Time Management for Students

       

       Time management is, currently, far too popular among bloggers, especially the mommy bloggers. There are posts for "Gen Y-ers," posts for students, posts for workers... I even found a post on how to "kick your time management habit" because, you know, time management is totally a bad thing. The one factor these posts have in common is claiming that their steps are 'essential' to your life, but really these steps aren't really anything new. Yes, I know I should prioritize. Yes, I know I need to set goals. Yes I know I need to prevent distractions (ahem, technology, we're looking at you...) But I also know that none of these so-called tips ever work for me. 

      
       Perhaps it's because I'm a young student, or perhaps it's just my personality type, but these tips usually leave me more frustrated and annoyed than anything. It's like if you go on a diet that tells you to never ever eat anything sweet. It's going to be really tempting, and when you eventually give in, you're going to eat everything in sight. I find it much more productive to just limit my sweets to a set amount per day. 

       Quite some time ago, I stopped trying to manage my time according to everyone else's rules. I became happier, more satisfied with myself and my life, and, surprisingly, I earned better grades and performed better at work. The following steps have worked for me, but I encourage you to stop relying on the blogging universe and find what works for you. You, after all, know yourself best, and only you can determine what will really work in your life. 

• Set aside time for internet surfing, T.V. watching, and general goofing off. Every morning when I wake up, I take the first 15 minutes to check my email, read Yahoo news stories, check Facebook, and monitor my blog. I start the day on a good note because I'm doing what I want to do, not what anyone else thinks I should do.  In the evening, I give myself at least an hour to watch a favorite show, although on Thursdays this tends to be two hours. I also always set aside time for dinner or bonding with my significant other & family. This system has made it much easier to focus on work during the day, because I never feel as though I'm missing out on anything. I get to have my cake, and eat it too. 

• Do things that make you feel good. This is similar to my first tip, but now I'm focusing on the big things. I recently started volunteering at a community garden. I have to wake up obnoxiously early, I stay for several hours, and the work is physically challenging. However, I am so pumped up, happy, and full of energy from doing something that I love, that I can come back home and work for several hours. I get stuff done, and somehow the sucky things sucks a little less.

• Make a list. I keep a planner with my class schedule, work schedule, homework, and to-do lists neatly penciled in. I highlight things that are most important, and write the least important (and most likely to be skipped) things in more than one place. Having my lists side-by-side helps me to prioritize and get to things on time, and writing the smaller tasks in more than one week makes sure that these things do eventually get done. Plus, to be honest, checking off items on my lists can be super satisfying, and reinforces the warm fuzzy goodness of getting stuff done. 

  
       I think for me the biggest thing has been allowing myself to do the things I like without feeling guilty. I try to look at time management as more of an everyday choice rather than a chore, and overall it's working out pretty well. However, having life goals is also a pretty big motivator. I'd love to one day pursue linguistics at a doctoral level, and so everything I do revolves around that one main goal. If you haven't already, I suggest taking a few moments to figure out where you want to be in five or even ten years. You might find this is a helpful tool in determining what you need to do, and what you can push off for a later date.

What do you all do to manage your time? Have any unique tips and tricks?