Time Management Tip--Invest in a Planner

As a student at the University of Denver, I thought it might be fun to share some of my own strategies of surviving the college workload.

When it comes to college, natural smarts is only half of the success. Unlike high school, the workload is substantially higher, plus other extracurricular activities demand the same amount of our attention. It's easy as a college student to fall behind on schoolwork when worrying about clubs, sports, Greek life, jobs, plus living on your own in a dorm. In order to succeed in doing it all, you have to stay organized, and be proactive.

Now I happen to be one of those crazy people who is unnaturally meticulous about, well, everything! Nonetheless, here are some of the skills I've found help me in staying on top of life in college:

Invest in a planner    


Even if you never used one in high school, make a habit of using a planner; it's a great way to keep deadlines, due dates, events, tests, etc. all in one place. As you can see, I use a weekly/monthly planner, meaning that it shows the month and then the subsequent pages are that same month broken down by week (sounds way more complicated than it actually is). The nice thing about a weekly calendar is that it allows you to see everything you have going for the week without feeling too zoomed out, like a monthly calendar. I would also recommend purchasing one with enough writing space under each day for the week, so that you have plenty of room to write in your busy life.




By keeping such information in one place, even if you're not really a "planning person," you make it easy for yourself to know when things are due and what time commitments you have. Organization is one of the first steps to success.

I use a medium-sized planner, which you can purchase at Wal-Mart or Target. I also use a plastic marker with a key ring so I can easily find my place. Also by having one with a wire binding, you can buy a thin mechanical pencil that fits inside it so that you always have a writing utensil with your planner.


On a side note, for you crazy organizational people like me, on top of using a planner I also use a dry erase monthly calendar. I color code each of my classes and then fill in what assignments are due for the month. This is a great way to get a broader view of what is coming up. Plus it helps to write in activities, outings, etc. so you can really see what's coming for you.

As you can see, I have a very busy schedule this month.


Coming Up

Next time I'll be discussing proactivity, and how I use it to stay on top of my  busy life in college.

Just Say Hello

One of the benefits of arriving to school a week early is having the room and even hallway all to myself; no blasting music, no rampaging students, just peace and quiet. But even I have to admit that after a while it gets lonely, not meeting a soul on the way to and from my empty dorm, so when I noticed a girl and her brother walking in front of me with some luggage and stopping at the room across from mine, I took a breath and decided to say hello. The normally reclusive me would have loved to just go into my room and not say a word, but where's the fun in that? Why has it become so difficult for people to walk up to complete strangers and introduce themselves? We're so afraid of that dreaded "awkward moment" that we hole ourselves up in our technology, where there is a bigger margin for error.

So I went up and said hello. Of course there's always that puzzled expression of "who are you and why are you talking to me" that briefly flashes through people's eyes when randomly introducing yourself, but I powered on, said I lived across the hall and asked if she wanted some help unloading her stuff. Again, it's funny how our society has programmed us to say, "no, I'm fine thanks" unless absolutely necessary, for that was the immediate answer I was expecting, but this girl, we'll call her K, took me by surprise. She gave me a disheveled grin and said, "That would be lovely."

Before I knew it I was discovering how alike K and are, how we both have a low tolerance for the chaotic social scene, how we're very focused on our studies, and even a little OCD. After helping her unload everything in her dorm, she offered me a Godiva truffle, one of my favorites, and I knew I had made a new friend.

This is a simple story, but oftentimes the best friendships originate from simple meetings like this. Maybe K and I will become very close. Maybe not. But either way, I'm glad that I took those extra three steps to walk over and say hello. After all, you never know who you're going to meet.

Packing: The Simple Life... Not

Only one more week till I return to college.

It's hard to believe, but what's even crazier is the amount of stuff I have! I think every college student knows the baffling experience of packing the seemingly few items you own and finding that they take up 4 bins/boxes!

It's strange to think that you're essentially packing up your life; of course there are the few items that are left behind, but the amount of stuff we humans own is remarkable.

I used to consider myself a simplest. I was proud of the fact that I didn't have much to bring to college, just the bare necessities. The idea of being able to pack up and move at a moment's notice is appealing to me; I don't like the idea of being dependent on items, especially worthless knickknacks.

And yet here I sit among 4 plastic bins, 1 large suitcase, and 2 smaller containers, wondering how in the hell I came to need so much stuff? And here's the funny thing, I don't even have any knickknacks or worthless junk packed. Everything is a necessity.

I suppose the idea of self-reliance and simplicity is easy to think about when living at home with your parents where you don't have to worry about the little things like shampoo, conditioner, soap, laundry detergent, and basically everyday items that you take for granted. Try moving out on your own for a bit, it'll show you how incredibly difficult it is to actually practice simplicity.

Give it a week or two and all this stuff will seem to have vanished once it is unpacked and dispersed in my dorm. Strange how you don't see just how much you have until it's all packed in a bin.

Anticipation of the Return

There's something about being in college that fills one with both excitement and trepidation. On the one hand summer break is over and the workload of school is looming ahead, but on the other, the prospect of moving forward in life, towards something meaningful, is invigorating.

Entering my sophomore year at the University of Denver, I cannot help but feel as though I'm returning to my own personal cocoon. Visiting the campus before the start of school, while it was vacant of students, was like walking through a ghost town, as though I was there but something was missing. There's something missing. The grounds themselves, without the students and faculty, are lacking the thrill of knowledge and potential that are normally bursting at their seams.

There is something about a college campus that makes one feel independent and accepted. Being away from home this is my turf! I walk these grounds. With my whole life ahead of me and with the sun rising and setting on the brilliant crimson and gold emblem of the school, I cannot help but feel that I am where I'm supposed to be.