Hi Joseph41.
What strategies did you use to manage your time and balance your life during Uni between your academic studies, extracurriculars and other activities (e.g. family or a job)? Were you a person who had everything under control and procrastinated very little?
Thanks,
EragusTrenzalore
Hey EragusTrenzalore.
What strategies did you use to manage your time and balance your life during Uni between your academic studies, extracurriculars and other activities (e.g. family or a job)?Good question. I'm a big fan of to-do lists, which I use for both academic and non-academic purposes. I much prefer to-do lists to, say, study timetables, which I spoke about in
this post. I'll copy and paste the relevant parts for convenience:
"I've never liked study timetables - in fact, I dislike them with a passion! Haha. In Year 11 or Year 12 or something, my school tried to get everybody organised and suggested using study timetables. I took one look at it, tried to block in some study periods, and thought, "this literally makes no sense". Like, how could I forecast several days into the future when I should be studying for certain subjects, or when I should be resting? It just felt really limiting to me, and whilst I like structure in my life, that much structure was just cramping my style.
I don't really get them, either, because like, what happens if you have English revision scheduled for 7-8 on a Tuesday, and then don't do it? Either you beat yourself up about it, or the timetable is seemingly fruitless - and neither of those options is good.
What I use religiously is to-do lists. I used them through high school, I used them very much at uni, and I use them very much at work. To me, they're like study timetables insofar as you document everything you need to do, but they have greater efficacy for a number of reasons:
* You're not blocked into doing things at certain times. For example, if you have an English exam coming up, but have scheduled in Maths revision, what do you do? Ignore your exam? Ignore your timetable? Something has to give. With to-do lists, on the other hand, you can simply get through the tasks one-by-one in an order you deem most appropriate at the time.
* With to-do lists, you can carry over tasks. Despite using a to-do list basically every day, I don't think I've ever finished one; that is, I've never got through every single task I had on my list for that day. But that's fine, because when I don't complete something on my list, it goes straight to the top of tomorrow's. If I don't get through it again, it becomes bold on the next day's. And then a bigger font. And then highlighted. It gets to the point that that task looks so obnoxiously horrible on the page that it's satisfaction in itself to simply get it off the list. And the only way to do that is to finish the task.
* To me, the satisfaction of physically crossing things off is satisfying, and provides reinforcement.
One might argue that to get around all of my gripes with study timetables, you should just block in "study" - and nothing subject-specific. But to me, this is just as silly - what happens if you're really, really tired during one of those periods? What if you feel like going for a walk instead? Trying to force yourself into studying at times that don't suit you is just silly IMO, and will probably be counter-productive if anything.
Don't get me wrong: there'll probably be times where you kinda need to study but don't feel like it, and you just have to take it. Hard work and the like means that you'll probably sometimes study when you don't feel like it. But if you're in a really, really bad mood, or you just need to rest, trying to study probably won't do much for you, and that's where my issue with study timetables comes in: they're inflexible. And if they are flexible, is it really a timetable?
I actually wrote about organisation and using to-do lists in this article, which might interest you.
"
I used to-do lists through Year 12, and then all the way through uni. I still use them at work - I just find them really, really useful to keep everything in check.
But that aside, some strategies (some along a similar line):
* I've on-and-off used a diary (a physical diary). The hardest bit is getting used to it and getting in the groove. I don't use one at the moment, but I
should - it's just that I didn't start at the beginning of the year, and now I'm lazy. My girlfriend even bought me one, so I really need to get into it! I've found that the physical act of penning in events and things to do and the like, sort of cements dates into my head - and I know what has to be done, when. I'm really bad with dates (remembering when I have things on, when things are due etc.), so a diligently kept diary tends to help me a lot.
* Routine. Having times blocked in where I regularly complete certain activities helps me keep on top of them. You might argue that this is going down the line of a study timetable, but I think it's a bit different. What I mean is stuff like getting up at the same time of day, having breakfast at the same time, exercising or whatever at a consistent time. If you do things regularly enough in the same time slot, it just becomes habit. So for me, during semester at uni I'd establish certain study times. These might have been before lectures, or after them. It didn't really matter
when, as such - it just mattered that they were consistent. It didn't really feel like I was making an effort to study in those situations - it was just what I did.
* Knowing myself and my strengths. I think one of my biggest strengths is knowing how much would be too much - I'm always cognisant of not biting off more than I could chew. I know a lot of other people who take on way too much, and then struggle and can't keep on top of everything. I prioritised the most important things to me, and then filled up my time with whatever else could fit - but nothing more. Sort of like filling a jar: you fill it with rocks before you fill it with sand; if you fill your time with all of the unimportant stuff, you won't be able to fit in uni, work, friends, family etc. And that's when issues start to form.
* And along a similar line, making time for the most important things. I get anxious pretty easily, so if I feel like I'm neglecting an important part of my life, the best thing for me is simply to give it some love and attention. Taking time out of my schedule to do this is actually a good thing in the long run, because I become more productive in whatever I'm focusing on at the time.
Were you a person who had everything under control and procrastinated very little?* Straight up, I definitely do not have everything under control - soooooo far from it hahaha. I think anybody close to me would confirm that, including several people on these forums. I honestly don't think anybody has everything under control, and those who seem as though they do are just better actors than the rest of us.
* I procrastinate, don't get me wrong. It's not as though getting good marks at uni requires like, superhuman study abilities haha. But what I did try to focus on was making the times I studied really productive. I don't know if I studied more than other people, but I do feel as though I got stuff done when I did. That's an important factor, and a big part of that for me was reducing distractions (phone, friends etc.). I always studied alone because I just couldn't do it as productively with other people. In that sense, I played to my strengths. The good thing here is that when you're
not studying, you genuinely feel as though you can enjoy it. It's a bit of a win/win, really - in essence, you study hard, you play hard. The alternative is you sort of study for a really long time and, therefore, never really have proper time off. Super tiring!
* I'll also note that even though I'm definitely
not on top of everything in my life (like I said above, far, far from it), I do think I was pretty diligent when it came to uni stuff. I set up very clear assessment timetables/timelines, and this helped me immensely.
Thanks for your questions.
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