In the past two years of my college life, my focus was not entirely on my studies. I spent most of my time hanging with friends, going out, and just having a fun time. So naturally, I didn’t do as well as I would like on some assignments. This caused me great stress to try and get my grades up by the end of each semester. Like me, many people I know seem to struggle with their time in one way or another. Kelci Lynn Lucier, who wrote 8 Steps for Strong Time Management for College Students states:
“Within the first few days of starting college, many students quickly learn that managing their time is one of the most challenging and difficult aspects of being in school”
I have learned that the secret to time management is actually self-management. In order to manage your time, you first have to manage yourself. We all have the same 168 hours every week of our lives. Once you take out time for school, work, sleep, meals and commuting, you are left with a few hours a day to play with. This requires a level of awareness about your values so that you can plan your life the way you want. If you’re not taking an active role in how you spend your time, then you’re allowing life to spend you!
Our IUSB days 
youngreginald
December 6, 2011
You’re so true with what you’ve said. Time is the one thing in life you can never get back. When I was a child, I thought that I would live forever. However, as I’ve grown older and wiser, I’ve finally realize that time is short. The same way that we manage our money, whether it’s the old fashioned check book or the likes of speedy online banking, should be the same way that we manage our time. Before you pick up the phone, use Facebook, or even tweet your favorite follower (s) to get your message out for the day, I urge you to use a pen and some paper to fill out a weekly time management chart. Most of the wasted hours in a day can’t even be accounted for. My fellow students, take charge in both holding on too and managing your time. If you don’t, it will pass you bye.
“And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet.”
Translation: “Time waits for no man!”
derekbryan
December 6, 2011
I feel that a lot of time is wasted, like you said, in commuting. Often times, I may have two or three classes per day that are not back-to-back. When this happens, I might leave after each class and go home for whatever reason. This time adds up. If it takes me ten minutes to get from school to home then, in a three class day, this equates to one hour of commuting.
The point I see in this is that if I were to just stay at school rather than go home after each class, I would save myself 40 minutes of commuting (only having to drive there and back once). With this being said, those 40 minutes spent at school would probably be designated to studying or doing homework. It is easy to get distracted at home whereas, if I were to stay at school, there are fewer distractions.
w315lisad
December 12, 2011
I am so much more productive when I write out my schedule ahead of time. However, I don’t do it nearly enough. I do look forward to implementing tip #$8.