Time management is a foundational skill that all people need to find a system. This is never more relevant than when students make the transition from high school to college. I often find that once students are able to become consistent with a system that manages their time, deadlines, priorities, and workflows, that success soon follows. There’s no one way to make this happen, but we have a tiered system that works well for students.
TIER 1: Big Picture/Zoomed Out
This tier, which we encourage students to do in Google Calendar, starts with their schedule. Students need to map out their weekly schedule along with any other obligations they have throughout the week: extracurriculars, jobs, activities, chapter meetings, social events, etc. It is first and foremost a visual (and a reminder) of where they need to be and when. Once this is entered, students need to go through each syllabus (preferably on the 1st day of the semester) and map out all the “big things”: exam dates, paper + project due dates, presentations, etc. This way, students can track all the big dates as the semester progresses and make sure they’re tracking, preparing for these, and always looking ahead.
TIER 2: The Master List
This is simply a list of to-dos. It should include everything the student needs to work on for the next 10-14 days, including due dates. This is going to be updated on a daily basis so students are constantly tracking their work, assignments, and deadlines. This list needs to become an everyday event in students’ lives. It should be specific. This isn’t just a list of assignments. It needs to include readings, study strategies, discussion posts, group or professor communication, and any other task that needs to happen. We often encourage students to do this step in Google Keep, however, there are plenty of other options that will work as well.
TIER 3: The Daily List
Finally, students need to write down everything they need to do on a given day. Most students like to do this on a post-it, the notes app on their phone, a whiteboard, a planner, or something similar. Essentially, the thought process each day (or even better if it’s the night before) should be, “What do I need to get done today?” This should be a fairly simple question to answer if students are looking at their calendar and master list. This will help them prioritize and attack their list.
Overall, these are the main components that students must incorporate when putting together their time management system. They then need to work to find daily consistency with these steps until it becomes second nature.