Students blog

As a college student, I have found that it can be challenging to find a balance between my academic and personal life. Now as a student in my final year in college, I have learned the importance of prioritizing both aspects of my life. The following three tips have helped me be successful in the classroom while also making time for important people and hobbies in my life.

Knowing when I am most productive

Something that has helped me academically is recognizing what time of the day I am most productive. For me, I am most productive in the morning. To work on this strength, I wake up earlier to start getting work done. This allows me to get most of my work done and then have more time in the day for myself.

Scheduling time with friends but also alone time

Spending time with important people in my life is something that keeps me motivated when it comes to academics. I enjoy going to get coffee with friends, studying together, and going out for dinner. I’ve also realized that I sometimes need to have time to myself. Some activities I enjoy doing by myself include going on walks and reading. Giving myself this alone time helps me to feel more present when I am with my friends and family.

Making a prioritized list

Having a planner and staying organized is something that has helped me throughout my four years in school. On Sundays, I fill out my planner according to my class schedule and personal activities. I also have found it helpful to make a to-do list and prioritize the list in order of importance. For example, an assignment with a due date quickly approaching will be at the top of my list. I then continue to add to the list the tasks that must get done.

It is important to recognize that these tips may not be effective for everyone. Find out what works best for you and your lifestyle. Sometimes school can feel overwhelming, and it feels like there is so much to get done. Finding what helps you balance your academics and personal life can help ease those feelings. Next time you have those feelings, I hope you can try one of these tips or find something that works for you.

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I believe that as a college student there is so much to learn not just in school but out of school as well. For example, most of us are living on our own for the first time and learning how to manage our time. Most of us dread waking up early, which is exactly how I was my freshman year of college. Since then, what started off as a goal of mine to wake up early has now turned into a daily routine and success in my academics. There are many benefits of becoming a morning person and I hope to spread that knowledge and personal experience to help not only students but anyone looking for a healthier sleep routine or just better time management skills.

Personalizing Your Routine

The key to enjoying waking up early and having a morning routine is to simply make it your own personal routine. Whether that's showering first thing in the morning to help wake you up, or even making a cup of your favorite coffee. Have fun with your early mornings and use the extra time to complete tasks that you typically don't have time for.

Realizing the Benefits of Waking up Early

Every non-morning person knows the benefits of waking up early, but they just simply don’t want to do it. Whether that's because they really like to sleep or maybe they just don't like change. I am here to tell all those non-morning people that becoming a morning person is truly life changing in the best ways possible. Waking up early is a path not only to a healthier lifestyle but also a path to great time management skills. Many students spend countless hours up throughout the whole night when they can simply wake up earlier and then have a whole day to do homework, participate in their hobbies, and not feel drained the next day. Not to mention, most full-time career jobs after college require their employees to wake up fairly early for work.

Becoming a morning person is by no means easy but it is a great way to better your routine, time management skills, and staying ahead in the classroom and workplace. By realizing the benefits and the different ways that you can personalize your morning routine, you yourself can also stay ahead in the game, become a morning person and enjoy it.

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College can feel overwhelming. Registering for classes, getting books, finding a classroom, and just finding your way around campus. In my scenario, it gets overwhelming because I need to work with my kids’ schedule as well as my class schedule. Here’s how I balance college life with two kids!

Online Learning

For my lifestyle, I rely heavily on online classes, which give me the flexibility to plan accordingly around my two kids. Having a schedule is essential to stay on task and meet deadlines, which helps me meet family responsibilities as well as college tasks and time management.

Organize with Planners

Organization is the key to success. Having a planner, calendar, or a digital planner helps me stay on top of assignments, exams, and family commitments. I have a planner at my desk, so I can see everything coming up for the work week. I also use a digital calendar on my phone where I can see everything at a glance - my kid’s appointments, school events, doctor’s appointments as well as my class assignments. Staying organized helps me stay positive and not get overwhelmed by all the different events happening.

Establish Support

Balancing college with two kids can be challenging, but it's possible with efficient time management and support. My husband is my support system. He takes over when I have a work meeting or watches one of our kids when the other one has an appointment. My professors can also be a part of my support network. The most important factor here is communicating, whether it’s with your professors or significant other, about your situation. Most of my past professors have been understanding and offered flexibility or accommodations when an emergency came up.

