Have a vision. Be clear about the following three things: Who are you? Where are you? Where are you going?

Who are you?

What is your main motivation in pursuing university studies? Take a moment and consider this honestly. Are you just doing it because everyone else does and “you have to”? Are you studying because your parents expect you to? Are you clear as to which industry or field you want to work in and are you certain that a university degree is the best path to get you there?

This is your starting point. Be honest with yourself about whether you’re in school because you want to be, or because other people want you to be. Know why you are where you are. And don’t judge it.

Life is a path, and if at age 18 you don’t know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life, let me assure you: you’re not alone. And that’s okay. If you change your mind years down the line, you can always make changes and adjust. People make major career changes every day.

Where are you?

So the reality is this: you’ve made the decision (for whatever reason) to study a university degree. Think about what you’re interested in now. Is your degree in line with your long-term personal goals? Does it have to do with the things you value most in life?

Where are you going?

If you haven’t yet mapped out your goals, take the time to do so. You don’t need to think thirty years into the future. Write down whatever occurs to you, however big or small. Put them in chronological order, if you can, so you can see a path ahead of you. Can you see how your university degree fits into that plan? Your studies now are just one step on that path.

What does all this have to do with time management? If you don’t know who you are, where you are, and where you’re going, then you have no perspective. You won’t know how to prioritise, and how to get things done and when. You likely won’t take as much responsibility for your studies, since you’re not quite clear how they’ll be of use to you, except on an abstract level.

I’m going to repeat a few things here from my previous posts on time management, because sometimes we have to read the same things over again, in different words, before they sink in. Bear with me.

1. Prioritise and schedule the big things

• Take some time at the beginning of each semester or quarter and map out your schedule. Use Google Calendar or Outlook or whatever you prefer. Assign different colours for classes, work, exams, and assignments so you can clearly see what is happening each day. That way, high priority items such as due dates or exams will stand out.
• Enter all of your classes into each time slot for each day for the entire semester or quarter.
• If you also work or play a sport, add those time slots to your calendar or diary.
• Add exam dates and due dates for each presentation, project, or paper.

2. Add the daily things to your calendar

• Don’t forget to schedule meal times. Be sure to eat three main meals a day, and if you can, add snacks to keep you fuelled throughout the day. Food gives you energy, keeps you alert, and helps you be more productive.
• Schedule sleep time. Seriously. Your sleep is important. It’s better to get enough sleep and not overload on the caffeine later. Caffeine can affect your concentration levels, which is exactly what you don’t want.
• Add exercise times to your schedule. Regular exercise will help keep you healthy and your energy levels up. It will also give you extra energy to get through the day and stay concentrated during study time.
• Once you’re clear as to your workload for each class, add study, research, and reading time for each class. Keep in mind to schedule study time for the hours when you’re naturally feeling most alert.
• Check out what free time you have and schedule in social time. It’s very tempting to mix social and study time together, and this will seriously cut into your production level, so I’ts a good idea to keep them separate.

3. Plan ahead

• Determine how long your tasks will take: things like exams that you’ll need to study for, and projects, papers, and presentations that you’ll have to prepare. Add alarms to your calendar system to remind yourself to get started on those dates.
• Break down large tasks into smaller ones. If you need to do major research for a project, be sure to plan for that in your schedule: both the research and the actual writing parts.

4. Organise your environment

• Have an appropriate study environment. Choose a study location that has a low distraction level. There are times for social life, and there are times for study, and it’s best to keep them separate. Maximise your allotted study hours so you be as productive as possible and can enjoy guilt-free social time later.
• Make sure your study area is organised. Keep papers in a file system so you don’t waste time looking for them. Have a separate folder for each course that you’re studying.

5. Avoid Burnout

• Don’t forget to take mini breaks during the time you’ve allotted for study time. It’s very important to get up and move around to keep concentration levels at their highest.
• Be sure to keep hydrated with a glass of water an hour. You can refill your glass during your mini break.

6. Study Effectively

• Remember when I discussed the importance of keeping a one-week activity log, to see what times of day you’re feeling most energetic? Try to plan your study hours during these highly productive times. Studying when you know you’re already tired will be unproductive. Try to make it to the gym during the tired times.
• Read for comprehension, rather than just to complete the assignment. If you find yourself re-reading the same sentence five times, that means you’re burnt out. Get up, get yourself a glass of water, and take a mini break.
• Don’t procrastinate: remember how you planned ahead as to how far different projects would take? Get started when you planned to, and don’t wait until the last minute to complete them. That goes for exams as well.

As I was writing this, it took me back to my school days and I realised how different the whole process of getting things done was. University life offers many more distractions than working life. I currently have my office at home, and I don’t have friends and neighbours popping in to see me every half hour or so. My distractions are minimal (in part because I’ve taken great steps to focus on my priorities and reduce them), and in part because working life has far fewer distractions than student life.

As a student, social life is so intertwined with studying and it may be challenging to separate the two. By no means do I recommend cutting social time out of your life. Social time is important. What I do recommend is finding ways to separate the two to make your studying time more effective, and scheduling time for both.

Do any of these tips sound like they might be helpful to you, as a student? Can you think of any additional ways to increase productivity as a student? What has worked for you in minimising distractions as a student?

If you’re not a student, think about how you can apply these same techniques to your life. You may not have classes to take, but you do have a number of other activities in your life that can be mapped out.

Have you been applying a variety of time management techniques and somehow they don’t seem to be working? You may want to consider life coaching to help you reach your goals faster.