4 Time Management Tips for Students

Ever since I started working at 15-years-old, I have been a full-time student simultaneously. Through high school, college, and now looking towards grad school, balancing numerous responsibilities is not a new concept to me. I am a creature of habit who thrives in routine. Over the last six-ish years, I feel like I’ve gotten the work-life balance thing down to a pretty decent system. And by that I mean I drink a ton of coffee and don’t cry EVERY day … just most days.

In all seriousness, though, sometimes having really great time management comes in seasons. We have peaceful workflow seasons where we light our candles and put our fall ambience YouTube video up and everything is right with the world. We also have cramming sessions. They aren’t nearly as majestic (though admittedly I still play my fall ambience videos and light my pumpkin candles). As I wrap up my EdTPA — if you know, you know—and observations for licensure, on top of being a first year teacher, I am definitely in a “cram season.” It’s a little tough to manage it all right now, and I haven’t been handling it perfectly (ask my sweet husband!) But when I come back to my time management tips that have helped me through the busiest of seasons, I feel more equipped to tackle all I have going on. They make me feel more in control, more human, less zombie-like. So, if you are a student, or just someone trying to juggle a lot, I hope these tips will be beneficial for you.

Tip # 1: Find a Planning Strategy That Works for You

Over the years, I’ve tried various planning methods, from paper planners bought at Hobby Lobby to printable calendars found on Google Images, and even sticky notes everywhere. For the last couple years, I have been using Google Calendar to organize my events and important dates. This has been a lifesaver for me, and I doubt I’ll ever do anything different.

My Google Calendar is color-coded by spheres of my life.

This is a screenshot of my calendar from June of last year when I was really busy finishing up my coursework before beginning student teaching. My coursework was self-paced and I was trying to finish it all as soon as possible, so this allowed me to have a visual of how to block time out for each class. I have school events in red, personal events in yellow, church in blue, etc. My month view still looks much like this (but not quite as many school events, thank goodness!) and it has been immensely beneficial for my visual brain. To set up the different calendars, open up calendar.google.com on any desktop/laptop, click the Settings button in the top right hand corner, and on the left side bar, click “Add Calendar.” Color-code as desired! I have the Google Calendar app on my iPad and iPhone to keep track of everything wherever I am.

My other lifesaving digital planning tool is Notion. I feel like I learn something new about Notion every day. It can be a bit overwhelming as it has AI and coding features incorporated to the program along with all your basic tools, and it may not work for everyone. I enjoy it because it allows me to see all my different lists for the different areas of my life.

I have downloaded numerous templates for Notion, and the one I primarily use came from @theredheadacademic on Instagram. This is what my Home Base looks like.

I use Notion to keep track of all areas of my life, with specific pages for my daily to-do lists, my teacher planner, my research and coursework, travel plans and ideas, meal lists, and more. Each page is designated to a specific purpose.

This is my daily to-do list.

This is my teaching dashboard.

This is my writing dashboard.

Notion allows for different formats depending on the task at hand. I use tables, lists, databases, and graphs, depending on what I’m working on.

I have learned how to use Notion by watching YouTube videos (isn’t that how we all learn anything these days?). If you decide you want to try Notion out and have specific questions, don’t hesitate to comment below or send me an email at sarah@sebrenton.com.

Tip #2: Set Focus Session Timers + a Reward

I tend to get into a “just get it done” mindset when I’m working. I’ll sit down to work on something and refuse to eat, drink water, or even acknowledge the presence of another human until I complete the task at hand. While this level of focus can sometimes be beneficial, I’ve learned that I do my best work when I strategically manage how long I’m working and take consistent breaks. Plus, having something to look forward to always motivates me to work harder.

When I was in the trenches of finishing all my coursework last summer, I used an app called Forest. It basically game-ified setting timers to complete work. At the beginning of your focus session, you choose a little plant or tree to grow in your forest. You set a timer for however long you want to work. When you start your session, you cannot open any applications on your phone except the Forest app. If you open another app, your little plant perishes and it doesn’t get added to your forest. As silly as it might sound, I was addicted to growing my flourishing forest. It was an extrinsic reward in and of itself! Even if you choose not to use the Forest app, setting timers for focused work sessions can be really beneficial. It takes the overwhelm of working for an endless amount of time away, making it easier to persist. Designate a reward for yourself. Maybe it’s scrolling Instagram, getting a snack, or watching tv. Whatever it is, make sure it’s something you really want to be doing, and don’t let yourself do it before you’ve finished working!

Tip #3: Differentiate Your Tasks

I love organizing my daily to-do lists in the order in which I plan to accomplish the tasks. When I do this, I always try to stagger tasks of different kinds of work. What I mean by this is if I have to clean my bathroom, do the dishes, and read a chapter of a textbook, I will clean my bathroom first, then read, then do the dishes. This prevents me from feeling too overwhelmed with cleaning to work on school, and vice versa. I also enjoy doing more “physical” tasks like cleaning or running an errand between sedentary tasks like writing or reading . This prevents sitting for too long, or it gives me a sitting break from cleaning!

Tip #4: Stay Well-Rounded

I preach to myself with everything I write, but this tip is probably the one I need the most from this post. I hyper-fixate on things most of the time. When I’m studying, I’m all in, poring over textbooks and taking notes day in and day out. Sometimes I trick myself into thinking that I am well-rounded because I work, attend university, and have my own projects going. But my job, school, and research all revolve around the same kinds of things — reading, writing, studying, grades, and so on. My “varied interests” are much more cubed than spherical. I’m not very well-rounded most of the time. But I feel like the greatest teacher, student, writer, and overall individual when I do things outside of books. Though I do enjoy these things greatly, I also enjoy playing music, going to concerts, shows, and events, and even the occasional hike or bike ride. I enjoy impressionist art and going to art galleries, watching old movies, and finding the best deals at thrift stores. Having hobbies and interests outside of our studies and our jobs can refresh us, making us better students, teachers, and whatever else we are. Steven Johnson wrote,

“Legendary innovators like Franklin, Snow, and Darwin all possess common intellectual qualities — a certain quickness of mind, unbounded curiosity — but they also share one other defining attribute. They have a lot of hobbies.” (Johnson, 2010)

Whoever you are and whatever you do, if you’ve made it this far in the post, you clearly have meaningful things to balance in your life. Maybe it’s family, school, work, or other obligations. Regardless of how you’ve managed your time in the past, you have been given this moment as an opportunity to manage it even better. You have the chance to make the most of the rest of today, and if we are so blessed, tomorrow and the rest of the week. Your work matters, but more importantly, you matter to everyone you share your life with. Use your time wisely. The Lord’s apostle James wrote that our life is but a vapor — as quickly as it arrives, it vanishes away.

Work hard. Stay focused. Enjoy the time we have.

All the best,

𝓢𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓱 𝓔. 𝓑𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓸𝓷

References

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

Johnson, S. (2010). Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. Riverhead Books.