The undergraduate years comes with a lot of freedom and lots of opportunities to explore one’s career growth. It provides an unstructured time outside of classes for students to partake in social clubs and sports activities, orientations, events etc. Of all of these activities, one of the most important is that of balance. Balancing responsibilities at school is not easy, as you will need time to check items off your to-do lists, spend time with family and friends and unwind.
At Skyline University Nigeria (SUN), despite hosting countless clubs and societies for the students’ community to have a range of skills, personal qualities and experience, which will help them to have fun and make themselves more employable, we encourage good time management to enable students to organize and plan how to divide their time between specific activities. This will help our students to study smarter – not harder – so that they get more done in less time, even when time is tight and pressures are high. Here are some time management tips and strategies to help you balance on-campus activities with studies, meet deadlines, prepare for exams and have time for yourself.
Strike a balance
In the course of your undergraduate journey, you will need to strike the balance between several competing responsibilities, including studies, assignments, class preparation, exercise, sports, extra-curricular activities, school organizational activities and socializing. Keep these consciously in view and avoid spending too much time on one unimportant issue at the expense of other pressing matters that urgently need your attention. Recognize that there is a need for a balanced approach to your life. With proper time management, you will be able to allocate the time required for each engagement in your life.
Set Manageable Goals
You can write down the goals you want to achieve in a day, a week, a month or a semester. If they are neither achievable nor manageable, break them down or subdivide them into smaller tasks that can be undertaken more easily in a day, a week, a month or a semester. Ensure that you place a deadline on each goal you have chosen and then consciously work toward achieving the goal within that time frame.
Study Properly
There is a right way to study and get satisfactory results. To study properly, you will need to be an active participant in the process of your studies. This can be achieved by reproducing from your memory as much as you can from what you have read in your notes and writing down the information in the form of summarized points without referring to the original text. Repeat this process over and over until you can easily recreate the main points you are trying to memorize. Once the main points are stored in your memory, your class notes can be used only to check the accuracy of what you noted.
Rest Sufficiently
Lots of students feel constantly stressed throughout the day, with the classes they need to attend, the studies they need to complete, the tests and assignments they need to hand in. They are still carrying this mental state when they turn in for the night. Hence, while they sleep, their mind is at school, trying to complete an unfinished task. Take time to relax and let go of studies in the evening so that your mind and body can fully replenish and rebuild sufficiently while you sleep.