Time Management

When I first entered college, let’s be honest, I thought a lot of myself.  I thought I was a good student, I thought that I knew how to manage my time, and I thought I knew how to eat right and live a healthy lifestyle. It didn’t take long for all of this to get proven wrong.

During the first few weeks, chemistry started to not go so well, I wasn’t finding time for the gym, and I didn’t seem to have time to sleep.  I quickly realized that my time management skills needed some improving, and a lot of my other problems would fix themselves.  At the time that everything was falling apart, there happened to be a WEPWednesday.  I attended and learned some extremely helpful tips that I still use to this day.

The first thing, which I find so critical, is to plan out your time.  Each week, I print out an eLion calendar and update it with all of the meetings I have and all of the office hours I have.  After that, I start putting in time to do homework for certain classes with friends, and adding my gym time. Something that I found critical, was to write in time for social events, like dinner with friends.  I thought I had a good work ethic before college, but college taught me how unfocused I am when I do work.  This was something that I needed to improve on.

The next most important thing I learned was to make lists, for everything.  I now make lists for packing my suitcases and even getting ready in the morning if I have to.  On super busy days, I’ll even right down which folders and notebooks I need in order to be prepared.

I know most people say that writing lists and making your calendar is a waste of time, but I have found that the 20 minutes a week I put into organizing my time saves me hours in the long run.  It is important to write down everything, in multiple places, and to have a game plan.  We are humans and can’t remember we need to do everything and when to do it!

Nichole Stoner is a senior majoring in Industrial Engineering, and is a Mentor for WEPO 2015!