One Of The Hardest Things To Do As A College Student Is Managing Your Time. You Have Friends To Hang

one of the hardest things to do as a college student is managing your time. you have friends to hang out with, parties to go to, papers to write, exams to study for, classes to attend, netflix shows to binge, and jobs to work. you only have 168 hours in a week, how the hell are supposed to get all this done? 

*although this post is mainly targeted towards college/university students, I’m sure people at any age will find this helpful! 

plan, plan, and plan

literally, the most boring and adult thing ever is planning. Just like anything though, if you want your planner to work for you, you actually have to use it. you gotta actually take it with you to class, take it out when the professor tells you about an upcoming down, and write it down (shocker, i know.) Thanks to the internet, there are many ways to make this more fun and creative! There are so many cute planners and journals out there. Find one and make it work for you! 

planners to check out: bullet journals, ban.do planners, big sky planners, happy planner, passion planner, rifle paper co. planner, kikki k planners, erin condren life planner, filofax planner 

read your syllabus 

the most important part of doing well is reading your syllabus!! when you get it, write down the important dates in both your monthly calendar and your daily/weekly spread. Use reminders for exams and projects as deadlines approach. You do not want to be that person who forgot about the midterm because you didn’t read the syllabus. 

create a schedule. 

this doesn’t have to be an intense schedule of what you’re doing every minute of the day, but a rough sketch of what your week typically looks like. I had to do this as an assignment in my communications class and let me tell you, it was a life saver. I made this one in exel but I’ve started using google calendars as well! (or you can check out this awesome printable pack by @sara-laughed). It’s a great way for figuring out when/how you’re going to do things.

be realistic and prioritize. 

if you need an hour every night to do absolutely nothing, give yourself the time for it. It’ll make your life a lot less complicated when you accept the fact that you will not function unless you get time to relax. 

This also means saying no to fun plans for the sake of getting your work done. you’re here to get an education. Instead of spending the day going shopping or playing video games with friends, try going to a nice cafe or library with them instead! You’ll at least get some work done, and you’ll also get to hang out and goof off with your friends. 

break it down. 

Break down large assignments into smaller junks and spread them out over the time you have to do the assignment. Same goes simple textbook reading. A 45 page chapter is pretty daunting, but if you break it down into 15 page chunks over the course of a week, it’s not too bad. This will a) prevent burnout and b) help you get things done if you have a busy schedule. 

take it with you. 

if you take the bus to get to campus or to work, you’ve got a lot of time to work on stuff there. You don’t have to pull out your textbooks and start reading, but perhaps reviewing notes/flashcards or brainstorming ideas for your project will be a good use of that time. Those 30 minute bus rides can be a black hole for time. Make it a gold mine instead. 

just do it

Ultimately, your success is up to you. All the planning and scheduling in the world can’t make a difference if you don’t just sit down and do the work. Getting started is always the hardest part. Promise yourself you’ll work for at least 15 minutes. If after 15 minutes you’re not into it, take a breather or move on to another task. 

still having trouble? 

go talk to a counselor, advisor, or trusted professor. They’re here to help you and they want you to succeed. Maybe working 20 hours a week as a full time student just isn’t the best option for you. You have tons of resources available at your university. Use them. 

tips:

learn your learning style your life will be so much easier once you understand what works for you. 

know what you have to do. I like to make a to do list everyday, but if you’re using your planner correctly, that should be good enough. 

check out some apps to help minimize procrastination and distractions

keep some school/office work with you at all times. that 30 minute wait at the doctor’s office? boom. study session. you can cross that off your to do list

mess around with your schedule. try doing different things at different times. Maybe going grocery shopping at 3 pm when everyone and their mother is doing the same thing isn’t the best idea. 

helpful links: 

surviving college

time management strategies 

getting your shit together by yours truly

a great pdf on time management

my tag on study tips 

my tag on productivity

my tag on time management 

other posts by me

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1. Prioritize

What does your school schedule look like/when do you have class?

How much time do you need to study?                                      

What subject do you need the most time for?  

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning/for bed in the evening?

When do you meet with friends?

How long does the way from school/college take?

How much freetime do you want to have?

How many breaks between studying?

How much time do your hobbies take away?

Etc.

 Count the hours/minutes you need for everything you do - but always plan some buffer time! Then write down on what day you do what so that you have a roughly overview to put in every column.

 Example:                                                                                          

Monday:   Piano lessons (one hour) , History class (two hours), morning routine (30 min.), dinner (one hour)…                               

Tuesday:   Meeting with friends  (three hours), Tumblr (one hour), Workout (30 min.)..                                                                

Wednesday:   Englisch class (three hours)…

2. Make your Plan

You can use a program, an app, a printable sheet, a calender.. Whatever you want! I always find it helpful to colour-cordinate everything.

