Managing your time when you first start university can be challenging. Without the structure of high school, many students feel overwhelmed. They think there is too much to do but not enough time to do it. At the same time, they also believe there is so much extra time. In the coming weeks, I’ll share the scheduling techniques I used. These helped me balance work and school. I also managed to include sleep and keep a social life.
The first step we are going to take is to create an ideal week. This entails auditing all 168 hours that we have each week. This weekly schedule, while ideal, should also be realistic. This plan helps in two ways. First, it visually shows us how we spend our time. Second, it creates a gentle, non-perfectionist plant for the week.
Before you start planning, you need to know what your time obligations are. So, for the next 7 days, track your time. You can write entries by hand or use a journal app, but make sure you keep track of every minute. This includes sleeping, getting ready, meal prep, eating, cleaning, etc. At the end of your week, you’ll have a detailed reference sheet. You can refer to this sheet when making your plans.
Now that you have a good idea of where your time goes, it’s time to start planning your ideal week. First, look at your time anchors. These are the plans that you don’t control, such as work shifts and class times. As the name implies, these will be the anchor points that you will schedule your week around. Personally, I also put 8 hours of sleep as an anchor to make sure that I get plenty of rest. Next, add commute times for class and work. Also, add any routines before bed or that you do in the morning. Once all of your anchors are placed on your schedule, include their indirect activities. Then, you can begin to add times for eating. You can also add times for studying and other activities.
There are three common issues that I see when people are planning their week. First, over-stuffing. Be realistic with what you can accomplish in a day. Second, forgetting buffers. Sometimes delays happen, you need to be prepared. Third, ignoring transitions. It takes time to move from one task to the next, so make sure that you make time for it.
To avoid the pitfall of over-stuffing your schedule, look at the week you recorded. If your recorded week was very busy, don’t add to it. If, on the other hand, you had a lot of free time, over-estimate how long additional tasks will take you to complete. You can also short the time something takes you for the plan next week.
The second common error is forgetting buffers. Add empty space at the end of activities in case they run over their allotted time. Also, remember to plan in breaks and rest periods to avoid burn-out. Taking breaks isn’t optional, they are essential to being able to get things done.
Finally, to overcome the last error, you must be cognizant of the time spent in transition. This includes everything from switching tasks even while at the same desk to walking to your car. While this may seem petty, there are two big reasons to be aware of your time in transition. First, these moments tend to take longer than we think and they quickly add up. The second reason, and maybe more important than the first, is that transitions are when we are arguably the most likely to be distracted. Delays often happen during these times.
Start tracking your time. Create a schedule. Tweak it as needed to improve the accuracy of your schedule. Take back control of your time and productivity!
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