Balancing Academic and Social Life: Time Management Challenges

Introduction: Navigating Time in the College Environment

A critical problem faced by many college students is the task of time management. College is the first time in your life in which you are faced with decisions in which you have no one to push you. Time management is first-year college students fall; they seem to be the ones who struggle the most. This paper will unfold the problems faced by university students, how students struggle with time management, and how they find time for social and academic life.

The Crucial Role of Time in College Life

Time is the most important thing you have in college. You must balance your time between social life and academic life. Social life is a very important aspect to university students, and many students struggle with maintaining time for both Social and Academic activities. College students have more flexible schedules that allow more free time. Therefore, it is up to the individual to decide and maintain their time. They can choose to study and work on homework, go out with friends and party, or even play. This is a problem that most students have their parents help with in high school. They should take responsibility for their work instead of teachers and parents making sure they are focused and diligent with their time. Almost all students will go through a time of struggle in which they must change their time to find a balance in their activities, and if they fail, their grades will suffer. Students should use resources such as ‘The Study’ and the library to try to keep up with their classes and help manage their time. Time management is one of the main reasons why first-year college students do not maintain a good grade point average.

Struggles and Strains: Challenges in Maintaining Equilibrium

Many college students do not know exactly what to focus on, whether at school or in social life. This situation seems to happen, at least for me, in my university career. I have had some weeks that are extremely stressful for me, and I have had some weeks that are not stressful at all. In a stressful week, you really have to put on your thinking cap and make sure you are doing your work on time and in an orderly manner. Last week, I had three partial exams, a research paper, and many smaller tasks that I had to do. When you have a week like this in college, you should stay on the road. I know some people who decide to stop doing what they are doing and not do their job because they are distracted. If you are distracted or not, you must do your work; it is why you came to school. The university is very difficult for time management due to the mixture of social and academic life.

Resources and Strategies: Seeking Effective Time Management

Social life in college is what every student needs and wants to have. As a student, your academic studies come first; then, your social life is second. You pay money to learn, not to drink every night. In my circumstances at this moment, I must manage my time well. I am pledging to a fraternity, which brings on a lot of responsibilities. A fraternity is like an extra class because it takes a long time, as a normal university class would. In my fraternity, we have meetings every Monday that last about two hours, and we have philanthropic events. For the past few weeks, I have been working with my brothers, studying to do well on our national exam. When college students struggle with time management, it is because they have other obligations on the side that get in the way. If you want to do other social things, you should be able to manage your time, or else you will be in a big problem.

As discussed earlier in this paper, managing your time is the hardest thing to do as a college student. The five-step process that Lucier wrote about in 2017, time management, seems to be very beneficial for college students. The first step is to start using a calendar and make sure you utilize it for all your tasks. A calendar is a very efficient way of keeping your dates and obligations in order. Writing your assignments on a calendar and crossing them off once you complete them is an excellent way to get organized and also brings a large amount of satisfaction if you have completed events on time. The second step is to make sure you write down everything you need to know. This is important because you must make sure to take good notes in class and write down all your assignments so you do not forget to do one and are able to have a good grade.

The third step is to schedule the time to relax. When you are studying, you need to make time for your brain to relax. Your brain can not work for so long, so you need to take study breaks. The best break anyone can take is a trip to the gym. Not only does it relieve stress and take your mind off of the hard work you have been doing, but it also helps with your body being healthy, which will, in turn, improve your mental health. The fourth step is to keep trying new ways to stay organized if the ones you try do not work. If you have a phone calendar and you do not like it, buy a printed calendar instead. The final step is to allow flexibility in your schedule. Some days, your schedule will not work; you must create time so you can do your work and activities.

Conclusion: A Pathway to Holistic Success

Furthermore, you must realize that time management is the most important thing anyone should have, not just at school but in life. The freshmen of the university should know when their time and place is to go out and party vs. when they should study. As a student, you must understand that school always comes first. While it may be challenging, if you do not do the work on time, then you could get kicked out of school and then have no social life. Being a college student is a test to see if you can become an adult and achieve goals in the real world. If you figure out the challenge of time management at the beginning of your career, a great path will be established for success in life.

Reference

1. Lucier, L. (2017). The 5-step process to strategically manage your time. LinkedIn. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-step-process-strategically-manage-your-time-louise-lucier