20+ Best Tips on Time Management for College Students [Shared by Experts]

I waited until the last second to submit every assignment. I missed (or skipped) classes that I thought “weren’t important.” I spent more time on my term paper’s font size than the actual words.

Now that I think of it, I probably spent more time perfecting my Call of Duty 4 (the original modern warfare mind you) skills than college courses in 2008. Worth it!

Not. However, the answer was simple – I lacked discipline.

It was only until after I left college that I learned the time management skills to help me launch my career.

The only word you need to know is discipline.

Back when I was 22, I read a book called The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandingo. Chapter one laid the foundation and simply started with, “I will form good habits and become their slave.”

That’s all it takes. True success comes from small daily choices and over time, and these small acts become the foundation of your success.

Studying vs. going to a party. Running 3 miles vs. having that beer instead. Going to class in the morning vs. sleeping in and watching Breaking Bad. Only your small daily choice will guide you. It doesn’t seem like much at the time, but these choices snowball and eventually become who you are.

So the next time you’re thinking of either finishing that paper or watching the 13th rerun of America’s Got Talent, think of who you’d rather become, and make the right choice.

Instead of creating a laundry list of things to do, schedule blocks on Google Calendar to complete those tasks. This way, you’re not just deciding what you need to do but already set time aside to get those things done. You’ll automatically get a reference for what you’ll be able to get done in the time you have and not over-commit yourself.”

It’s little stuff that adds up and makes life feel simpler and less frustrating. Rinse out your blender right after using it instead of having a 3-minute scrub session later. Pick out clothes the night before when you’re not delirious and slow. Pitch stray trash and papers from your bag each night (3 seconds) instead of digging through an increasingly jumbled mess followed by a lengthy cleaning session.

Part of what makes us feel strapped for time isn’t just the hours in the day (which this method does help with); it’s also feeling enraged by the tiny paper cuts of irritation and inconvenience that can accumulate throughout the day.

Productive triggers are those things that motivate you to work harder and stick to your plans and schedules. These also include the activities and habits that make you more productive and bring you closer to your goals. One person may be driven to meet deadlines when working under pressure with a terror boss looking over their shoulder. Another may feel more inspired when working with an understanding and helpful boss in a fun and laid-back environment.

You need to figure out what your productive triggers are if you’re not yet aware of them. Then you’ll be able to evaluate your problem areas and master your time.

Decide what are the best times for you to realistically attend every class and lab. If you are not a morning person, then, by all means, do not book 8AM classes. The same goes for those who may have regular evening obligations where you will catch yourself considering skipping a class to attend a meet-and-greet or networking event.

College students have a lot more freedom in choice, meaning they can choose whether or not they attend lectures and classes, especially those that do not include attendance in the grade. This makes it significantly more important to book classes that you know work well in your schedule and that you won’t stop going to.

When I was juggling a full course load, part-time work, and sports, I needed to make personal and professional deadlines. And I used a variety of tactics to try and keep it all under control. But it wasn’t until I scheduled a meeting with my counselor and explained to him my schedule and goals. He helped me learn how to prioritize tasks. As he explained it, I would get burned out trying to fulfill every commitment 100%. If I had an important test coming up, then that took priority over a part-time, Thursday night shift as a barista. Or, if I needed money to fly home, then it was critical to get in as many working hours, which meant I should do less intramural sports.

So, there are a variety of ways to manage your time, but learning what your personal, long-term goals are will help you prioritize tasks over others.

Set an interval timer (free apps available for all phones) for 5 intervals of 10 minutes of work, with a 2-minute break. Take a sticky note and list what you want to accomplish during your timed intervals. This prevents your mind from wandering and keeps you on track. Now get started. Use the first 10 minutes to brainstorm, use the second 10 minutes to flesh out your ideas, use the third interval to go more in-depth, etc.

Use the 2-minute break to get up, move around, and recharge. The short sprints keep your mind active, and the repeated intervals ensure that you accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.

For me and many other college students, it’s so hard to stay on a strict schedule and often can lead to complications, but having your schedule open and simply having a to-do list made it seem easier and also allowed me to change what I was doing as the day progressed.

