School has either started back for you or is about to start back, and you already feel behind on everything?!?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???? New semesters should be fun and exciting – You get to see old friends, make new friends, and take different classes with a fresh start! However… you’re already totally stressed out about what to pack, what to buy, where your classes are, and the semester hasn’t even begun!

Let me help you 🙂 There is one HUGE tool that you can take into this next semester that will absolutely impact your level of stress throughout the semester. Trust me. I’ve been where you are, and I was an overwhelmed bundle of stress and anxiety. I had no time-management skills, and I assumed that extensions were a given. In college, the professors do not have time to wait for all of their precious students to do their work on their own time, so I quickly figured out that I would have to learn some time management skills to make this whole college thing work. It’s a lot easier than you think, I promise!

TIME MANAGEMENT 101: Scheduling

1. GET A CALENDAR. It doesn’t have to be a fancy $45 designer calendar, unless you think that will make you use it 😉 You can find some pretty cute and functional calendars at your local Target, Walmart, and bookstores. (Fellow Canadians, Indigo is my one stop shop!) Cute is a plus, but it’s not the priority with picking out your calendar. You want a lot of empty space for weekdays so that you can write detailed notes and reminders.
2. PRINT YOUR COURSE SYLLABUS. All of them, for every class, before the semester begins, as soon as they are available!!!!! Don’t right click and save. PRINT.
3. READ YOUR COURSE SYLLABUS. Again, all of them, for every class, before the semester begins and as soon as they are available. Some of the stuff is redundant like the grading rubric and scales, but read the fine print. This is the difference between your classes chemistry and your class for history. One professor may like you to email assignments, and the other may like a hard copy turned in at class. These are the details that matter. It’s a great idea to go into your semester aware of the projects and papers you will write, before the night before they are due 🙂
4. SCHEDULE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS IN YOUR CALENDAR. This is a total geek move, but do it. Make a note on the due date that your assignment is due. This is non-negotiable. You may still choose to write the assignment the night before or morning of, that’s your choice, but at least get it in the calendar so that you’re not writing it the week after….
5. REGULARLY CHECK AND UPDATE YOUR CALENDAR. This is so important! You should always have a pretty good idea of what you have going on this month. WHOA! Yes, this month, not just today or this week, but you should know if you have a 25 page research paper due at the end of this month or not. Why? Because then you can plan your method of attack on this bad boy and not just meet the deadline or the assignment requirements but actually do a good job on the paper. When plans change, you have to update your calendar.

(Don’t hate me, but this is just the beginning ya’ll…)

Next week, I’ll have a post for you on how to time manage your assignments. A calendar can’t do that for you…. But it sure can help! Breath and relax. This semester is going to be great, and you if you give it everything you’ve got, then you are going to succeed.

-L