The return to school is almost always a tumultuous time. With upperclassmen returning and new students learning to make their way, commuters making the drive and residential students experiencing independence, all on top of professors beginning their lectures in the first week, it can be very easy to get lost in the details.
Stress and anxiety regarding assignments, tests, jobs, organizational meetings and social relationships can wear students out, so it is essential for students to exercise good time management habits.
It is not uncommon for a student to feel a sense of fatigue when living through the academic experience. According to the National Cancer Institute, fatigue can be described as “an extreme sense of tiredness and lack of energy that can interfere with a person’s usual daily activities.”
Episodes of headaches, inattentiveness, forgetfulness, loss of sleep at night and falling asleep during the day are typical symptoms of fatigue.
The piling of assignments, obligation to study and the commitment to extracurricular activities are factors that can directly cause fatigue if they are approached in either a careless or unorganized manner, such as turning in an assignment the night before it is due or cramming material for a test the same day that it is given.
Learning to manage one’s time can alleviate these symptoms of fatigue because it allows for the student to designate time for their obligations which leaves space for free time. This also allows for the student to be more conscious of their academic and extracurricular responsibilities, which makes it simpler for said responsibilities to be completed.
Mary Stegall, an adjunct instructor of the UL Honors Program, hosts frequent seminars on time management for college students. When asked what time management habits she thought succeeded or failed that she observed in her years of teaching, she said, “I think what succeeds is putting down your priorities first in order to take care of that […], I think also is judging what works best for you.”
Knowing what it is that needs to get done is the first step to creating a well-organized schedule. Once a student realizes what takes priority, they can then think of how they want to achieve whatever it is they want or need to do.
Completing this first step can be started by recording what needs to be done. This can be in the form of a planner, calendar or a simple to-do list.
The next step is finding the best way to approach and accomplish the tasks one has set for themself. To do this, one can, as Juan Ramon Rojas Garcia, a senior electrical engineering student, says, “Find the time where you can sit down […] by yourself or with other people that you can sit down and discuss a problem with yourself or with them, and try to get a deeper understanding of what you’re actually doing.”
It is necessary to have a grasp of what needs to be done instead of carelessly rushing to complete it. This can cause unnecessary stress and conflict in the future.
The last crucial part is to make sure to leave enough time for leisure and relaxation.
This helps relieve the stress of what might be going on in one’s day-to-day life. Jillian Moody, a senior chemistry student, says, “I think I do best whenever I have a schedule and there’s a lot of time for everything […] it’s a careful balance between what you can handle, and still push yourself, but also have time to relax and refresh.”
The final concept to understanding how to manage time is to find what works best for the individual.
If something someone does to get through their week does not work for someone else when they try it, or vice versa, then that is okay.
It takes time, but with patience and an open mind, managing one’s time can become second nature.