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Beat the Clock
Learning to manage your time
If there's one thing college means more of, it's freedom from curfews, from class bells, and from your parents' watchful eye. For incoming freshmen, the newfound ability to eat, sleep, study, and do what you want when you want can be both liberating and grade-lowering. To have time to conquer both the academic and social aspects of college, try these time management tips.Know Yourself
The first step to figuring out how to manage your time in college is to look at how you study best. When and where are you most academically efficient? Do you prefer to do homework in the morning or at night? Do you need a regimented study schedule weeks in advance of a big test, or do you prefer reviewing just a few days before? Can you study with music on or only in absolute silence? Are you a visual, audio, or tactile learner? If you're having trouble getting started, glance over the classes you took in high school. Write down at least 30 facts about your personal study habits, including what you did well and where you could have improved. Think about which classes you excelled in and why. Then think about why other classes sent shivers down your spine. By assessing when and under what circumstances you're at your learning peak, you can maximize study time and minimize procrastination.
Make a Plan (And Write it Down)
The general rule is that for every hour you spend in class, you should budget in three hours outside of class for reading, reviewing, doing homework, and working on projects. Keeping in mind your preferred study hours and conditions, find your course syllabi, get out your class schedule, and create a master study plan, remembering to give your hardest classes top priority. Now that you're finished scheduling work, schedule some time for play. Factor in extra time for major projects or papers, as well as a few more hours during exam week, and voila, you have a plan of attack for the semester. Post it in view of your roommate(s). Letting others know when you're available eliminates the need to tell a good friend “no.”
Stay With It
With the plan posted, all you've got to do now is stick to it…easier said than done. To gear yourself up for a hardcore review session, try setting aside a small reward for your work. Granting yourself a mid-study smoothie or a half-hour TV break will sharpen your concentration and make hours of textbook reading that much sweeter. If you can, plan a study date, organize a weekly review session with classmates, or have your dorm-mates quiz you on material learned in class. Bouncing your ideas off other people and, in turn, listening to their contributions will let you simultaneously “hang out” and be productive.
Surviving college isn't easy. Surviving college stress-free is almost impossible. Earning good grades while also having time to play…well…that's just a matter of planning.
Christina Couch is a freelance writer based in Richmond, Virginia. She is the author of Virginia's Complete College Resource (Palari Publishing, 2007). Her byline can also be found on Aol.com, Msn.com, Yahoo! Finance, and the Christian Science Monitor. She can be contacted at couchcs@gmail.com.
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