How To Prioritize Your Time As A College Student

by | Oct 2, 2016

 

How To Prioritize Your Time As A College Student

The most popular question and topic I receive emails about is, how to prioritize your time as a college student.

One of my favorite time management quotes of all time is by Stephen Covey. He said…

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

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If you feel unhappy with the way your life is going and where your time is being spent, the only person you have to blame for that is you.

I am not here to only be your cheerleader. I am also here to help you step into your greatness. I would be doing you a disservice if I sugar-coated the reality of getting things done.

And look, I know I say this a lot but it’s true, you only have 24 hours in a day which means, you have to be super selective about how you spend that time.  Other wise, you’ll go to bed every night wondering where the hours have gone.

And yes, there are things that are out of your control like your class schedule and maybe even your work schedule, but all the rest of the time, whose deciding where it’s spent?  YOU ARE. So be mad at yourself if you’re not spending it the way you need to or want to.

How to Prioritize Your Time as a College Student

My goal is that this video will help you define your priorities. Once you do, I hope you begin to understand how doing so will make it easier to plan your time as a college student every week. And how when your time is aligned with your priorities you feel less stressed and overwhelmed.

I want you to feel like every moment of your life has a purpose and meaning. I want you to feel like every hour you spend studying is moving you closer towards something you decided at one point was what you wanted.

HOW TO BEGIN DEFINING YOU PRIORITIES 

If you’re not sure how to identify your priorities, that’s your first step. I wrote a detailed list of questions to help you get clarity in my video last week.  Watch it here.

This category list might also help you pin-point additional priorities.

  • Personal Growth
  • Academics
  • Health and wellness
  • Spiritual Growth
  • Finances
  • Sexual Relationships
  • Friendships
  • Family
  • Work Life/Career
  • Fun/Hobbies/Unique life experiences

Try to keep your priority list to no more than 5 areas. This will prevent you from spreading yourself too thin or getting overwhelmed. You should really try to narrow it down to the top 3 that will be your main focus for this stage in your life as a student.

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WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR TIME AND SCHEDULE AFTER YOU’VE DEFINED YOUR PRIORITIES

Your priorities tell you what should get your time.  This concept is at the very basis of being intentional with your schedule and making sure that the areas of your life you’ve deemed as important, get cultivated and nurtured.

Remember, what you focus on grows. What you sow you will reap.

What this means is, what you spend your time on gets improved. If you believe these statements are true, think about what’s growing and improving when you spend 6 hours watching TV. Think about what sowing rows and rows of distractions like, scrolling IG, watching vlogs on Youtube and napping half your day away leads to…(non-productivity)

If you’re wondering why your grades suck, why you haven’t found an internship or why your relationship with your best friend is crumbling take a look at the actions you consistently took that lead to that.

Your priorities will dictate how you plan your days each week.  They have to get scheduled time in your planner first.

Any time that is left over is the time you can fill with the other things that are a part of your life but are not your top priority at this moment.

If you want a more step-by-step guide on how to create a weekly schedule, this blog post is the one you want to read.