 Example:

Green - Study Time

Yellow - Class

Blue - Family Time

Red - Hobbys

Pink - Free Time

 Printables + Useful programs

 Create A Online Study Plan

EssentialPIM

Make my Solution

Free Printable Planners

Schedule Template

My Study Plan App

3. Stick to your Plan

write your goals right next to your plan

Take enough breaks - not only when you are studying (don´t stress yourself!)

Change your plan if you realize that you don´t like something

If you realize that a plan isn´t right for you, then that´s ok. It     doesn´t work for everyone

Take enough time to do the things you love

Be realistic

Find out when it´s the best time for you to study, do a workout etc.

Change Things up - don´t work on math for three hours and then on chemistry for two… you will get bored fast (if you don´t love to do these things)

Pictures of Plans

1  (source: psychstudentstudy)

2  (source: study-inspo)

3  (source: studying-engineering)

4  (source: star-student)

I hope this is helpful! If you have a question just message me here. Request a post here.

5 tips for Mindmapping

1) Decide on your paper size Before you start writing anything it’s really important to work out what size paper you want to do your mindmap on. Be it A3, A4, A5 or any other size you can think of, deciding this early on will make things much easier in the long run and leave you with a much more organised mind map

2) Work out the basics Before you actually start writing anything it’s a really good idea to work out the basics of your mind map. What type of bubble do you want the title to be in? Spiky or a cloud or just a plain circle? What kind of lines to you want leading off from it? Arrows or just plain lines? Straight or curved? Taking 30 seconds to work these out before you start will make everything much easier in the long run and leave you with a much neater and better organised mind map

3) Choose what to write with This part is all down to personal preference. Do you prefer writing in a plain colour and then highlighting later? Do you want each section in a different colour? Felt tips or biros? Fineliners or pencils? This is the time when you can think about what you’re most comfortable writing with and what’s going to make it easiest for you to retain the information

4) Add pictures and diagrams Adding little drawings to aid your explanations is a really great way to help you remember what you write. You don’t have to be good at art to make this work, just add a few little diagrams here and there and you’ll be surprised how much more easily you retain the information

5) Have fun with it You may be looking at a picture of a mind map online and saying to yourself ‘that’s exactly what I want mine to look like’ but in reality that’ll never happen. You’ll never manage to get a mind map that looks exactly the same as someone else’s and in all honesty that would be a bit boring. Instead just get stuck in and create your own unique masterpiece

For more tips follow How To Study Quick!!

how to study efficiently

don’t spend more time more time making your notes than actually revising them

note-taking itself honestly isn’t the best study method when used by itself; you’re overloading your brain with content and you can go on autopilot very quickly 

the key to note-taking being extremely useful for your studying is making testable notes. before uni I was into flashcards, but I was definitely guilty of making the mistake I first outlined; taking forever to actually flashcard everything and not using the flashcards enough times. the easiest way to get around this is making cornell notes, and I 100% recommend doing so digitally.

type your lecture/class notes like you would normally, and then in a separate document, create a table with two columns and make the column on the left side significantly narrower. copy the lecture notes you took and paste them into the larger column on the right. colour code these notes if you wish (I recommend it). I personally underline headings, use arrow subheadings, have yellow highlight for terms and bolded orange for any important information.

write the cue questions in the narrower column. 

this cuts down the time you take to actually organise/make your revision notes like no tomorrow, so when exams come around you can just say the cue question, recite the information verbally or write down your answer depending on what type of learner you are, and write down the information you missed on a blank sheet of paper.

rule of thumb: don’t handwrite EVERYTHING. it takes forever, and time is of the essence. type the things that will help you understand content, handwrite content that is super vital/you struggle with, which are definitely not mutually exclusive. think of typing as the bones and flesh, handwriting for the bones and any flesh that you keep forgetting about. weird analogy, let’s move on.

don’t listen to music when you study. or at least, try not to. this is crazy for me to say personally, because in high school I HAD to have music to be able to do any work. but first year has led to this bizarre shift of not listening to anything at all, and I recommend trying it out. if it’s still not working, I have a suggestion; listen to a genre of music that you NEVER or RARELY ever listen to in any other area of your life (preferably a genre with limited words). for me that was jazz. that way, you’ll only associate the playlist with studying. sometimes when I have zero motivation, I play my jazz playlist to get myself working, and then around 5 minutes in I have to pause the playlist to focus on my work. i never thought that would ever happen but here we are.

this one’s a little more ~controversial~ but don’t take super rigid and routinely breaks. say you have a system of studying for an hour and taking a ten minute break. a lot of the time, this will work and satisfy you. but sometimes, you’ll get to around the half an hour mark, and already feel tired/drained/antsy/not in the mood/done with the content already, you name it. it’s better to take a micro break then to re-energise so you can plough through that revision than wait for your scheduled break; you’ll probably spend the rest of the hour unfocused and impatient, and by the time you get to your break you’ll probably end up taking a much longer one than you anticipated because you were tired long before. will you ever actually return to your work that day? hm.

