How Student Time Management Skills Can Increase Your Productivity

In high school and college, there may be much more to do than your schoolwork — perhaps you’re involved in clubs or extracurriculars, work a part-time job, and want to maintain a healthy social life on top of caring for your well-being. This jam-packed schedule is a reality that many students face, and it can make time management seem like a never-ending chore.

A hectic schedule makes it especially important for students to establish routines and plan time wisely to stay abreast of commitments; however, staying organized can be challenging when you don’t have a plan for how to manage your time. Implementing practical student time management skills may help ensure you're only spending time on your priorities so you can avoid the panic of a fast-approaching deadline.

Understanding time management

It can be overwhelming to know where to begin when it seems there are a thousand things to do. When it comes to getting things done throughout the day, there are two factors to consider: what you need to do and how long it will take to do it. Many people find it’s best to get it out of their head and onto paper, so they think through what’s on their plate and jot it down on a to-do list. A list is a great start, but it won’t tell you how to fit it all into your schedule. This is where time management comes in.

Time management involves knowing your responsibilities (to yourself and to others), being aware of the commitment each responsibility requires, and being aware of the times of day when you tend to be most productive.

Common barriers to effective time management

Developing effective time management skills may be easier said than done. Several barriers can make it challenging to manage time efficiently.

Perfectionism

For people who don’t quit until the final product is “perfect,” it can be challenging to transition from one task to another. 

Distractions

Social media is a very common distraction, but it’s not the only one. You may choose to delay schoolwork in favor of social events, or perhaps you interrupt your study session for a quick nap. 

Expectations

Community is a significant aspect of student life. You may find it taxing to manage your time when you want to give energy to your friends, roommates, classmates, and clubs to which you belong. 

Procrastination

Do you ever find that you’re constantly busy but aren’t actually getting the important things done? You might sometimes put off important tasks by focusing on less critical activities. 

Stress

When a task brings on feelings of stress and anxiety, it can be tempting to avoid it for as long as possible instead of tackling it head-on.

Time management and productivity

Have you ever gotten a weekly screen time summary on Sunday only to discover you averaged six or more hours of screen time a day? Or maybe you started to look at classes for the next semester, and three hours go by before you know it.

Implementing efficient time management strategies can improve your organization, reduce your procrastination levels, boost your focus, and experience greater efficiency throughout your day. 

Increased organization and prioritization

In his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey refers to four quadrants of time management. Most actions in a day can be classified as urgent or nonurgent and important or unimportant. It’s ideal to spend most of the time focused on important but nonurgent tasks. For students, these tasks might include studying for a test coming up next week or creating an outline for a paper due next month. 

For some, this strategy might seem counterintuitive: Doesn’t it make more sense to attend to urgent tasks ahead of everything else? While urgent tasks are associated with a pressing deadline, prioritizing important (but not urgent) tasks sets you up to have fewer urgent tasks on your longer-term to-do list. Adding to an outline every week or completing your designated responsibilities for a group project ahead of an urgent deadline can reduce the urgency (and stress) you might otherwise experience if you were to put them all off until the due date.

Decreased procrastination

When you plan ahead for how you will spend your time, you’re much less likely to succumb to the temptation of procrastination. You’re better prepared to hold yourself accountable to the schedule you’ve set for yourself instead of getting sucked into the vortex of social media scrolling. 

Enhanced focus

When you have a clear idea of what tasks are most important for you to accomplish, it becomes much easier to focus on those activities and spend less time on things that matter less. At any given moment, you know exactly what requires your attention. 

Improved efficiency

Have you ever started cleaning your room, found something interesting, and realized you got distracted for over an hour? It may help to set a timer or chunk cleaning tasks into less time-consuming segments. Time management gives you back control over your day.

Time management tips for students

You probably won’t visit the gym for the first time and be ready to bench press 300 pounds. Like your biceps or calves, time management is a muscle you can strengthen over time. The same strategies won’t work for everyone, so try different techniques until you discover the most effective way to keep yourself on track. 

Set clear goals and objectives

The best goals are specific. Instead of setting a goal to do some reading for your English Literature class this week, decide how far you want to read in the assigned novel. An example of a clear goal might be, “Today is Monday. I will read through chapter five of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Friday night.” This explicit goal empowers you to break down the goal in a realistic and more manageable way — to achieve it, you will need to schedule time to read at least one chapter a day. 

Prioritize tasks

To prioritize tasks, decide what’s most important, then break that down into what’s urgent and nonurgent. Urgent tasks typically need to be done immediately; this may include printing a paper due in class today or studying for tomorrow’s test.

Time blocking

Time can slip through your fingers like sand at the beach. With time blocking, every hour of your day is counted and planned for. If that seems too overwhelming, you might consider time blocking a section of your day, like the portion you spend focusing on your schoolwork. Time blocking works by helping you set aside chunks of time for important work and prevents you from switching tasks excessively and taking an unnecessary amount of time on each task. 

To time block your day, start by listing tasks that need to be done and how much time you estimate they’ll take. Then, divide your day into half- or one-hour chunks and assign tasks to each block of time. Don’t forget to add a buffer between each block for relaxation. There’s no need to fill every minute of the day with work!

Time management techniques

No single time management technique is suitable for everyone. Here are a few strategies you might consider implementing to better manage your time and stay focused while you work.

Pomodoro technique

To use the pomodoro technique, set a timer for a designated amount of time you know you can focus. One of the most popular intervals is 25 minutes. Complete focused work for the entire timer, and once it sounds, give yourself a short five-minute break. Use these breaks wisely and fill your cup by taking a short walk or eating a nutritious snack. After your break, resume work for another 25 minutes. Once you’ve completed several cycles, give yourself an extended 20- to 30-minute break.

Rapid planning method

Created by Tony Robbins, the rapid planning method (RPM) helps you focus on your overall vision to bring it to life. To implement the RPM, write down everything you need to accomplish that week and group similar tasks. Then, create a four-column chart that lists each task, its result, the purpose of the task, and the steps you’ll take to get there. Seeing everything laid out in this manner can be highly motivating for some.

Parkinson’s law

Have you ever noticed that your work will take as long as you have until the deadline? Many tasks expand to fill the amount of time allotted to them, even if they could be done more efficiently. To overcome Parkinson’s law, implement strategies to work more efficiently within a smaller chunk of time. Perhaps you decide to go to the library without your laptop charger, so you’re forced to finish your paper before your computer dies. 

Resources and tools to develop time management skills

If you’re struggling to manage your time effectively, it may help to work with someone who can guide you through scheduling your day. Many college campuses offer student service centers where such support may be provided. If this kind of support isn’t available to you, there are also other support mechanisms you can turn to. An online therapist could help you work through the barriers preventing you from developing your time management skills so you can build a schedule that works for you. 

In a study examining the efficacy of self-help online therapy and therapist-guided online therapy, researchers found that while both helped decrease anxiety symptoms, therapy led by a mental health professional was the most effective option. 

By working with an online therapist through a platform like BetterHelp, you can improve your mental health and strengthen your time management skills. Online therapy may be beneficial for students whose schedules vary from day to day. Using BetterHelp, you can choose the best meeting format for you, be it via video chat, phone call, or in-app messaging.

If your dorm room is occupied or your shared apartment is noisy, you can use an open conference room in the library or an empty classroom in an on-campus building. A residential adviser may be able to point you to additional spaces that guarantee boundary. As long as you have a stable internet connection, your online therapist will be available for your appointments.