Better Time Management in 3 Simple Steps

Putting off another assignment? These techniques can help students battle the bad habit of procrastination to make the most of your precious time.

Time management is a skill that comes easily to some but is a foreign concept to others. I’m sure we all have that one friend (or maybe you are that friend!) who always waits until the last minute to do everything. You all know what I’m talking about. The temptress of time management skills: procrastination.

Now, maybe you’re reading this and internally pointing a few fingers at yourself, and that’s entirely okay. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? But seriously—everyone battles with that slick monster that somehow always manages to sneak in and get us off focus and, in the end, leaves us rushing to meet our deadlines. In our world, everything revolves around the one thing we never seem to have enough of: time. And more often than not, we are too quick to push off work that we’d rather not be doing, and it snowballs into one giant accumulation that we just can’t outrun.

So how can we deal with this lack of productivity? Is it really possible to learn how to make the most of our time, to stay on top and on track of all of the deadlines we face on a daily basis?

The answer is yes. It may not be easy, but with a little dedication, anyone can become a master in the field of time management. As someone who can’t stand to be weighed down by accumulated deadlines, but is also familiar to the vices of procrastination, I have a few techniques you can use to help you battle this bad habit and make the most of your time.

1. Schedule, schedule, schedule!!!

Keeping track of your schedule is the first and most important technique when it comes to managing your time better. Do yourself a favor and invest in a planner; you won’t regret it. While using a planner may seem a little bit cheesy, it’s a great way to remember and keep track of everything you have going on. Don’t just plan out basic things, like what days you have a hair appointment or when your next visit to the dentist is. Get into the practice of using it for your classes as well. In my personal planner, I keep track of after-school activities and any sports events or concerts I have to attend. I also pencil in my work schedule, and then I write down all of my class assignments. And I color code everything.

While this may sound a little intense at first, making a list and getting things out of your head and on paper really helps you feel more in control of your situation and helps alleviate stress levels. Once it’s all written out in your planner, you can see what conflicts you have and what moments you have free, then you can rework to make everything as convenient as possible and stay on top of those deadlines.

2. Prioritize

The next technique that is really going to help get you started on your path to better time management is learning to prioritize. Now that you have everything laid out in your planner so it’s easy and convenient to view, figure out which things are most important and complete those tasks first. For example, it wouldn’t make sense to start working on a presentation that isn’t due until the end of the month when you have a test you need to study for that’s coming up the following week. Study for the test first, because the deadline is more prominent, and then you can make that next move to get a head start on your project. The ability to prioritize will take you a long way in life. Figure out the things that are the most important to you, and make time for them, but be careful not to neglect other responsibilities.

3. Get motivated

This may be the hardest step in becoming a better time manager. In order to get things done, you have to actually have the motivation to do them. This takes discipline and some serious work ethic, and even then, sometimes it’s still not enough. When I find myself with a complete and utter lack of motivation, I like to make a sort of reward system for myself and find ways to make getting work done a little more interesting.

Reading is something I particularly enjoy doing in my free time. So a lot of the time, when I really need some motivation, I make a deal with myself: do the work, then you get to read. Or, do this project, and you can buy yourself a new book. This really helps get me motivated. Sometimes it can be even simpler, like watching Netflix while simultaneously doing my math homework, or studying in segments with breaks in between. I’ve even seen people use candy to reward themselves as a treat after they hit a certain checkpoint in their work and/or studies.

While these three things won’t make you a master at time management right off the bat, they will definitely help you get started and stay on the right track. I have been putting these three methods into practice throughout all my years of education, and even though I still occasionally fall into a procrastination slump, I have always been able to manage my time well and stay on top of all of my deadlines, both in school and beyond.

Putting these skills into practice will not just help you succeed in the educational world but in all aspects of life. With the school year coming to a close, and, for many of us, college right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to pull yourself into action and try out these time management techniques for yourself.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About Katie E. Warner

Hey everyone! If you're reading this, then I guess you want to know a bit about me, so here goes! My name is Katie, and I'm an aspiring novelist/editor, a bit of an English nerd, and a lot of a bibliophile. I like drinking tea, especially when it's raining, but not the sweetened kind. When I chance upon a wild flock of free time, I enjoy reading, writing, singing, and theater. Someday I would love to travel all over the world and experience countless adventures, meet new people, and try all the food I could possibly eat!

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Hillsdale College

Hillsdale, MI


Ana Sophia Garcia-Cubas Assemat

Ana Sophia Garcia-Cubas Assemat

$10,000 Scholarship Winner, 2020

CollegeXpress has been an instrumental resource for my scholarship search and has given me the opportunity to try my best so I can graduate from college debt-free.

Kamal

Kamal

Student, University of the People

I registered with CollegeXpress and filled all my necessary and relevant information as well as the course I wished to study. A few days later, an email was sent to me with a list of schools offering the course; amongst them was the University of the People, the school I got admitted to.

Nazira Abdelkhalek

Nazira Abdelkhalek

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2014

I am very honored to be this year’s recipient of the Multicultural Student Community Service Scholarship! This scholarship is vital to helping me achieve and fulfill my dreams, and gives me confidence and motivation as I begin my college career. The CollegeXpress website has been invaluable over the past year as I planned my educational and professional goals. I highly recommend it to all students as they begin to focus on their college and career interests. The website is a wonderful guide to schools and scholarships.

Abhishek Kumar

Abhishek Kumar

High School Class of 2022

As a high schooler, I know how hard it is to plan for college. You have to consider a lot of factors: SAT/ACT scores, college searches, scholarships, and more. CollegeXpress has been a helpful resource that solves all these problems. One can easily create a free account and search away. They help you search for scholarships and colleges, they have graduate program search, they have lists and rankings, and so much more. CX also has a lot of articles and advice to read—whether it’s financial aid, test prep, campus visits, internships/careers, or anything. Not only that, CX gives out free scholarship money to students who sign up and create a free CX account. I love CX and will continue to use it! Thank you CollegeXpress for making my college journey easier!

Jeff Parsons

Jeff Parsons

Counselor

Thank you so much for this valuable information about these opportunities. I truly appreciate the CollegeXpress communications and use them to keep my high school seniors informed about their opportunities!