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Manage Your Time Once you get to college, it is important that you manage your time according to your responsibilities and goals. Your success in college will have a lot to do with if you are able to control how much time you waste, avoid procrastination, and make time for studying and homework. Manage Your Time – Purchase a daily planner to write down all classes, assignments, meetings, social events, and plan out your weekly schedule. Skipping classes, missing assignments, procrastination, and cramming just before an exam are signs that organization is a problem for you. If you need help, check with the college to see if there is a time management workshop available on campus. Make a Schedule – Unlike highschool many of your assignments will be given to you on a syllabus at the beginning of the semester and will have due dates far out into the future. In addition, the assignments will be unstructured. In other words, you will be responsible for completing steps A, B, and C, over several weeks in order to complete the final assignment (step D) on the due date. If you do not plan and schedule your time and work tasks, you will be left cramming for tests or spending all-nighters finishing assignments. Write down your schedule in your daily planner, including time for attending classes, working, studying, eating, recreation, excercising, sports, sleeping, hanging out with friends, etc.. Compare your schedule with the goals and aspirations you have outlined for yourself. Make sure that your schedule matches your goals. For example, if one of your goals is to play guitar in a rock band, your schedule should include practicing guitar. If your top priority is graduating with honors, your schedule should include more study time than time for a lesser priority. Study Smarter, Not Harder – Stick to your study schedule and you won’t get behind. Write down each assignment in the same daily planner so when your scheduled study-time hits, you know what assignments require your attention. Focus on those tasks that are most important based on priority, due date, importance in terms of your grade, and in terms of your goals. Ignore tasks that can be done later or when you have time. Find the perfect study niche or create one. Whether it is the quiet corner of the library sitting at a table or desk (with or without headphones) or whether you prefer the beanbag chair and floor of your dorm room. You must find or create a study-place that allows you to concentrate and study effectively. If you need help or want to touch up on your study skills, check with the college to see if there is a study skills workshop on campus. Get Organized – Track important deadlines on your calendar, such as last day to drop a class, first day of registration, and tuition payment due date. Keep important numbers and a campus map tucked inside the front cover of your planner to help you find your way to appointments and events. Keep all important paperwork and forms neatly organized in file folders. Keep these additional tips in mind:
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