Welcome to this video on Time Management for College Students
First, Why do we need to manage our time effectively?
Well, To achieve goals
be efficient gain a sense of control
gain a sense of balance reduce stress
give time to the important parts of our lives make smarter choices
and last but not least, enjoy life!
1:40pm
Let’s compare what High school is like to College.
In high school, it is mandatory to attend and usually free.
Your time is structured by others your classea are arranged FOR you
You study outside of class just a few hours during the week
Whereas in College, it's voluntary & expensive
You manage your own time You arrange your entire schedule and agenda
And you should study 2-3 hours outside of class for each HOUR of class
So Consider this There are 168 hours in a week.
This chart shows the average amount of hours per week college students spend on various
activities Notice the amount carved out for studying
, averaging at 10 hours a week.
That’s too low.
Here we see a typical 1st semester College Student in an Engineering program with 15
credits.
So this student should multiply the number of credits by 2 or 3 for how much to study
per week.
That works out to be 30-45 study hours per week, and that's not counting the in-class
time.
So... let’s start again with 168 hours a week to find out how much time we really have.
If we sleep 8 hours a day, that’s 56 hours a week
Then about 21 hours to get ready and eat, etc
15 hours in actual class And let’s put in 30 hours just for studying
That gives us a huge chunk of 46 hours left in a week.
Think about how you spend that time – including for example commuting, exercising, working,
on social media, relaxing, texting, or socializing
One way to get a sense of where your time goes it to fill out a Wheel of Productivity
You start with a wheel of 24 hours, with different tasks that will fill up time.
Then color in what your day looks like.
This gives a great visual of what a typical day looks like for you, or you could create
one on how you’d like to improve managing your time more effectively.
So let's now talk about 6 steps to better time management
1.
Create a set of schedules 2.
Set goals 3.
Utilize your free time wisely 4.
Avoid time wasters (prioritize!) 5.
don't make excuses 6.
get motivated
Let talk about creating schedules
So first start with a Master Calendar.
This could be a traditional planner, an app on your phone, or an email calendar like Google.
Then in this Master Schedule, start plugging in your class and lab times first, assignments,
exams, fixed activities like working, social plans, also make room for longer series like
writing papers and studying for exams
Then evaluating your schedule, you may wish to input appointments, plans for other projects
,etc
Then, plan on reviewing your calendar at night or in the morning and make a daily task to-do
list, ideally with the ability to strike things off as you go.
For example, Google Calendar has a to-do list built in with it’s calendar app.
Now let's talk about SMART goal setting to make sure you get everything done that you've
organized for yourself.
That means be specific with your goals, that you can measure progress, that are realistically
attainable, relevant, and timely.
When first filling out the basics of your schedule, be sure to Utilize Free Time productively
For example, with Study Sessions Reviewing Notes
Pursuit of hobbies or exercise Laundry, chores
And certainly Fun with friends & family
AVOID TIME WASTERS like TV, Oversleeping, mindless internet surfing, allowing your phone
to distract you or social media
13.
The Eisenhower Decision Matrix is a clever way to tackle how to prioritize between what’s
important to focus on now, and what to put off.
You have 4 boxes - The Important row with urgent and not urgent
and then the Not Important Row, with needing immediate attention, or both not urgent and
not important, like timewasters and such.
You’ll put the top left square into your Daily To-Do list while reviewing your calendar,
find time for the lower left box like laundry or chores, and ensuring the lower right box
doesn’t eat up much time.
Now let’s talk procrastinating.
So let's say you're combatting Putting projects Off:
The Task is Overwhelming?
Break it down (give example) The Task is tedious?
Focus on the end goal (example) Don't know where to start?
Pick anything and begin (example) Lack of Skill?
Get comfortable seeking help – contact your TA, speak with your peers, research tutorials,
go to the math help place, etc
and Very importantly Don't Make Excuses - Don’t say you’ll do things After…
Today, Or after I get more organized
After a long nap After this show
After I text some Social media
Internet browsing
Putting things off until tomorrow has a snowball effect, resulting in never completing a project
or scrambling right before a deadline.
Here are some Tips and Tricks to be mindful of:
Learn to say "No" Keeping to a schedule is a habit and a skill;
it may take several weeks of practice to get it right and feel on top of your busy semester
Always be conscious of deadlines to avoid becoming overwhelmed
exceptions will occur, but always return to your calendar
Some things to Remember Be sure to Reward yourself
Fight Entropy Catch yourself when you become distracted
Plans don't always go accordintly - make room for exceptions
Time Management is a SKILL; it takes time to perfect! (practice)
And Hard work ALWAYS pays off!
Now let's talk about a mental hurdle to overcome - the Fudge Ratio Planning Fallacy
Basically, we afford ourselves an illogical optimism bias - people almost always understimate
the time needed to get something done.
When envisioning completing a goal, we assume a best case scenario, whereas realistically,
things take longer with ebbs and flows.
So try this out, for example with completing a study guide for a Chemistry exam coming
up.
You estimate it’ll take 60 minutes to finish -
In reality let's say it takes you 90 minutes to complete the study guide
90/60 = 1.5 times longer.
So divide actual time by your optimistic estimated time, and that gives you the fudge ratio.
So when planning a task to complete, multiply your estimated time by 1.5 to get a more realistic
timeline.
Like writing a paper for example – there’s a lot of back and forth to get it right, and
more revision and editing than you anticipate as a best guess, so give yourself more time
in your planner.
Well, that concludes this video.
I hope it provided helpful tips to gain efficiency, meaning, and happiness out of your time.
Thanks for watching!