Time Management
Managing one’s time effectively can come as a challenge for a lot of people, especially students. Things like procrastination or not doing your work at all can jeopardize your academic and personal life. Luckily, there are strategies that can help to reinforce good time management skills, making it easier for you to divide your time between different tasks.
Dividing Priorities
Something that can be done to improve one’s time management is dividing priorities. What this means is, for example, identifying urgent tasks vs. non-urgent tasks. Urgent tasks require immediate attention and non-urgent tasks can be done later and can wait. Maybe you’ve been wanting to get a haircut, but you know you should finish your homework for the day first. That way, you are prioritizing something that you cannot put on hold, while you can get the haircut any other time.
Monitoring Time
Monitoring and evaluating your time can assist in the time management process as well. This may consist of something as simple as limiting distractions (i.e., putting your phone on silent or going somewhere quiet). This is also where contingency planning can be helpful. Contingency planning is when you look at the “what ifs” and ensure that you are prepared for each outcome. Planning is important since you never know when the deadline for something could change or when other circumstances could make it so you must adjust to the new conditions.
Relying on Technology
Technology has become a big part of our day-to-day, so it is only natural that there are apps we can use to encourage productivity. Some of these apps include Outlook, GoogleCalendar, and productivity applications like Notion. The nice thing about this is that you can customize your own template and organize any activities you might have for the week. This can keep you motivated to complete tasks and continuously check for any upcoming deadlines.
Final Remarks
Although procrastination might seem tempting and managing your time is challenging, you can always divide your priorities, evaluate your time and download apps that can facilitate the process for you. Avoid letting your deadlines get the best of you and prepare ahead of time to maintain a balance between your personal and academic commitments.