# Why does managing time have to be so DIFFICULT?



## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

My first post since 2013 and here I am, stuck in a rut.
I'm currently busy with club activities, have tons of homework and to top it all off, I have a high fever. Any tips on time management for busy students like me? Thanks in advance. :smile-new:


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## The Hammer (Aug 24, 2015)

@alya:

1- Always prioritize the most important homework tasks and dedicate for them good chunks of time.

2- There is something called "Dead time", which is time lost when not allocated to the completion of tasks (i.e.taking the bus to school, having a 10 min break between classes, etc...). Make use of this dead time as much as possible, always have a textbook or flashcards with concepts written on them with you for review. This will make you very efficient and you'll manage this heavy workload no problem.


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## Mirkwood (Jul 16, 2014)

Id not say that trying to overly manage it more nessarily will make you more relaxed, it could become too rigid, setting up alot of bad feelings, unflexible.


As someone else said, then it probably is about prioritize.


Here is one of my few favorite videos which tries to use mbti to explain how people setup their tasks and time.. I like the part at 4minuts best.






So long so as things get done.


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## Ziwosa (Sep 25, 2010)

I'm always wondering what those supposedly super busy people are trying to run away from.
Afraid to be left alone with only your own thoughts and nothing to do?


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## bluekitdon (Dec 19, 2012)

alya said:


> My first post since 2013 and here I am, stuck in a rut.
> I'm currently busy with club activities, have tons of homework and to top it all off, I have a high fever. Any tips on time management for busy students like me? Thanks in advance. :smile-new:


I'm not in school anymore, but do have 5 kids and manage a successful business. I think one of the keys for me was learning to say no, and also figuring out what it was important that I actually do. Figure out what is actually important and do those, figure out what is not important and don't do those things. Also learn to use time that you are otherwise wasting like riding on the bus, driving (can listen to audio books), etc.

Two great books for this - First things first & 7 habits of highly effective people - http://www.amazon.com/First-Things-Stephen-R-Covey/dp/0684802031

Here's a good quick summary of the book. Review: First Things First - The Simple Dollar


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## LandOfTheSnakes (Sep 7, 2013)

Because as a society, we have less leisure time than we've had for centuries. And we've also been told that leisure time is wasted time despite the fact that we're overworked. It's totally fucked.


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## C3bBb (Oct 22, 2013)

Use Google Calendar if you don't already. It's saved my ass countless number of times.


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## lizw47 (Jan 12, 2015)

Write down everything. Writing down everything will help make your goals more concrete. Set up daily, weekly, monthly, yearly goals for yourself. For example, what do you have to accomplish tomorrow? Buy yourself a nice planner/agenda book. At night before you go to bed, write down everything you have to do tomorrow: go to class, go to this meeting, etc. Check your to-do's off during the day. I always feel super accomplished at the end of the day when I look at my agenda and I see all of the items I checked off; it makes me feel like I got a lot of stuff done, compared to the days when I don't write anything down and I'm like "Where did the day go?!"


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## Hypaspist (Feb 11, 2012)

What's worked for me is figuring out what I can ignore and where I can afford to take hits. If something is worth only 10 points and will have less than a 1% effect on my grade, I'll ignore it until I've completed a project that could fail me if I did poorly on it. Just use extra credit, or just pour effort into a project that will make up that 1% you missed or did poorly on. University is very much about realizing where you can sacrifice small things to preserve mission critical things.

If all else fails, buy a planner from your university book store and start assignments as soon as you get them. Most professors won't dump assignments on you last minute.


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## Thomas60 (Aug 7, 2011)

The Hammer said:


> @_alya_:
> 
> 1- Always prioritize the most important homework tasks and dedicate for them good chunks of time.
> 
> 2- There is something called "Dead time", which is time lost when not allocated to the completion of tasks (i.e.taking the bus to school, having a 10 min break between classes, etc...). Make use of this dead time as much as possible, always have a textbook or flashcards with concepts written on them with you for review. This will make you very efficient and you'll manage this heavy workload no problem.


This is important advice.
One of the first things to learn is that you shouldn't manage everything, even if you 'can'. Cue the groans from 'type A' people . If you've tried to offload a responsibility, and that hasn't work, then of course jumping in is fine. I used to constantly work 'in the zone' in terms of productivity for the first few months of university, as soon as external agents demanded my flexibility (or 'quality' time), then I couldn't promise my time to my lower priority responsibilities anymore.

The dead time concept works really well. For more reasons than just making use of dead time, it usually goes hand-in-hand with the small wins strategy, and keeping ones mind on their goals.


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## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

@The Hammer

Thanks for the advice and sorry for the late reply (I went back to boarding school and I forgot all about this post!). I'm having a little problem with using "dead time" efficiently because it's one of the rare moments where I can actually relax but I'll try.


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## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

@Mirkwood
That's true. I tried to set up a timetable and the next day I completely ignored it, it just felt uncomfortable. :frustrating: I watched the video and I relate to everything what she said about Ps. I would just break down when my teachers give me a lot of time for a project to be done when I just wanted it to be over right then and move on with my life.


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## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

@Ziwosa

Yes but doing work is just tiring so I actually end up doing something fun instead. :tongue:


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## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

@bluekitdon

I think I saying no to people would really help me a lot. Thanks. :kitteh:


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## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

@LandOfTheSnakes
Well, I can't disagree to that. :ninja:


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## alya (Jan 14, 2013)

@C3bBb
I'm already on it. Thanks. :wink:


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

@alya-

Yes, you need to understand that saying no to some things is what allows you to say yes to others. And don't gloss over the links to Stephen Covey. If you allow it, his thinking will change your life.


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## gmaslin (Feb 28, 2015)

Your lack of time is by design. Have a look at *this post* to understand how and why that is.


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## lizw47 (Jan 12, 2015)

One of my tricks for time management is to get a organizer/planner. I write down every single thing I have to do, the morning before: classes I have to go to, appointments, clubs, etc. Get very specific with it. Write down exactly what you are going to be doing every hour of the day. I know some people who are meticulous and write down how they will spend every 15 minutes of their day. The purpose of this is that you want to hold yourself accountable for being productive. If you are having a hard time managing your time, then write down everything you need to get done... if you don't get it all done, then you will know there is room for improvement. 


You might want to check out this article I wrote about planning on my blog: http://www.swakpack.org/2015/11/how-to-set-goals/

Best of luck!


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## Raddy (Aug 9, 2016)

It is always difficult to organize and to get used to, but then easier)


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## themaraudingtimelord (Jul 7, 2014)

I find it effective to use my "dead time" for tasks that won't take much time/energy. You can usually do those while watching TV in the background or something like that.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

alya said:


> My first post since 2013 and here I am, stuck in a rut.
> I'm currently busy with club activities, have tons of homework and to top it all off, I have a high fever. Any tips on time management for busy students like me? Thanks in advance. :smile-new:


It doesn't. At the same time, stuffing your plate full of activities is not exactly the logical thing to do if you know you have a lot of scholastic requirements. Prioritize. Which tasks take precedence? What activities can you drop in favor of your studies?


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