Time Management: 5 Tips and Tricks
1. Be mindful of how you’re spending your time. Plan out your week using this calendar and then, after the week is over, go back and consider how well reality reflected the plan.
2. Know when things are due and plan ahead. I have some big calendars for the term available in my office in which you can sit down with your syllabi and put all of your deadlines in one place so that you see your term visually and then break things down from there. When sitting down to study/complete work, have a manageable list of goals in front of you.
3. Plan backwards and give yourself false deadlines for written assignments. For example, if a paper is due on a Friday, work to get a reasonable draft done by that Monday. This gives you a full week to have a writing tutor, friend, classmate or even the instructor read it over. The paper you turn in will be far more polished and well-considered than if you had waited until the last minute.
4. Break larger projects down to smaller tasks. A large project can be overwhelming, so break it down step by step so that it feels manageable to begin (and finish!).
5.. Schedule in self-care. Give yourself break times, moments to decompress, etc. Time management is often stress management, so make sure that you are following the rule of 7 and giving yourself time to sleep and eat well.