Practice Self-Care

Finally, don't forget to take care of yourself. Find time for self-care activities to maintain your overall well-being. For me, I find time to go to the gym at least four times a week and weight train. It helps me feel stronger and it helps me mentally, to focus on myself.

Whether it’s enrolling in online classes, utilizing planners, leaning on your support network, or taking time for yourself, it is possible to balance pursuing your college education with parenthood. Find what works best for your situation and reach for your goal!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

While one of the most exciting times in life, college can feel like a place you’re being pulled in a million different directions. Managing school, extracurricular activities, a social life, and maybe even a job is both challenging and overwhelming.

When I first got to college, I dove headfirst into the social and extracurricular opportunities campus had to offer while also being a full-time student and working part time. While the organizations I joined on campus are some of my favorite parts of my college experience so far, the entangling of my social, work, and academic calendars soon became a huge point of stress in my life. I felt like I could never get ahead of anything. In fact, I refused to look ahead in my calendar more than a day or two in advance because it stressed me out knowing everything I was going to have to do that week.

Eventually I decided to start taking on my day rather than letting it overtake me, and that’s when I added 5 steps to my routine to help me tackle my agenda. I’ve found that these 5 things help me stay on top of assignments and activities, while making me feel better prepared for the week ahead of me.

Step 1: Choose a Calendar

In college you’re going to get sent what seems like 100 different calendars with 100 different dates on them. My school uses Canvas, my sorority uses Google, my job uses Microsoft, and I would get emailed about campus events left and right. Nothing is worse than having to shift through a dozen sites just to figure out the agenda for the day, not to mention it makes it easy to forget about things all together. By condensing all your assignments, activities, and meetings into one calendar, you will have a one stop place to tackle the day. I prefer using the calendar app on my iPhone because it pops up on my home screen, but there are hundreds of other calendars out there that might work for you. There are simple applications like the iPhone calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and Google Calendar, and ones with more features available like Power Planner. Some people also prefer to have their planner on hand with them in a physical copy, which is great too. Regardless of what you use, consolidating your calendar is key.

Step 2: Stay Updated

When getting constant updates through school applications, emails from professors, employers, and organizations, it’s easy for information to get lost in the shuffle. Set aside a specific time in the day to check your notifications on all platforms and add information to your calendar. I prefer to do this first thing in the morning, as well as around 5pm but the important thing is to find a time that works for you and commit to being consistent with it each day.

Step 3: Plan a Time Designated for Homework

It’s easy to get behind on homework in college with so many other things going on in your life. After you’ve chosen a calendar and updated your assignments and schedule, it’s important to assess time during each day you can set aside to complete assignments. This time might look different each day depending on your class or work schedule, but this will help you stay focused on your assignments and keep from procrastinating. Procrastination is one of the biggest causes of stress in college and setting aside planned time for homework can help prevent you from getting behind on assignments.

Step 4: It's Okay to Say “No”

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in college is that it’s okay to say no to things. I tried to pick up every shift, attend every meeting, and volunteer for every event, and I found it being more detrimental to me mentally than it was beneficial. The great thing about college is that there will always be another opportunity, and it’s okay to say no. Even though you might have FOMO in the moment, taking the night off to prioritize rest or homework is okay and you’ll thank yourself in the long run. Making sure I was choosing the activities I participated in each day intentionally helped my days become less stressful and allowed me to really enjoy what I was doing.

Step 5: Get Some Sleep

The last part of my daily routine I changed that drastically helped my ability to balance the craziness of college life was prioritizing my sleep. It’s incredibly hard to be productive running on 3 hours of sleep. Along with this, it’s hard for your body to keep up when you go to bed at 9pm one night, and 3am the next. Once I started going to bed at a consistent and reasonable time each night, I saw my mood and energy boost dramatically. This goes along with planning out your homework time, so you don’t get stuck with a last-minute deadline having to pull and all-nighter.

