your work faster and save a lot of time.

7. Have a schedule.

As you know, students have a strict schedule for their classes. It helps them organize their day and be ready for each class. Having a schedule for work and life is also a good thing. If your day is planned by hours, it is easier to get every task done fast and effectively.

8. Balance your tasks.

Students most often have different kinds of classes during a day. It helps them balance different subjects, change the way of thinking and simply not to get bored with sticking to one thing for too long. It is also useful to balance tasks at work. Thus, you will do them faster because your brain won’t get burdened by one-type tasks.

9. Exercise.

Many students get involved in some sport sections. Physical exercises help your blood run faster and thus, your brain works better. You don’t have to join a gym or something, but some simple exercises and stretching can help you a lot to be more productive.

10. Make the right decisions.

Time management is the ability to make the right decisions in the right time. Making a decision is a process and not a result. Good decisions can lead to bad results. A good decision only increases the possibility of good results, but never gives a guarantee.

Japanese businessman Konosuke Matsushita once said that the best moment for making a decision is now. To achieve desired results, you need to remember three factors: the right time, the right place and the right person.

11. Learn to focus.

Students, especially those who live with roommates, are usually the masters of focusing. They often find the way to focus on their homework while their roommate is having a party with lots of people. It is very important to be able to concentrate on your work even if there are distractions around.

12. Get away from distractions.

This point is sort of a continuation of the previous one. If you have too many distractions around to focus, you can either block these distractions or get away from them. If the distractions don’t depend on you (loud conversations in the room, etc.), you can go to a quiet place to work if there is a chance. Many offices today have quiet rooms and different spots for work; students usually go to libraries. If the distractions come from you (checking email or social networks), you can use different programs to block them.All in all, college time is a very special period when you learn a lot of things including time management techniques. If you take them seriously, you can use them in your future and make your work and life more productive and organized.

Source: https://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2016/04/15/effective-time-management-tips