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Keywords:
College Student Stress and Time Management
As your spring semester kicks into high gear and your schedule fills up, you college
students may find your stress levels rising. You're probably counting
the days until your next vacation when time is - once again - on your
side. But did you ever stop to realize that the old "time is on
your side" cliche holds
true 24/7, whether you're a stressed-out college student in time management
hell or living it up on summer break?
If you want to calm college student stress, master time management and
get out of overwhelm, even when school's in session, keep reading ...
1. Time
is your GREATEST asset in life. You get to CHOOSE how you spend it.
I know - it's a hard concept to embrace because that means we all have
to stop making excuses. Instead of saying, "I can't exercise because
I don't have time" we have to admit, "I choose not to exercise because
I'm not prioritizing it into my schedule." We are all personally responsible
for our lives and how we spend our time is a direct reflection of how
well we embrace time management.
When I experienced college student stress, I blamed
others for my lack of time management. I believed that the only way I
could lower my stress levels was if my professors stopped dishing out
so much homework. Instead of learning better time management strategies
and easing up on my own perfectionism, I made excuses. Every semester,
I feel deeper into overwhelm until I let anxiety, depression, insomnia,
and total stress usurp my life.
Bottom line: Take control over your time
right now and be calmer and happier for the rest of your life.
You deserve it!
2. Time management means learning to say N-O.
"You can determine how you use your time or by default, let others
plan it for you," says Beverly Coggins, professional organizer and
author of the e-book, Three Steps to Time Management for
the College Student.
Coggins believes that in order to calm college student
stress we need
to have a grasp on our own passions and priorities so that we're in a
stronger position to not be led around by the whims of others. "By
determining your own passions and priorities, it gives you confidence
to stay focused on where you want to go in life," she
adds.
Bottom line: College students are supposed
to be self-focused! You're not a selfish person if you choose to be empowered
by your own goals. Plus, when you take care of yourself first, you'll
have more energy to be there for your friends.
3. Skipping class = MORE stress.
Sorry to be the downer but skipping class really does screw with time
management. It increases college student stress in the long run. Think
about it: You miss class notes, class discussion, repetition of materials,
interacting with your classmates and you're wasting money. If you calculate
how much money you're spending per college class and then divide it by
how many classes there are in a semester, you may be surprised to realize
that you skipped out on a class that could very easily have exceeded
one-to-several hundred dollars. Ugh! That's a week's worth of putting
up with obnoxious customers at the mall or waiting tables at The Olive
Garden.
I've skipped my fair share of classes in high school and college and playing catch up sucks! Be honest: how much time do you spend trying to decipher your friend's shorthand when you borrow her class notes or tracking down your professor during office hours?
Bottom
line: Unless it's a true emergency, go to class and hit the snooze
button on the weekends!
4. Sleep SAVES time.
According to Coggins, sleep should be the first thing that goes on our
master schedules. Why? "Sleep deprivation has the same affect on you
as alcohol," says Coggins. "Your reaction time is slow, you can't
think clearly, you gain weight, and you can get depressed."
Think about how much time we waste napping during the day because we
don't sleep enough at night. C' mon, how many of us have fallen asleep
when we're sitting quietly ... like in class!
Coggins advises that college students figure out ways to reduce interruptions
to sleep like investing in earplugs, a fan, a sleeping mask, or a note on your
door. Bottom line: Don't sacrifice sleep because
sleep deprivation is the true time waster and it definitely makes us more susceptible
to college student stress.
5. Procrastinators CAN master time management.
Nearly two-thirds of students say they've procrastinated so much that
it affected their performance on an exam, paper, or course grade, according
to a February 2007 College Health Services survey. Coggins suggests that
college students take advantage of those first few weeks of the semester
when there is little pressure, to keep up with assignments and calm
college student stress.
Use the following tips to escape procrastination mode and lessen college
student stress:
• Break large tasks up into bite-sized
pieces and estimate how much time each piece will take. Working backwards
from your deadline, schedule in each piece of your task.
• Plan in breaks. Every 45 minutes
take a 15-minute break. Do something totally different that relaxes you
or invigorates you - take a walk, listen to music, whatever refreshes
you and reduces your college student stress.
• Know when your peak energy time is. If you are a morning person, don't attempt overwhelming tasks at night and vice versa.
• Study with a friend. Just make sure you choose friends that won't help you procrastinate!
Bottom line: Stay away from procrastination
temptations when you have a deadline looming. Cell phone, PS3, HDTV ...
need I say more? ;-)
For more tips to calm college student stress & master time
management,
check out our Time
Management Secrets audio CD.
About the author:
Maria Pascucci is the President of Campus Calm –
the award-winning website for today’s stressed-out students, parents
and educators. Download your Stress-Less Kit with 4 FREE gifts at www.campuscalm.com.
Want to reprint this article in YOUR own website?
You can as long as the article about college student stress time management
tips remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info
and link back to
www.campuscalm.com), and you send a copy of your reprint to
maria@campuscalm.com. You're also welcome to use my photo here.
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