With final exams right around the corner, you will want to read these time management and organizational tips
The winter break is on the horizon, midterms have only just finished (thanks Western!), and the end of the semester has suddenly snuck up on students. Across campus, students are cramming for exams, and swearing they will do anything to not be cramming next exam period.
The cramming struggle can only be solved by the one thing your parents always nagged you about: time management skills. It may have been annoying at the time, but now you realize that if you plan ahead you can rest well knowing your assignments will be handed in on time.
Coming into university life is an adjustment, but over the years, students are able to figure out what professors want and how to best go about getting all their work done. If you are new to the university workload, or just simply done with trying to decode why your professors insist on making impossible exam questions, this one’s for you.
Maybe a bit late now as we border on December, but here are the best time management methods
If you are currently cramming and don’t have time to read the full length of all the tips, let’s make a long story short: plan ahead, use a planner, write notes in a planner, plan what’s coming up, and then plan some more!
Students and experts alike advocate for using some method of calendar and task planning. “I find that the best way for organizing my studying is to really plan out in advance what I have ahead of me. I do that with my notebook planner and with a calendar on my wall,” Lucas Heine, a second-year BMOS student, says. Being able to visualize his deadlines helps him stay focused and decreases stress.
Adrianne Disimoni, a fourth-year criminology student, also uses a whiteboard on her wall for an overview of upcoming deadlines. “I use two calendars. One is a day planner and the other is the computer calendar to allow notifications for upcoming tasks and assignments.”
If you are new to this, it is important to keep it simple and only use one tool for planning. I suggest using a physical planner because it gives you the ability to write down to-dos and physically cross them off.
Sarah Skwira, a fourth-year student double majoring in environmental health and medical science, learned from her cramming experience for a chemistry exam in first-year. “I had a bio exam the day before and prioritized that, so I ended up really taking the ‘L’ on the chemistry one. Needless to say there was a ‘let’s forget this happened’ party afterwards.”
Now she also encourages having a schedule or a calendar for deadlines. “This saves so much stress. When you do a little bit each day, you will never feel the need to cram or stress about leaving things to the last minute,” she says. “Your brain also can’t absorb information as well when you are stressed.”
If you don’t have one already, your first to-do on your new to-do list, is to go get a wall calendar or a planner or open that iCal app that’s just hanging out in your dock, and put them to work!
Morning Motivation … but I went out last night!
Mornings are the enemy and bane of most people’s existence. Especially in the university lifestyle where there is no 9 am job keeping tabs on you, it’s easy to sleep in until your heart's content.
Disimoni and Skwira have recognized that their motivation and focus is much greater in the morning. “I get up early and go to bed early and I do most of my work in the earlier part of the day because of that,” Skwira says. “Working late into the night or in loud spaces is not something that worked for me,” she adds.
For others, mornings are a definite no-go. “Getting up stupidly early and trying to get a bunch of stuff done has not worked for me,” Heine says. “If forcing yourself to get up will just make you unproductive, don’t do it.”
Generally, people are either night owls or early birds.
“I work well when it’s dark out,” Lucas says. Lucas can be found studying on the 5th floor of Weldon Library where there are no windows. If you too are a night owl vampire, join him, because he admits it gets depressing after a while.
Identify your habits – when and where do you work best? Determine your habit for focusing and create your own personalized routine. Maybe sleeping in is in the cards for you after all!
Make Prioritizing into a Meal
The key to time management success does not come from solely writing deadlines down. You actually need to do the work. The best way to demolish all your assignments and exams, is to break them into bite-sized pieces.
Oliver ranks the priority of his to-do’s depending on when each task is due. “Don’t just plan to do five hours of ‘studying,’” Oliver says. “I try to break it down into specific subjects and time periods; mine are ‘make study notes, study notes, practice questions, study difficult or wrong answers’, and so on.”
Creating sub-tasks under one bigger task helps increase efficiency and decreases feelings of overwhelm.
After Skwira’s stressful chemistry exam back in first-year, she now organizes her time based on what requires the most studying: “The work that requires more cognitive energy will be done earlier in the day. Other work that is more passive I leave for the evenings.”
Make your to-do’s into a meal: Know what’s for breakfast lunch and dinner, and cut each piece of food down into chewable bites. See, fun analogies make the dread of studying a bit better already! You are welcome.
Good is Good Enough
This advice is short and sweet. As a university student, there is so much going on with assignments, exams, clubs, friends, family, and other jobs as well. Sometimes, you just need to do things to get them done.
Oliver suggests making a framework of how long you intend to spend on each task and subtask after you’ve prioritized them. He adds that the most important thing is to not spend more time than is needed on any given task. “When the to-do list feels miles long, done is better than perfect.”
If you are determined to do everything absolutely perfectly in life, here’s the big secret: you will be spending a lot of unnecessary time on things that might not get you anywhere. Spend forever on your thesis, but just write the damn forum post already!
Beware and prepare (again): Other difficulties you might encounter that no one tells you about
1. “Adulting” gets real
This happens during a stressful exam period when you realize what the concept “adulting” really is. In other words, you finally appreciate everything your parents did for you because you have to plan so much more than just your school work.
Adrianne says she also uses her day planner for personal tasks like meal planning and grocery shopping. This part of student life quickly becomes even more frustrating when you have to carry your close to ripping plastic grocery bags on the bus and through the snow. Without nourishing meals, focusing will become difficult, so use your new found love for planning and have your meals set for that week of study grind time.
2. Accept and that you will not be able to stay on top of everything
With all the planning and assignments, there is no way you will be able to wait till you’ve finished everything to take your break. It seems as though professors are worried you might have too much free time, so they just pile up some extra assignments. “When you plan ahead and know your schedule, you will legitimately have time for a break,” says Disimoni.
Give yourself breaks! Watch a show. Read a book. Hang out with friends. Call your mom. Reward yourself for all your planning and hard work. Just don’t wait until you have finished everything; that won’t happen until your semester is done, and that’s a promise.
3. Sleep is non-negotiable
As hard as it may be with parties, dorm room hangouts, and all-nighters, prioritizing sleep is a must. “I have realized how important sleep is in being productive,” Oliver says. “Decide how many hours of sleep you need and plan it into your study schedule.” That beauty rest is helping you with more than just looks.
As the exam season nears think of all the Christmas cheer, that is to come when you are done, planning and studying like a crazy one!
