25 Time Management Ideas for the New UPIKE Student

I am a new college freshman this year and I also have a part time job.  How am I supposed to juggle all that and have any “me time” leftover?  In this essay, I am going to share tips and tricks that I have done to help manage my time, thru not wasting time, keeping up with time, and making sure you don’t get behind on time.  According to Cecil Williams, “It is important for students to be able to use their time wisely so they can juggle all their responsibilities and still do well in college” (Williams).

The first thing I can suggest for making time for everything in your life is to not waste time.  In my case, and I would be safe to assume yours as well, the number one culprit for wasting time is my phone.  Whether it is shopping, favorite episode binging, or chatting it up on social media, my phone seems like it is always glued in my hands.  The average person spent 2 hours and 24 minutes a day on social media alone in 2020 (G.).  In other words, put down your phone!  For myself, I limit the screen time on my phone to 60 minutes a day.  That may seem like a lot to some, but it goes by very quickly when interacting with friends and family or doing research.  Find a time limit that works for you and stick to it!

With multiple classes and my job, it is easy to get overwhelmed with what to do and when to do it.  It is also very easy to overlook or forget about things coming up.  So, in order to keep up with my time, I use a planner.  I know there are planner apps for available for your phone, and if those work for you, fine, but what works for me is an actual day planner book that you can physically write in.  At the beginning of the semester, I go through all my syllabuses and write down important dates and deadlines.  I check weekly for any changes or assignment additions and also enter my job times.  The actual process of writing it all down helps me commit it to my memory.  It also helps me visualize the calendar in my mind when it’s not right in front of me.  If I don’t remember what deadline is coming up, at least I know something is due and reference what it is at a later time.  This just helps me insure I don’t miss anything.  You may want to add more details such as time allotted for studying or scheduled “me times,” however, be careful not to get so detailed that you overwhelm yourself and allow things to be overlooked.

The last thing I can suggest is to not get overwhelmed and get behind on studying.  For every one hour of class, at least two hours of additional study time is recommended, (College Success v. 1.0).  It is very easy to get behind on studying.  With my job, I work a couple evenings a week and some on the weekend.  It is imperative that the same time I would normally be at work, but am not, I use that time for studying or working on assignments.  One of my classes is anatomy where there is a lot of information given out each class.  Before the next anatomy class, I work diligently to learn the information given out last class as if I was having a quiz on the material given out last class.  I made the mistake of letting it go at the beginning of the semester, and when test time come along, I had way too much information to study, and it was very frustrating and overwhelming to try to cram all the material in last minute.  I vowed, never again would I let that happen.  Bottom line is to study every day, so you don’t get behind.

Some tips I use to help me manage my time better is to not be wasting time by limiting cell phone screen time, keeping up with time by using a planner, and by making sure you don’t get behind on time by studying or work on assignments every day.   I truly hope my suggestions help you become a successful student and Upike Bear!

Works Cited

“College Success v. 1.0.” Organizing Your Time, Saylor Academy, 2012, saylordotorg.github.io/text_college-success/s05-03-organizing-your-time.html.

G., Deyan. “How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media in 2020?” TechJury, 18 June 2020, techjury.net/blog/time-spent-on-social-media/.

Williams, Cecil, Upike ACE Project Coordinator, Personal interview, 13 September 2020