Time Management

One of the hardest things to learn as a college student is how to manage your time so that you can fit all that you need to do into the 24 hours you have in a day. Many students sacrifice their sleep in order to get everything done. With a little advanced planning, and self discipline, you can get everything done, and still get 8 hours of sleep a night. Here is how...

• Stop by the Academic Support Center and pick up a Weekly Planning Sheet  or download or print one out; it's a fillable form!
• Fill out the sheet with all of your "non-negotiable" activities for the week. This means your classes, work, and club meetings that you want to attend.
• Look at the time that is left, and plan this time to get your studying done.
• Count up the number of hours you are in class each week. Estimate two hours of study for every hour in class. For example, the average Gustavus student is in class 16 hours a week. That means they should study approximately 32 hours a week.
• Choose which hours you are going to use for study, and write them on your schedule. Do not forget to use the hours between classes during the day, and available weekend hours.
• Plan time each week to exercise, and time for other recreation.
• Remember to be reasonable with yourself, plan enough time to sleep, keep your room clean, run errands, hang out with friends, go to movies, etc. Once your study hours are set, the rest of your time is yours to do as you please.
• Keep your schedule as a guideline. Balance sticking to your plan with allowing for flexibility. Think of your study time as a bank account that you want to keep a stable balance in. If you barrow from study time for recreation, be sure to pay yourself back by adding study time later in the week.
• Try creating a new schedule each week, taking into consideration special events for that week.