As a music education major, I have to balance a heavy course load with practicing, my social life, extracurriculars, working out, getting enough sleep and more. Through trial and error, I have developed a few time management strategies utilizing my calendar that have really helped me to navigate this balancing act. I hope these tips will help you manage your time throughout college as well!
Tip #1: Schedule everything
From classes to free time, I put everything into my calendar, so I have structure in my day. In areas of time where I do not have any activities scheduled, I make sure to plan out what I will do for that period. If I leave unscheduled time without a plan, I do not accomplish much. Scheduling things like eating, homework, working out, or simply time to decompress can be really helpful with staying organized and on top of assignments.
Here’s an example of a day in my schedule. I use Apple’s Calendar app but most online calendars use the same functions.
Tip #2: Create a system
For me, if I leave everything the same color on my schedule, it becomes overwhelming. What works nicely instead is having a color-coding system, which helps with visualizing my schedule as well as quickly recognizing what type of activity is next. Some calendars have the option to simply change the color of each item while others, like Apple, require users to make separate calendars for each color.
Because I use Apple, I made a separate calendar for each color, which worked out nicely because I was able to create categories for my system. These categories help me with color-coding by giving a specific name for each category of event.
These are my categories:
Tip #3: Give yourself notes
One final way to utilize a calendar is to put notes on each event. This helps me with keeping track of what I want to practice, where my classes are located, what I want to study, etc. I find that these notes help me with making deadlines on schoolwork, effectively using my free time, and even with what I want to do at the gym that day.
Here’s an example of a period of time I allotted for studying, where I put upcoming assignments in my notes to know what to work on:
I hope these tips are helpful for organizing your schedule!
Check out more time management resources for college students. And, if you have productivity tips to share, let us know in the comments!
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