Back To School Issue - Schooled Magazine

featureEvery student needs more time in a day, right?But you’re stuck with just 24 hours, so youmight as well learn to live with it. Rather thancomplaining about having too little time, whynot learn to get more done in the time youhave? By learning to manage your time andbecome more efficient with your daily activities,you’ll find that 24 hours is a lot longerthan you thought it was.1. Keep a Log. So you can’t figure out whereall your time is going? You swear you workall the time and things still don’t get done?The first step is to realize what you do withyour time. So many people lose time on littleinterruptions that they don’t even think about.Keep a log of your daily activities and includeall the little things. Five minutes checkingyour email? Fifteen minutes talking to yourroommate? Write it down. If you understandwhat activities are competing for your attention,you’ll be better able to figure out whereyou’re losing time. Then you can figure outwhat activities are most important to you, andwhat ones you can give up.2. Remove Distractions. Don’t let a chanceat real productivity be spoiled by your surroundings.You know you’re not going to getanything done at home when your roommatesare there or your neighbors are stopping by.Study in a place where you can concentrateand won’t be interrupted. Avoid distractionslike texting or IM. If you really needto concentrate on something, turn off yourphone! You might think that you are a greatmulti-tasker, but think of how much faster youcould get things done if you just focus on yourassignment.time managementBy Rae Harris3. Prioritize. Start your day with a list ofwhat you need to accomplish that day. Prioritizeyour activities and stick to them. Focus onwhat is most important to you. Don’t just dothe easy tasks first. You may feel like this willgive you a greater sense of accomplishment,but the truth is, you will only increase yourstress level as the day progresses and you haveyet to start on that time-consuming, but urgenttask. Your best sense of accomplishmentwill come when you cross off that all-importanttask and feel the stress float away as youconcentrate on less essential tasks.4. Group Similar Activities. Pick one daya week when you will run errands, instead ofdoing one or two each day. By consolidatingyour errands to a single outing each week, youwill save travel time and avoid driving to thesame places day after day for one more thing.You can do this with more localized tasks aswell. If you’re going on campus to study, thinkof any errands you need done while you’re upthere. You’ll save a lot of time when you stopgoing back and forth to get things done.5. Get Organized. Keeping your life organizedwill definitely help save time. Howmuch time do you waste looking for your keysor your homework assignment? If you keepyour living space neat and clean, you willbe less likely to lose things and spend timesearching for them. You can also organize bymaking lists. You’ll spend a lot less time in thegrocery store if you have a specific list of whatyou need.6. Set Time Limits. Set time limits for yournon-essential activities. Whatever it is—watching TV, talking on the phone, surfing theInternet, playing video games—set a time limitfor yourself so that these things won’t controlyour life.7. Sleep! So many people try to save time bysleeping less, but this just doesn’t work. Whenyou’re tired you are much less efficient andit takes you longer to accomplish your dailytasks. Research shows that sleep deprivationcauses higher levels of stress, anxiety anddepression. Lack of sleep also results in adecreased ability to concentrate and retain information,which makes your study time muchless effective. On the other hand, studieshave indicated that sleep promotes memoryconsolidation, and improves mental processesand insights. The bottom line is that sleep isessential to peak performance. So make sleepa priority. You’ll be refreshed and ready totackle your day. You’ll have a clearer head tosort out what needs done and be able to getthings done more quickly.8. Eat Right and Exercise. Here are twomore essentials for good health and good productivity.Take care of yourself by eating goodfoods and getting exercise. You’ll be healthierand you’ll feel better, both of which are criticalto making the best use of your time. Whenyou’re sick or just not taking proper care ofyourself, you’ll feel sluggish and unmotivated.Staying healthy helps you feel fresh and rejuvenatedevery day.9. Goals and Rewards. Give yourself a taskto complete and reward yourself when youdo it. Tell yourself you have to read that onechapter or do that one assignment before youcan get online or go out with your friends.When you finish your tasks, enjoy yourself!Go out and have fun! Then when it’s time towork again, you will be able to focus, knowingthat there will always be a reward at the end.And the greatest reward might just be howmuch stress you avoid by learning to manageyour time a little better.24 Schooled www.schooledmagazine.comSM