College is an amazing time filled with once in lifetime opportunities, but no student is exempt from the stress and busy schedule that comes with this season of life. I know incorporating these five things into my daily life has helped me find the balance between my social, academic, and work life and I hope they will do the same for you. Everyone's schedule and preferences are different, so make sure to try out different calendars, study periods and sleep times to see what works best for you.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

The college experience is often described as living life to the fullest but it does have its ups and downs. No matter what your major is, you will face some obstacles and find yourself less motivated and productive at times. In order to raise spirits, some students indulge in their favorite hobbies, and others may sleep, but for those who are not sure what to do to stay productive, here are four possible solutions!

Plan ahead

As cliche as it sounds, planning is a strong foundation for remaining productive and motivated. Often, before I go to sleep or right after I wake up, I take a few minutes to plan out the things I wish to accomplish for the day ahead. As you follow your self-made agenda, you will notice how satisfying it is to complete each task. At the end of the day when you realize all the things you have completed you will feel more accomplished and ready for the next day! Remember, it is important to plan some time for yourself as well.

Consider your future

One of the biggest reasons we attend college is to mold our future for the better. Constantly remind yourself of your ambitions and of what awaits at the finish line. For some individuals, it may be a certain career, while for others it may be a certain lifestyle. Just continue to remind yourself why you want your future to look like this! If you are finding it hard to imagine what the finish line looks like for you, ask yourself some of these questions:

1. When pondering on a future home, what does it look like? Any unique rooms that you do not have in your family's house now?

2. What does your work situation look like? Are you remote?

3. Do you want to have the ability to give back?

4. Will you develop new hobbies or continue your current hobbies?

5. Do you wish to travel or try new things?

After you consider these few questions, I want you to ask yourself how you will attain them. Constantly reminding yourself of this vision will serve as a liaison between your current status to your future one. Remind yourself of the steps you need to take to reach your destination!

Get adequate sleep

Sleeping is one of the biggest factors for being motivated and productive. Failing to get adequate sleep can increase laziness which can indubitably lead to you skipping class or assignments. A lack of sleep can impair your brain's ability to think and process information, which are key factors for your time in school. With adequate sleep, you will undoubtedly feel more refreshed and energized to get your day started leading to more productivity!

Surround yourself with a strong community

One of my biggest factors for staying motivated and productive is my circle of friends. It is very important to keep like-minded individuals around you. If your friends are driven and goal-oriented, you will find that their accomplishments motivate you. It is important to try and make sure that you push your friends to do their best and vice versa. Overall, do not spend time around people who only influence you in recreational ways because there are times when work comes first!

Most importantly, staying motivated and productive starts with you. You must try your best to facilitate yourself. The world is yours for the taking, just make sure to have a strong will to do so!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

College is a stressful time with a ton of opportunities at your disposal. So far in college, I have experienced the “do nothing” era and the “do everything” era. With that, these are time management tips I have learned along the way that have absolutely saved me in college.

Plan It Out

The biggest thing I had to learn was to write everything down in my planner and to use google calendar. I use my paper planner for my school assignments and tests, and I make sure to do this at the beginning of the semester to avoid any confusion. Anything that you can find on the syllabus that has a due date should go in this planner! I use google calendar for my personal and professional day to day plans; this gives me a visual of what my day looks like based on the hour. There is a clear difference between the use in both, but this allows me to see what I need to complete scholastically and what commitments I may have for my personal & work life.

Make A To-Do list

Alongside using planners, creating a to-do list is necessary! I create a list of what I absolutely need to complete for school that day, and sometimes another list of what I would like to get ahead on. The lists allow me to get a quick grasp of what I have in front of me and what kind of freedom I have in the day. Creating to-do lists also gives you extra satisfaction when you cross your items off.

Set Boundaries

The last thing I had to learn about time management was to learn to say ‘no’. There are going to be a lot of times that “FOMO” will get the best of you. If there is a lot on your plate for the day, either work super hard or realize you cannot handle another commitment for the day. There’s always another time for fun; be real with yourself and realize what you can juggle!

There is always room for improvement with 24 hours in a day. My biggest recommendation is to begin using Google Calendar religiously; understand what assignments you must complete and where your free time lies after other commitments. Try to stay consistent and create habits in your routine; this will allow you to find a lot of loopholes in what you can get accomplished and how fast. Time management isn’t easy but try to implement these tips into your daily life and see if you notice a change!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

Going back to campus after winter break can be an adjustment but it’s important to think of how you will stay organized throughout the semester. There will be new challenges and it is important to go in organized and prepared to eliminate as much stress as possible.

