Hmm. I have two papers due tonight, one presentation at 9 AM tomorrow, and three tests after that. I really should be studying. But then again, I just got a call from my best friend saying the party tonight’s gonna be LIT!
Ugh, I know I have a lot of stuff I need to get done but I would much rather go to the party. Who wouldn’t choose a party over a stack load of coursework? Sure, the party sounds like a good time but that coursework is still gonna be there when I get back.
Except this time I have less time to do it if I even get it done at all. I think one of the toughest things students go through in college is learning to prioritizing things along with time management. We all have things to do and places to be. For some reason we never have the time or energy to do them all.
However, if you learn to prioritize and make better use of your time it can help solve that frustration. Prioritizing is about deciding what to do and what not to do. Usually these decisions are made based off of the importance of a task. So, should you get that homework done or go to the party?
What makes a task important is the tasks that have a significant impact on your long-term goals and are associated with long-term consequences as well. Lets take the three exams for example: if I don’t study because I think the party is more important I will not do so well on the exams, I will hurt my grades that will then lower my GPA, and a low GPA will not get me into graduate school programs.
So even if you think you can get away with not studying this time there are long-term negative effects that you never thought would actually occur. At first, you might look at all the things you need to do and want to do as being equally important.
However, if you lay it all out you will be able to identify which tasks won’t be so important in the long run. If you find yourself stuck figuring out how to go about the long list of tasks that need to get done there are two steps that I usually go about it.
I write out everything I have to get done and then decide from there how and in what order I’m going to do things today. I either start with the big tasks and do the less important tasks last, or vice-versa. I usually switch it up.
I don’t stick to one method only because different tasks with different importance levels call for different methods. Also, sometimes it just depends on yourself and what you are feeling is a better way that day.
Prioritizing goes hand-in-hand with time management. Learning when the right times to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no’ is critical to not just your academics but your sanity. If I said yes to every fun things my friends asked me to do I would fall behind so quickly.
However, if I manage my time right and prioritize what I need to get done I can still find the extra time I have left to unwind and do a small portion of those fun things. Another tip that I think is important when you have a lot to do is to take a break.
After every task take 10 minutes to walk around or eat a snack. If you’re like me you’ll take a break after a couple hours and reward yourself with the most recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
Yes, it can be overwhelming but learning to prioritize your time can have significant results on how effectively you work and also how quickly you can actually get things done. That stack of homework sounds like the last thing you and me want to do right now, or ever.
Yet again, if we get to it and just get it over with we might get lucky and still have some free time. It’s okay to say yes, but deciding when to say yes is what matters. Learning how to prioritize things can make all the difference.
It is dreadful once you lay out how much you have to get done before a certain time. You end up learning how much free time you can actually have if you get it done. Once you prioritize those things and avoid procrastination you only realize that it’s not that hard.
Susy Macias
Viewpoints Editor