For most, college is the best time of someone’s life as they explore who they are, get to meet new people, and learn new things. Yet, the most common complaint amongst students is how to balance school, social life, and possibly work. I’ve been there and sometimes still struggle with that even though I’m naturally introverted and didn’t feel the need to socialize as often as someone who is more extroverted.
I want to share some tips on managing time effectively to excel academically while still enjoying college life. Among all the trial and error I experienced during my first two years back at college, these are the simple but best tips I can give:
Create a Schedule
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The most helpful piece of advice I ever got when I went back to college was to create a calendar for all my major assignments and exams. This includes the date it’s due, the course, the name, and the grade percentage. I never did this before as I never had an issue with remembering due dates but this can be a lifesaver for those that do forget or want one place to store all that information.
How did it help me then? It helped the stress I had at the beginning of each term as it gave me a clear point of where I should start when I looked at a calendar. The semester becomes less daunting when you have a clear view of everything right in front of you instead of searching five different course syllabuses. It was also super rewarding to delete assignments off of the calendar once completed!
Utilize College Resources
When you find yourself struggling academically then you can fall behind in other areas of your life. To avoid this you can utilize college resources to help you either get ahead, save time, or get back on track so you can enjoy other aspects of your college life. Being a part of a college gives you access to resources for free that usually cost others money.
Struggling with school or not knowing how to navigate your program would be the perfect time to talk to an academic advisor. They can help steer you in the right direction when it comes to what courses to take, how to improve your GPA and point you towards other resources such as tutoring. Knowing what you need to do or where to find help can help cut down on stress and time that you would have spent being less efficient. The academic advisor can be seen as your path of least resistance to finding the information you need to navigate stress-free, and if they don’t have the information they usually know who does have it.
Every college has a library full of books and resources that are available to every student. We all know this can be one of the fastest ways to find credible resources for essays and research papers. To save even more time, most colleges have a digital library that is also full of resources that you can view. You can spend less time physically in the library and can do it from ease anywhere which is perfect for those who have families they need to take care of or have jobs as well.
This last one not every class or program has but was offered in some of my classes so I wanted to share here. If your classes offer things such as lecture slides or recorded lectures (if you’re lucky) then you should make use of them. The slides alone can help you prepare for class and help as a refresher before exams. There are times when we simply can’t come to class even if we want to. Things like family, health, and work can often take priority… or had too much to drink the night before. So having these can also be useful if you have to miss a class as well. So if this is an option for you then definitely use it!
This is only the surface of resources that are usually at students' disposal. Take some time to look around the school website or grab a pamphlet to see what other services may be offered.
Prioritize Tasks
With many assignments across various courses you have to juggle, it can be hard to know which ones to do first. Make some time to sit down and ask yourself what your priority is.
Do you want to get straight A’s? Then you might need to allocate more time to assignments and studying compared to if you wanted a B.
Do you still want to go out every Friday night and party with friends? Then you may need to sacrifice those perfect grades or some other facet of your life to maintain that party lifestyle.
Do you think you can sacrifice sleep? Well then you might be able to keep your social life and studying. Maybe.
These are great exercises to find out what you want out of your time in college. Knowing what you want and what you’re willing to do to achieve those things will help you understand what you need to do to achieve that.
Utilize Dead time
“Dead Time” is that area in your schedule where you have nothing planned. Now, I don’t think you should fill up all of your free time with appointments and such (look at my next point). However, that empty space on your school schedule? The one where you have a class ending at 10 am and your next class isn’t until 3 pm? Use that.
What you use it for is up to your discretion. Use that time to work on assignments or read the chapter before the next lecture if that’s your studying type. Use it as a time to socialize with other classmates or other friends. The point is to use this time to help improve the balance between the different areas of your life. So, might as well make use of what would have otherwise been a boring break.
Flexibility
There has been a growing trend regarding productivity in which people would share their routines and every aspect of their day would be meticulously planned. I once fell into that pit of feeling like I needed every waking moment to be filled with productive things and that everything needed to be planned out.
Spoiler alert, my brain didn’t like that.
You shouldn’t have every moment of your day booked unless that is the sort of routine schedule you need or want to have. For most people that’s unrealistic, and honestly, life is full of surprises. By keeping some flexibility in your schedule you can make time for yourself, time to think about what works and what doesn’t, and if you run into a major problem then you’ll have time to deal with it. All without sacrificing other areas of your schedule. That's the key to balancing academics and a social life in a healthy way.
Reflect and Adjust
Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash
Especially in the first semester, there may be a lot of times where you stumble and one area of your life gets more neglected than intended. Frustration usually sets in but don’t let that get under your skin or make you upset. Breath. Sometimes, certain areas of our lives require more of our time than others. It’s okay and completely normal.
Reflect on what is working and what doesn’t and adjust so you can continue pursuing the goals you prioritize. No single plan will work forever, especially as time schedules change and later courses become more demanding, or changes in other areas of your life emerge.
Adjust as needed because the best skill to have, in my experience, is to be adaptable.
These are the suggestions that I learned through trial and error during my two different times in college. If you use these tips, then you can at the very least improve the balance in your school and personal life to be more satisfactory. These skills can also help beyond college as having a good grasp on how to balance your life now can help you with the work/life balance of the future.
Do you have any tips of your own? Feel free to share so that we may all be able to help each other!
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