How to get the most out of your time during university
University isn’t about filling up every second with school work. It’s about learning and the moments in between classes where you make memories and grow. Here are five tips to help manage your time and get the most out of your university experience with school, friends, family, and activities that make you happy.
1. Make a to-do list
Thinking about everything you need to do abstractly can be draining. To help make sense of your seemingly insurmountable number of responsibilities, make a list of what you need to accomplish during the week and create a rough schedule for when you will do them. Tangibly seeing your goals on paper (or on a smartphone app or calendar) will put tasks in perspective and help you find a point of entry. Don’t forget to include personal goals and hobbies. Adding them to your list makes the list more fun to tackle and encourages you to do what makes you happy.
2. Wake up early
People who perpetuate the adage of “there aren’t enough hours in a day” obviously just don’t utilize their time effectively. Instead of staying up late and risking accidentally falling asleep (without brushing your teeth or finishing what you’re working on), go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up early. You may have to develop the will to get up at an awkward hour of the morning, but days feel more productive. You basically give yourself the gift of extra time as opposed to groggily waking up an hour before you have to leave the house (and since you’re already up, you minimize the chance of sleeping in and being late to wherever you need to go).
3. Don’t procrastinate
If you have two assignments due, a test to study for, or a deadline for a club project in two weeks, don’t wait until the night before to start. You’re not Superman, you know. Work on them as soon as possible. That way you have the full time until the due date to get ’er done. It’ll give you a chance to retain information and perfect what you’re doing. And, by starting in advance, you can feel confident you gave your best effort as opposed to cramming all your labour into a couple of hours, subsequently sacrificing the quality of your work.
4. Say no
If you have something you want or need to accomplish and someone asks if you want to grab a beer Thursday night, or your boss wants you to pick up extra responsibilities at your job, or you want to plummet into a new hobby, determine what tasks on your list are most important. Establish what is going to add the most value to you and what you can reasonably accomplish in the given timeframe. If something doesn’t fit into that description, say no to it. It’ll free up time so you can work on more pressing goals.
5. Don’t waste your time
Don’t fill up every second of free time doing nothing and re-binge-watching RuPaul’s Drag Race (I know you’ve already seen it. If you must watch something pick something new). Identify the well you sink most of your spare time in and minimize the amount you plunge into it. Every misused hour adds up. If you squander one hour a day for a week, that’s seven hours you lost and can’t get back. Over a month, that’s more than a day gone. Over a year, you forfeit 15 days worth of time you could have used reading, writing, or creating something. Everyone needs down time, but every moment you have nothing planned shouldn’t be a break. Use your moments wisely.
Photo Courtesy of Glenn-Carstens-Peters via CC0