Today we are halfway through the semester. You’ve done some homework, quizzes, exams. You’re feeling the crunch. But you still have far more than half your grade to go – I’ll bet at least 70% is undecided. All that hard work, and you need to keep it up. Finish strong.
I struggled for years with time management. Productivity. Getting it all done. What I learned is that the old adage is true:
Time is money.
Just like money, we need to budget our time. Here’s how:
- List the number of hours in a week at the top of the page (hint, it’s 168)
- List the things in your life in priority order and subtract as you go
- When you run out of time, stop.
If you’d like the secret to crushing school, here it is:
Learning takes time!
How much? 3 hours per credit per week for an average individual. That means you should be doing 9 hours of study for a typical 3 credit class.Most of us don’t do that. Most of us make our todo list by scanning our assignments and sorting them by due date. Imagine the learning that would happen if you committed to spending 9 hours this week on a class, even if nothing is due.
Are you too busy to do that?
Then something has to give. Either your learning or your other activities. A typical student in my class is taking 15 credits and working 16 hours a week. Here’s how that budget works out:
- 168 hours
- -49 hours sleeping
- -15 hours in class
- -45 hours studying
- -16 hours at work
How much is left? 43 hours! For you to socialize, eat, play, whatever you like. Shocked? I was too. Even with this ambitious study/work schedule, you can make a full-time job out of eating and relaxing.
The real secret is actually scheduling those 45 study hours so that you keep the time open to do it. That’s what the graphic is today: the Ideal Week for a student taking 15 credits and working 16 hours.
Want help with this? Join the Intentional Academy, a community for people who want to learn as much as they can while living a balanced life. It’s FREE, just fill out the form on this page.
