When you finally step up to the tertiary level, a new beginning is about to unfold. This is the training stage before experiencing the real-life with work and other stuff that being adult entails. Therefore, you must devote your time wisely and study smart to achieve your goals.

Every college student finds it hard to balance their studies and social life at the beginning. Do you need to deprive yourself of either your social life or sleep in order to be a high achiever? Well, it all depends on how you will manage it. In this article, let’s discuss the effective strategies on how to properly manage your time at college.

Organize Your Schedule

Every single minute is important now. Learn how to prepare and organize a schedule for your study sessions, social life, and work. Your life will become much less structured from outside as compared to the school, so it’s up to you to provide the structure.

Set a schedule for your study sessions. Even if you don’t have a test on the following day, you should study in advance. Research shows that only 10% of the lessons can be absorbed during a classroom discussion. Usually, a student must need to do several rounds of revision to understand the lesson very well. Overall, you should study with consistency and discipline to conform to your budgeted hours.

Use an Online Writing Service

College degree papers need time and high level of writing proficiency so you could get a great mark. To be up to the standard, you may need some help, tips, and examples. You can find a coursework writing service online and ask for guidelines and an example piece of any specific academic paper – say, essay, term paper or thesis. Every writing task has corresponding prices. Their prices vary depending on the content level and number of pages needed.

Just make sure to study the written work so that you’ll know the details of the paper. In case something is unclear or confusing, contact the professional writer and ask the explanation for justification purposes.

Rank Your Priorities

Determine your top priorities and rank all the tasks by their importance and deadlines. Some students go for the easier tasks, so they can work on the difficult ones with less important stuff out of the way. That’s not the best strategy. Difficult tasks can take more time than you estimate, so by postponing them you undermine yourself. Again, it’s not school where the most important deadline was the nearest one. For some assignments in college you will have several month to complete, but those are so labor-intensive that you will need to start right away and continuously work on them throughout the semester.

That said, of course it’s the matter of balance. Generally, we feel satisfied checking out the tasks from your list, so the kick you get from completing an easy assignment will make you focused and enthusiastic setting out for the difficult one.

Use Your Phone Wisely

Smartphones offer computer-like features and their accessibility is exceptional. You can search for any topics and join community forums related to your course. So don’t hesitate to download and install apps with useful features to help you with studies. Moreover, you can also use the apps for calendar, planner, and tasks manager. In some apps, you can set up reminders so that you’ll get notified if an important deadline is approaching.

Some apps can help you store important files on the cloud as well. Having these can save you time and provides convenience to your studies. Try some of these tools: Asana, Brainscape, Cliff Notes, Coursera, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Keep, Grammarly, Text Scanner (OCR).

On the other hand, your phone can be a nuisance and a constant source of distraction, so make sure to disable or mute notifications from entertainment apps while you are in the class.

Write Down Notes and Record Lessons

Some college students work and study at the same time. It’s challenging for some to balance everything. The best way to catch up with your studies is learning to focus and keep notes of every lecture. You can also use an audio recorder to capture all the discussion.

As much as possible, you should always be present to stay on top of things and participate. In case you missed a class, ask your classmates what was going on during the lecture and which topics were covered.

Don’t forget your Me-Time

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so you still need spare time for yourself. Go for a walk in the park or exercise in the gym on Saturdays. Plan a picnic with friends or family. Watch movies or Netflix during the weekend.

Even if you’re a first-year student in college, you still need to have a life, and there’s more to it than schooling. College is also about socializing with other people, building friendships and useful connections for the future and having life’s experiences.

 Savour Your College Life

With these simple strategies, you will thrive in college. Learn to discipline yourself and set a proper time for everything. There’s no need to deprive yourself, stress out or rush over things. Enjoy your life as a student and learn as much as you can. Remember that once you graduate, there are always wonderful opportunities that open doors for you.