Time Management

Time Management Tips for Students

Organizing Your Life
Managing your time well is an important element of success — especially if you’re a student. If you set
priorities that fit your needs and lifestyle, you'll have a better chance of achieving your goals.

Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

1. Make a To-Do List Every Day.

Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. And don't forget to reward yourself
for your accomplishments.

2. Use Spare Minutes Wisely.

When you’re commuting on the bus or train, use the time to get some reading done.

3. It's Okay to Say No.

If your friend asks you to go to a movie on a Thursday night and you have an exam the next morning,
realize that it's okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind.

4. Find the Right Time.

You'll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if your brain
handles math better in the afternoon, don't wait to do it until late at night.

5. Review Your Notes Every Day.

Reviewing helps you reinforce what you've learned, so you need less time to study before a test. You'll
also be ready if you get called on in class or have to take a pop quiz.

6. Get a Good Night's Sleep.

Your brain needs rest to perform at its peak. Lack of sleep makes the day seem longer and your tasks
seem more difficult.

7. Communicate Your Schedule to Others.

If phone calls or text messages are proving to be a distraction, tell your friends that you are only
available at certain times of day and not to expect a response at other times.

8. Become a Taskmaster.
Give yourself a time budget and plan your activities accordingly. Figure out how much free time you
have each week before you add any commitments.

9. Don't Waste Time Agonizing.

Instead of agonizing and procrastinating, just do it. Wasting an entire evening worrying about
something that you're supposed to be doing is not productive, and can increase your stress.

10. Determine Your Priorities.

You can’t do everything at once. Establish the importance of each item. Then set realistic goals that
are attainable.

1) Realize that time management is a myth.

No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All we can actually manage is
ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.
2) Find out where you're wasting time.

Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time-bandits? Do
you spend too much time 'Net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls? Tracking Daily Activities explains how to track
your activities so you can form a accurate picture of what you actually do, the first step to effective time management.

3) Create time management goals.

Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by
eliminating your personal time-wasters. For one week, for example, set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls
while you're working. (See Set Specific Goals for help with goal setting.) For a fun look at behaviors that can interfere with
successful time management, see my article Time Management Personality Types. Find out if you're a Fireman, an Aquarian or a
Chatty Kathy!

4) Implement a time management plan.

Think of this as an extension of time management tip # 3. The objective is to change your behaviors over time to achieve
whatever general goal you've set for yourself, such as increasing your productivity or decreasing your stress. So you need to not
only set your specific goals, but track them over time to see whether or not you're accomplishing them.

5) Use time management tools.

Whether it's a Day-Timer or a software program, the first step to physically managing your time is to know where it's going now
and planning how you're going to spend your time in the future. A software program such as Outlook, for instance, lets you
schedule events easily and can be set to remind you of events in advance, making your time management easier.

6) Prioritize ruthlessly.

You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your performance
benchmark. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish? For more on daily
planning and prioritizing daily tasks, see Start The Day Right With Daily Planning.

7) Learn to delegate and/or outsource.

No matter how small your business is, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need
to let other people carry some of the load. Determining Your Personal ROI explains two ways to pinpoint which tasks you'd be
better off delegating or outsourcing, while Decide To Delegate provides tips for actually getting on with the job of delegating.

8) Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible.

While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time.

9) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks.

For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this
task and stick to it.

10) Be sure your systems are organized.

Are you wasting a lot of time looking for files on your computer? Take the time to organize a file management system. Is your
filing system slowing you down? Redo it, so it's organized to the point that you can quickly lay your hands on what you need.
You'll find more information about setting up filing systems and handling data efficiently in my Data Management library.

11) Don't waste time waiting.

From client meetings to dentist appointments, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But you don't need to
just sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Always take something to do with you, such as a report you need to read, a checkbook that
needs to be balanced, or just a blank pad of paper that you can use to plan your next marketing campaign. Technology makes it
easy to work wherever you are; your PDA and/or cell phone will help you stay connected.

You can be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish - once you've come to grips with the time management myth
and taken control of your time.

 The nature and value of productivity

 Valuing your time
 Assessing your time management strengths & weaknesses
 Removing the barriers to your productivity
 Overcoming the procrastination habit
 Focusing and staying in the zone
 Learning to be present: the power of now
 Managing tasks, projects, goals and ideas
 Determining and managing priorities
 Negotiating your priorities
 Resolving conflicts with multiple bosses & priorities
 Deadlines, time pressures and heavy workloads
 Mastering the art of delegation
 Inspect what you expect: the power of "The Stream"
 The power of personal decision management
 Negotiating your time & commitments
 Understanding what you can control and what you can’t
 Managing interruptions & distractions
 How and when to say “no”
 How and when to say “yes”
 People vs. tasks: your personal style
 Time management and effective communication
 Dealing with the things you hate to do
 Understanding and escaping your comfort zones
 Starting and completing large projects
 Managing multiple projects
 Procrastination and perfectionism
 Overhauling your task list system
 Overhauling your planning and scheduling system
 Getting and staying organized
 Email: the do's and don't's of effective communication
 Managing paper, emails and data files
 Simple and effective speed-reading techniques
 Tuning in to your energy cycle
 Holding effective meetings – when you’re in charge and when you’re not
 Overcoming the force of habit
 Setting & achieving personal time management goals
 Developing new habits for managing your time
 Achieving the productivity balance