Time Flies By - Make it Count

iCal will save your life: put everything you need to do in there and check it daily so you don't forget!

I’m currently writing this blog at 6:11 a.m. The reason I’m telling you is to let you know that even the early-birds reading this will NEVER be awake this early by choice once you arrive at college. The reason I’m even awake right now is because I zonked out at 8:00 p.m. last night and woke up too early!

As you transition to college a lot of things change: your sleep schedule, your eating habits, and generally all of your daily routine. For the most part high school has had a comfort zone of consistency and regularity. Get up by 6:45, get out of bed by 7:10, shower and breakfast by 7:45, school starts at 8:25, leave school at 2:50, snack at home, dinner at 6:15, bed by 11:00. Because you design your own schedule at Mizzou there is a lot more flexibility. Having the choice in when you want classes is great because you don’t have to take early classes if you like to sleep in or you can chose to just have a full day on Monday Wednesday and Friday, with free days on Tuesday and Thursday.

There is a lot more to time management in college than setting aside an hour for homework every day like you might do now. Here are a few tactics that I’ve found helpful this year:

• Get your sleep!!! My friends make fun of me for being an “old lady”, but I have to be in bed by 10:00 or 11:00 to be functional the next day. While sleeping might not seem beneficial to time management if you don’t get a good nights sleep you won’t use your time awake effectively.

• Mark when exams are on your calendar! This is HUGE. While I personally have never had too many tests to handle at the same time, just last week my roommate had four exams and a paper due over the course of 3 days. She was able to talk to her English teacher and get an extension on her paper, but that shows how you need to be on top of your classes’ syllabi.

• On that note, figure out your final exam schedule too. Those dates are published way in advance as well, and it helps to know when you can go back home!

• If you have breaks in your schedule during the day use them as study breaks! It’s easy to just go back to your residence hall and nap or watch T.V. Instead, go to the library and type your notes or get some reading done! You should study 3-4 hours for each CREDIT taken per week. I’ll admit, it’s entirely unrealistic to study 45 hours per week, but you do need to study a solid amount.

• Plan social events that double as academic events. For my journalism class this semester I have to go to five school events, some of which are movies. Make it fun and bring your friends.

• Start studying for a test a week before hand. You might need more or less time, but that’s the ideal for me. Make sure you do your reading over the course of the semester and not jam packed at the end. Then its just recap for study! Also, don’t be afraid to use past exams if posted!

• College isn’t routine, there is always something fun and spontaneous going on. I encourage adventures by all means, midnight runs to Mizzou Market are the best, but try to keep your life in order! Don’t get wrapped up in one aspect and forget about the rest. It’s all about budgeting your time and leaving room for social life, eating, sleeping, GOING to class, and studying.

You’ll find out once you get to campus what works best for you. Maybe you’re more of a night owl than me and staying up till 4:00 a.m. is when you study best. If that’s the case, ignore most of what I said!