This is how you can master time management.

I need you to picture this.

It’s 3:58 PM and you tell yourself it’s time to study for a few hours before dinner. You plop into your chair but figure it’s best to check your messages before you get started. There are a few pointless messages from a friend that you feel obligated to respond to. You peek at the clock, and now it’s 4:02 PM. Darn—you just missed the 4:00 mark. You might as well hold off on schoolwork until 4:30 to get started, so you end up scrolling through TikTok videos for another half hour.

The next couple hours are loaded with distractions, and you try your best to chip away at your assignment in between. The family dog needs to be walked, your sister comes into your room blasting your favourite music, and Grandpa gives you a phone call that you just can’t find a way out of. Then, dinner takes longer than expected. Since you feel a bit sluggish after dinner and washing dishes, you spend an hour and a half watching TV.

It’s after 10:00 PM by the time you are ready to work again, but your working time is interspersed with finding the right music, answering Instagram messages, checking emails, finding the right music again, going down a miniature YouTube rabbit hole, and getting water.

You end up doing your assignment until 1:07 AM, then spending another 45 minutes on some much deserved “me-time” of scrolling through social media (hello, revenge bedtime procrastination). By the time you settle into bed, it’s well after two in the morning, and since you’ve got sports practice tomorrow morning, you’ll have get five hours of sleep.

Since your brain isn’t refreshed the next day with the lack of sleep, the cycle repeats!

If you’ve followed me on social media for any amount of time, or if you’ve read any of my blog posts, you will know that I am a bit of a time management fiend! When it comes to managing your time and staying organized, I recommend a three-step process.

Step 1: Keep track of test dates and assignment due dates on a calendar.

• Go through course outline, one course at a time.

• Write down ALL tests and assignments for the entire semester.

• Use a different colour for each course.

• Write down what each test or assignment is worth (e.g., 20%). 

Step 2: Keep track of your homework and readings.

• Go through each course outline, one course at a time, and write down the readings and homework that is assigned each week for each class.

Step 3: Create a weekly study schedule.

• Schedule in all your classes.

• Put in any other fixed commitments, exercise 3x/wk, 1-2 nights off.

• Schedule time to read and prepare before each class (separate into 2 separate blocks if longer than 2 hours).

• Schedule time to review your notes within 24 hours after each class (1 hr/class).

• Schedule time to do a weekly review/study of all classes almost every night, and 4-8 hours of unspecified catch-up time.

 Students should also spend adequate time reading and preparing for class. I advise students to complete all assigned textbook readings and try to teach yourself some of the info you will be learning in class and making flash cards/study notes at the same time (SQ4R Strategy—more on this in a future blog post!). Students should also dedicate time to going over what they learned in class and filling in knowledge gaps. It can also be very helpful to recall information without looking, answer learning outcomes from the course outline, and quiz yourself with practice questions.

Managing your time well as a student is key for success. It allows you to stay on top of regular tasks, be on time for meetings, work efficiently and effectively, focus their energy on urgent and important tasks, and ultimately be a better student. I totally understand that our schedules vary week to week, and even day to day. It can be so tough to learn to balance all the components of your life, from school to a part-time job to sports to volunteering. However, these skills are critical to develop, so you can learn to control your academic (and non-academic!) life. 

Finally, strong time management skills go beyond the classroom—you’ll continue to use them in the workplace and make a great impression on colleagues and supervisors.

Control your time, instead of letting it control you!