By J.D. Eddy, Editorial Editor
One thing that is elusive to college students is learning how to manage their time. Most of us have to pay our way through college, so students will get a job and juggle homework, social life and maybe a relationship.
Time management is important to keep yourself from being behind on everything when you focus too much on one aspect of your life. The other parts of your life tend to fall short of what you expect to happen.
Being able to manage your time properly as a college student is a crucial skill to have. It’s something that I have not been able to master. I tend to procrastinate until the last minute instead of having a plan for the day and what I will do throughout the week.
Bringing this up is just one of the many things that relate to why we as college students have terrible time-management skills. In addition, I want to talk about some of the underlying causes of these time-management issues.
The first issue is procrastination. According to research from the Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Santa Cruz website, many students will struggle with issues like procrastination, yet they can overcome these issues.
A small change in how you manage your daily habits can affect how you spend your time.
A few examples: changing your diet to healthier options while maintaining taste, waking up early in the morning and getting eight hours of sleep, having a plan laid out for your homework and other activities, riding a bike in the morning to wake you up, medication if it gets to that point, or just reading for an hour a day.
The main point is that you need to be realistic about what you can handle at the time, but you can cut out unnecessary things throughout your days.
For example, I cut out how much I lie around the house all day. After I lie down for more than an hour, I like to go on a walk. It keeps me active but lets me clear my mind when it wanders. Another thing I do is read a chapter out of a textbook.
What I read will be over the content for that week. When I started doing this, I could plan my day around the gym or working at the newspaper. In the mornings, I ride my bike almost three miles. It sounds terrible. That is outweighed by the weight (no pun intended) you feel lifted off your shoulders afterward. The bike read helps me clear my head.
Things like this will help keep your mind focused on the daily tasks you set. When you start doing something that fits you, you’ll notice a change in your mindset. Now, it will not happen overnight. Things like this take time.
Now, something to keep in mind is that these work for me. Everyone has different activities to help focus.
If you can find something to get these same results, I say do it! Having simple tasks to keep your mind occupied and stimulated will benefit you down the road.
The best thing is managing your time while not getting overwhelmed. It is tricky, but believe that you can figure it out with some effort.