Syllabus week has come and gone — the vacation is officially over. With the start of actual lectures and an increase in work, the phrase “time management” will be thrown around quite a bit. It’s one of those typical college survival phrases that college students tell high school students is the only way to get through semesters.

Everyone knows we should manage our time. But to what extent? There’s a fine line between an organized and overly rigid schedule. If it’s week two and you’re already struggling, though, tap into your type A personality and over-organize your life. It could be good for your overall health.

The first thing to over-organize? Every detail of your life.

If you don’t have a calendar app, get one. Then schedule all of your recurring events — classes, work, etc. — so you can see exactly how much time you have left over. Then you can schedule your free time guided by the magic of scientifically proven studies.

Let’s start at the beginning of the day. Even if you have an 8 a.m. class, you should schedule a time to eat breakfast. It’s hard to wake up earlier than you need just to eat breakfast, but an article in Psychology Today’s February 2015 issue said that the best time to eat is within one or two hours of waking because raising your blood sugar levels can increase your energy and improve your mood.

WebMD also cites eating breakfast as a way to have improved concentration, more strength and endurance in physical activities and lower cholesterol. So schedule breakfast as an event in your calendar that you need to wake up for, instead of waking up late and seeing if you can fit it in.

Everyone’s class schedule is different. But most of us have breaks throughout the day, and those breaks can be more productive than just reading Twitter for half an hour. Every day, make a list of the things you need to accomplish during the day and rank them based on importance. When you’re not in class, use any free time you have to complete the tasks that are on your list. But also keep in mind that the supposed “best time” to complete mentally taxing activities is the mid to late morning, according to the same Psychology Today issue.

This is due to the fact that your core body temperature rises through the morning, then tends to drop come afternoon. If you have a break or don’t have any classes in the morning, that might be the best time to complete any projects or homework you’ve been procrastinating doing.

If you schedule your work efficiently, don’t feel guilty about using your free time to schedule in a short nap. According to the Mayo Clinic, naps should be capped at 10–30 minutes, and it’s best to take them around 2 or 3 p.m., when energy levels are generally at their lowest. Naps can reduce fatigue, increase alertness, improve mood and improve memory and reaction time.

Another thing to start putting in your calendar? Gym time. I only started going to the gym when I scheduled it in my calendar as an actual event, instead of a “maybe if I have time I’ll go to the gym” afterthought. Sometimes there really isn’t time to work out, but if you go back and review your blocks of free time, you’ll likely find that you can make time to schedule in a workout.

It’s hard to fit everything that needs to be done into one day, but you can reduce stress and increase productivity by prioritizing and scheduling. Planning everything from meal times to when to take a nap is really type A and rigid, but it’s something worth trying.
Kate Beckman is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every week in Pulp. You can reach her at kebeckma@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter at @Kate_Beckman.

Published on January 21, 2015 at 12:01 am