“Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.”- William Shakespeare
By now, you should know that high school life is a thing of the past. For the majority of us, high school was pretty easy going. You could study for about half an hour, and you’d still pull of an A on any homework assignment, quiz, or test. My high school teachers never taught me how to read a whole book in one day. We had projects that were given weeks in advance, essays given a month’s notice, and the worst thing we ever had to worry about was whether we could get a high score on the ACT. However, when your college life begins, the workload literally hits you like a train. All the supposed training you received in high school is now completely meaningless.
And that’s not all. Your parents aren’t here to baby you around anymore. The worst thing they can do (if your college is far from home) is yell at you over the phone. In college, you are given the chance to take responsibility for your own actions and your own time. So how are you going to that? When there’s so much going on (frat parties, clubs, school work, crushes, summer planning, etc.) how can you manage all this and not be overwhelmed? The first thing you should do is take these tips to heart:
Use a Ranking System
What I mean by this is to rank all of the things you have to do in order of (which I call) common sense. Let’s say today is Friday afternoon. You have scheduled a paper, a party, and a short reading assignment. And these are all due Monday (except the party which is Friday night). By the ranking system, I suggest you do the short reading assignment before you go to the party. Don’t get too wasted, because the day after you’re going to be working on your paper. This system all depends on which matter is more significant to you in the long run. All you have to do is practice common sense and this ranking system can become a valuable tool for you in the future.
Make a Schedule
If you don’t write anything down, how to do you expect to keep track of exam dates and college events? In high school, I never kept a schedule. I expected myself to remember everything without using an assignment notebook. Sure, I would forget things here and there, but they never really hurt me in the long run. This is not the case in college. Your new life is going to be chock full of things to do, so it’s best to start cultivating the habit of taking note of important events on planners. Your whole day can’t be completely scheduled, but be sure to know when every midterm or other important event takes place.
Don’t Procrastinate
Get off Youtube and Facebook, and start studying your math and science. Procrastination is one of the biggest time-wasters facing people all over the world. Letting yourself fall behind schedule is an awful habit to have. The best remedy for this is to not start in the first place. But for those of us who already procrastinate, try and catch yourself before you start. Always seek to do things that are productive and not wasteful. Playing a video game or watching T.V. for an hour or two is okay, but indulging in these activities for overly long periods of time is not. Again, use common sense and ask yourself, “Is whatever I’m doing right now worth my time or not?”
Managing your time is not an easy feat. Luckily, you’re not alone in dealing with this issue. Millions of Americans everyday face this task and see it as a burden. They see it as something that they have to do in order to get things done. But they seem to be missing something. Time management should not be seen as something you have to do, it should be seen as something you want to do. When you manage your time, it means you are trying to take command of your own destiny. It shows that you are ultimately responsible for what you decide to do in your life. So feel empowered when managing your time, not burdened.
Catch you next time.
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