How to manage time for study while working is one of the frequent question asked by the candidates who are doing job and study. But Time management and proper organization of tasks can help working students to find the right balance between their work and university lives. Arranging your priorities can help you reduce stress and it means the difference between success and failure in university life. Here are some effective time management tips that you should follow to manage time for study while working.
Identifying tasks:
Knowing everything you have to do is the first step to be able to manage your time better for study while working. Most students often forget many important tasks on a daily basis. Therefore, you should take note of everything you are instructed to do in a journal while you are attending classes. Make sure you document everything from deadlines of project submissions to anything you are asked for a particular subject, before the next lecture starts. You should arrange the tasks depending on how early their deadlines are and their priority, depending on how soon you need to finish them. Make sure that you tick off everything that is completed to reduce confusion.
If you are doing a part time degree while working then you should include the work related tasks as well so that you do not end up mismanaging both the worlds. Similarly you should also include tasks that you need to take care of at home as well. Planning out all three spheres of your university life (work, home and studies) is essential and knowing what exactly you are supposed to do at any given point of time can help a lot.
Set up a planner:
As a university student, you should always have a planner set up – be it on a smartphone or a physical one on your wall. Planners are organizing tools with which you can create separate lists and colour code them depending on their priority. Planner apps are very convenient and you can access them on the go. From class timings to homework/assignments that you are allotted, you can take care of each task quite easily. An advantage of using a phone planner is that you can set up reminders and alarms so that your phone reminds you whenever you are supposed to work on a specific task. Most modern planners also have the ability to sort out tasks depending on their priority so make sure you use the feature to the fullest and assign priority levels to tasks when you are evaluating them.
Schedule your personal time:
Just because work and university keep you occupied, does not mean that you should not be taking out the time to socialize and to have fun. You will not be able to focus on either work or your education if you are not sleeping properly and you should try to have at least 7 hours of sleep every single day. Try to keep at least 1 hour to yourself for meeting up with people or taking part in recreational activities to shift your mind away from your hectic schedule. Overexerting yourself will only lead to difficulties in time management.
Factor in flexibility:
University study times span about 35 hours a week and this includes only the time you spend during your seminars and lectures. Beside this, you should be able to take out approximately 3 hours a day, when at home or at the university library, for 7 days a week. The rest of the time that you have in hand goes into work, sleep and personal activities. Do allow yourself to be flexible with the remaining time you have and if you feel you need to put more time into work or studies once in a while, make sure you do so. Tasks might take up more time than you expect so make sure you create room for last minute changes to be able to handle your daily routine better.
Plan ahead:
Plan your tasks and activities well in advance and do not end up doing things at the last moment. Also, many tasks and assignments might have common research involved so go through your planner as often as possible to make sure you do not end up doing the same thing twice for two different assignments.
Keep distractions at bay:
Try to identify everything that tends to distract you and try to findout solutions to them. Try to see what study conditions work best for you. Some people works better when studying with friends while others feel that it limits their productivity. Turn off your smartphone internet access when studying if you do not need it for research purposes to avoid constant notifications and put off casual conversations on the phone for later to make sure you spend the most of the time you plan, on studying.
Physical and mental fitness:
Make sure you take out at least 30 minutes to exercise each day. You do not need to hit the gym to exercise. It can be anything from a football game to an evening jog. This way, you will be able to keep your mind fresh among study sessions, work and university. If your university offers such facilities, make sure you get the best out of them to keep yourself healthy and focused towards your studies. A proper diet is also essential.So you should also plan out your diet and have food stocked up properly so you do not need to compromise on your eating habits. Eating on time is also highly important and you need to make sure that you do not compromise on your meal times and have food at the same time each day.
Evaluate your planning:
Take your time once in a while and see if your daily plans are working out properly. If you feel something can be done to make your schedule better then try to modify your plan.Make any changes if necessary to ensure that you are able to strike the right balance between your work, studies and your personal life.
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Managing time can be very difficult for students because of the amount of pressure that they need to handle but planning it out properly can help them be effective in their approach.
This is a Guest Post that is Written and Submitted by Glenn….