You take a sheet of paper and create 3 columns, each titled “Today,” “Maybe Today,” and “Tomorrow.” Use small post-it notes to write each task on, then place them in the column that’s most appropriate in order of urgency: tasks you must get done today, tasks you’d like to get done today, and then tasks that can wait until tomorrow.

Start with the Today column and as each task gets finished, throw the corresponding post-it note away. Once the Today column is completed, if you have any tasks on “Maybe Today,” you can get started on that column with any extra energy you might have. This helps to feel productive and organized in especially busy moments in the semester, like midterms or finals weeks.

Yeah, they won’t be able to study for you, but they still can help you around the house, for example, or go shopping for you to save some time and concentrate on studies and coursework. Think of the routine tasks you can share, and just ask.

Also, feel free to delegate writing tasks to experts when possible. Time management means nothing when you are physically, emotionally and psychologically drained. Find the balance, as it’s key to your happiness and success.

The idea is that you can spend a few minutes setting up a system that makes it easier and faster for you to do your regular tasks. Saving five seconds does not seem like much but if you add up all that saved time over an entire semester, it can be quite substantial.

One more thing: gone are the days where “my computer crashed” was a good excuse for not turning in your work. Yes, computers still crash and data is lost, but a free cloud-based storage service such as Dropbox or Google Backup and Sync allow saving your papers as well as time for their restoring.

One way I’ve been able to get better at time management is measuring where it goes. I use a time tracker (there are tons of them available for free out there) to measure where my time goes.

As long as you’re honest with yourself, you can find out what drains your time the most. In my case, I found out that emails take me a whopping two hours daily. You may learn that your time on social media is taking away from your time on studying.

Now, this isn’t always feasible but if you can block a huge chunk of time for each of your assignments and focus on completing them from start to finish with minimal or zero interruptions, you’ll soon realize how much more you’re able to get done vs juggling multiple projects and making barely any progress on each of them. Multitasking is overrated, makes you less productive but even more importantly, multitasking is bad for your health.

As college students, we want to do everything! We want to be in organizations, clubs, and teams but do not burn yourself out! And once you burn yourself out, it is hard to bounce back. Yes, we feel bad when we say no to people we want to help but it is okay to say no sometimes. If it doesn’t fit into your schedule or align with your priorities, do not overwhelm yourself by taking on more.

This means if you give yourself five hours to complete a task that can be done in two hours, you’ll spend five hours on it. Keeping that in mind, I try to allow the right amount of time needed for any given task. This way I get to spend more time on tasks that deserve it.

Every time you have a break between classes or need to study, don’t go home. Instead, go to that secret study spot that’s got your name on it where you get all your work done. You’ll be surprised how often you return to the library once you feel comfortable retreating there whenever the need arises.

A bin full of garbage? Throw it now. The table is dirty? Clean it up. Miss a friend? Message them. Have a question for your teacher? Send that email. We’re always procrastinating no matter what. However, this is a simple solution to being more efficient and feeling better about yourself.

Small step at a time.

We are currently undergoing a technological revolution similar to the industrial revolution. Software is changing the landscape of how businesses work, and students can take advantage of these same software apps to make help them work smarter, be more productive, and reach their potential.

From password managers, project management apps, and more – there are thousands of time management apps students should look to download ASAP.

It starts by choosing 3 tasks that must get done. You don’t stop until they get finished. These 3 require the most thought and will help you manage your time very well.

Next, you select 5 tasks that would be nice to get done but aren’t essential for the day.

Finally, 7 other tasks probably won’t get done but should be on your radar. If you get around to them then you’ve done a good job. Test it, you’ll see the impact it has on your productivity.

Hear me out. You can’t manage time, because everybody has the same quota…you, me, Elon Musk. The only thing that’s in your control is the activities you do in any given block of time.

So here’s what you do: At the start of the day, make a list of all the things you could get done in the day. Get everything down on paper. Then ask yourself: “If I could only finish ONE thing today… what would it be? What would make me feel absolutely AMAZING to get done and crossed off?” Then, turn off your phone, throw shut down your email, lock yourself in the most isolated room you can find… and don’t get up until you’ve finished that one thing. If you do this every day, you’ll always make sure that you’re making progress on the most important things in your life.