so, allow flexibility for study and break times. 

examples of micro breaks; making a beverage, writing a quick journal entry, decluttering your desk (depending on how messy your desk is tbh, don’t worry, we’ve all been there), checking the news, staring at the wall for a bit (again, we’ve all been there), finding study quotes on google, looking at pictures of Elle Woods etc etc etc

if you’re in a time crunch and you can’t do as many timed essays as you need, please type up essay plans (I say type instead of handwrite because typing makes it 500 times easier to edit and add sections). low-key for certain subjects plans can be more helpful than writing full essays

past papers are your best friend, but only if you; mark them, write down why you got an answer wrong (usually best for calculations or mcq), edit your response with the marking criteria (usually best for short answers), rewrite the marking criteria word for word if your answer and the criteria answer are vastly different (i.e the energy of reading and comparing the two and wondering if the responses were for two completely different questions or alas even courses), redo the questions you get wrong (all of them pls). simply doing a past paper and adding some ticks and crosses here and there isn’t going to do anything, there’s no magic involved.

voice memos are also extremely helpful, especially if you’re an auditory learner. don’t drone out information for each topic word for word (the voice notes will be like three hours long, and if that isn’t enough to demotivate future you, listening to it will feel…well…will you feel anything at all? that’s the true question), but definitely record yourself explaining a topic or question type to yourself. voice memos are also really great for working on assignments. trying to flesh out your thesis? record yourself and title it thesis. trying to figure out what the heck your arguments should be? record yourself and title it what the heck are my arguments. trying to understand a crucial part of set reading? title it help me what is happening with ‘title of set reading’

definitely not saying you have to use all of the above study strategies at once (oh my), but I hope that integrating one of them into your study routine (or even using just one, it’s all about studying less but studying well) helps you out!

i get a LOT of questions about time management and getting better grades so i decided to put a boat load of advice and links in one place :]

time management methods

start a bullet journal ( +mine / +insp )

the 5 day study plan - it works!

schedule blocks of study time

use excel to schedule study

how to schedule study

the sticky note method

an app that organizes time for u

15 ways to beat procrastination

balancing multiple AP classes

decision making and time management

use the pomodoro technique

the task box prioritizing method

how to cram a lot of information in

get organized!!!!!

make and use a syllabible

great organization advice

organize ur study space

more tips on study spaces

basic organization tips

cute infographic

printable planner sheets

simple 2 pocket folder method

study methods!!!

watch youtube crashcourses

best study tips ever tbh

tips on memorizing effectively

add color for visual interest

make cause and effect diagrams

making good flashcards

create summary foldables

margin note taking

the 2 notebook method

for when ur not motivated

reading long textbook passages

studying for a test ooh

basic note taking

+note taking tips

note taking in microsoft word

bs study guide

how to plan out an essay

more essay planning

annotating literature for english

how to make concept maps

really interesting way of studying

shit load of study methods

web resources!!!!

search engine that plants trees!

to do list web program

bedtime calculator [avoid grogginess]

the dictionaries u need omg

how to pull an all nighter

advice on how to properly use google

final grade calculator

>100 places to download literature

cute af school supply list

alternatives to overpriced textbooks

rly this is better than google

best writing checker ever its my fave

free academic journals for research

AP cramming packets

every website to make a bibliography

online used book store

mind map making software from tufts

khanacademy aka bless this site

stop procrastinating websites

free powerpoint

awesome synonym finder

apps u need to download!!!

google chrome app i love it

taking digital notes

like 14 useful school apps

attn: all writers get this

super cute time manager

>9 different studying apps

post it note app

study + give water to needy!!

relaxation n meditation help

sat help!!!!!

all kinds of essential vocab [2k+]

big collection of links

v solid page with lots of references

rly good advice imo

how to do well on the sat

general big exam advices

stress reliefs!!!!

rly good study snacks

badass instrumental playlist!

finish ur essay songs!

+all my fave study playlists!

treat urself on a low budget

read some rad articles

teach urself computer science

take the 10 day study challenge

rip some crap online

good things to do in study breaks

+100 more things in study breaks

if u tired and uninspired

avoid student burnout

watch a ton of broadway musicals

nice things for urself

anxiety relieving background sound

+masterposts!!!

back to school advice

productive summers

note taking methods

starting a study blog

time managements

succeed @ school

ap world history

study instagram

web resources

ap psychology

bullet journals

school advice

happy things

ace ur exams

study sounds

stress reliefs

annotations

essay writin

study 101

printables

sat help

+more

i hope some of this was helpful ~ i also have a youtube channel and instagram account with a whole bunch of study resources!!!!  ~ xoxo sareena