This article was originally written for FirstGenerationStudent.com, now a part of ImFirst.org.
It’s that time of the year when college students are dreading going back to the routine of waking up early to attend class. For first-year college students, this can also mean a mixture of uneasiness and excitement. Despite what year you are entering college this semester, adjusting to the college lifestyle and leaving the summertime laziness behind is always difficult. However, you can make this process less complicated by creating a schedule according with your course syllabi. Even if you are not a person who likes to plan every moment, making a schedule can help you realize how many things you have to accomplish. Scheduling can also help diminish the pressure that you are bound to feel, especially as a first-generation student.
In this article, I will share tools and tips that have helped me in past semesters, but of course you are not limited to just these tools.
During the first few days of college, you will be given a syllabus for each of your classes. You may ask yourself, “Why create a schedule if my syllabus already states the deadlines?”
Unfortunately, syllabi are rarely set in stone. For example, your professors may adjust the deadlines as they see fit, such as making that research paper due a week later than originally scheduled in order to free up valuable time to use for another class. Or worse, they could move the deadline closer, forcing you to actually commit a weekend to focus on writing that research paper.
In order to avoid creating last-minute and poorly written assignments, I recommend breaking down those assignments on a day-to-day basis. As tedious as this may sound, micromanaging your assignments makes it easier to complete them and calms the worries that will arise.
One of the tools that I like to use throughout the semester is Google Calendar. First, I insert all of my classes along with the times and locations. Then I include the office hours of the professors. Even though you may think that you won’t need to attend office hours all the time, just having that information gives you the ability to strategically plan your day just in case you need to see your professor. Also, Google Calendar gives you the option to view your calendar on a daily, weekly, or monthly format, which can help you balance your activities throughout and make sure you don’t overcommit. If you already know that you will be working or committing yourself to a club or organization, you should definitely insert those times into your calendar as well. When using Google Calendar, I strongly advise inserting the dates and times of your course projects, midterms and exams. As you see your time slots filling up, you start to recognize the importance of managing your time.
For those students who like to write things down, I suggest using a planner. I prefer to use a planner with a weekly format, as it lets me see what tasks I can realistically complete on certain days. Also, if you don’t finish a task on time, you can always write it down to complete it another day. One of my goals that I aim for when using my planner is to break down those critical assignments, such as a 5+ page essay or a 10-minute speech. So where to start?
First, you need to acknowledge your productivity. If you realize that it’s difficult for you to write two pages in a day, then break it into one page per day and give yourself more time, or you could even focus on completing just the introduction. There’s nothing wrong with dividing your work into many smaller tasks; however, start making your schedule immediately after you receive the assignment if you start to recognize that you need more time to complete certain types of assignments, such as essays or research papers.
The trick is to make sure you actually complete these assignments! Although easier said than done, it is up to you to decide what tools to utilize that will ease your college semester. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to your class dean or someone from your college academic office; after all, their job is to guide you along the way.