Get Organized with a Plan

At the beginning of a new semester, I love to use my Google or Outlook calendar and add the days and times of all my classes. I like to do this not only to know when my classes are but when adding other events, work etc. it is easier to visualize everything rather than keep track in your head. I also like to try and write a plan for my day and what I want to accomplish. This helps me stay on task and, besides, who doesn't love crossing off finished tasks from a list? Remember, if you don’t get everything done it's okay! I just use lists as a guide and reminder of what needs to be done. If you are a visual learner like me using these two tools can really help you stay on track and visualize your schedule to keep you organized.

Try New Things

Sometimes stress during a semester is inevitable, with a new schedule, academics and just adjusting in general, so knowing what helps you de-stress will ensure you are taking care of yourself. Every person is different so what works for someone else might not work for you. It took me a while to figure out what helps me when I’m stressed, and I realized it depends on what my mood is. Sometimes when I need a break I want to be surrounded by my friends and other times I just want to be by myself, go on a walk, or read a book. Self-care and de-stressing come in a lot of different forms so it’s important to identify what helps you.

Don’t Procrastinate

This may be the hardest part of being a college student. I feel like everyone has procrastinated at one point during their time in college. Sometimes it’s hard to balance a bunch of classes, clubs, and social life. Procrastination can cause stress because leaving all of your class work until the last minute can cause work to be turned in late, or not done correctly. Now, there are some people who thrive under pressure and save work until the last minute, but I feel like for most people that is not the case. You can try to reduce procrastination by setting a window of time for yourself when you are only going to do homework and see how much you can get done. Or try choosing a specific day to work on assignments from each class so your focus stays on one subject at a time.

Know Yourself

Organization can be tricky to figure out for yourself, but once you do it will make your life so much easier! What works for someone else might not work for you. You know yourself best and it's important to remember that. If you try something and it doesn’t work, switch it up and try a new organizational tactic. Staying organized will only help you and your mental health to have an enjoyable college experience.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

Time. It’s always moving, but also never kept close track of. Yet, it’s one of the most complained about and concerning metrics known to mankind. In today’s day and age everyone seems to “need just a few more minutes”.

As college students we are constantly in conversation regarding the mountain of work we must cram into the day or the busy schedule we have this week. With so many distractions in a young person’s college life it is almost impossible to be able to do everything. I’m here to tell you if there is a will, there’s a way. With the right tools and mindset on how to go about your week you should have no problem doing those extra things like joining that club, going out with your friends, or my personal favorite taking those random days off just to relax and have your “me time” that you so desperately need.

Set Realistic Goals

To succeed with time management, you need to start with being realistic with yourself. Analyze and look at your school schedule, possible work hours, and social life along with any other activities your involved in. Ask yourself how much time each of these take out of your week. Be very honest with yourself and rank these by priority. Then add about 2 hours to that original estimate to make up for distractions, travel time, and maybe just brain breaks in between a longer work session.

Assess Sleep Schedule and Routine

Take a look at your sleep schedule. Is it consistent? Are you a morning person? How much sleep can you function on consistently? After these questions are answered, make a routine schedule. What this means is to create a small routine that you can start off committing to. This should be attainable but something that’s going to improve your daily productivity.

For example, I wake up 3 hours before my first class. I use the first hour to shower, get ready, and eat something to fuel my day. The next 2 hours I walk to the library and go through all my emails and start on homework. This has been a life changing adjustment and has increased my mental and physical health as well as my GPA. Having this time 5 out of the 7 days of the week has helped me to get ahead on my classes and work schedule. I feel much more accomplished as I have granted myself private work time to get ahead on school assignments and important email correspondence. This leaves my free time in the afternoon to assess my next day’s work and feel like I’m prepared for tomorrow versus feel like I’m procrastinating and pushing work off.

Improve As You Go

Once you commit and dedicate yourself to a more improved routine, I think most lives can be changed for the better. Over the past two years in college, I have noticed my peers in their struggling sleep schedules and sporadic morning routines in a rush to get to places on time.

I have simply transferred this small list of tips and tricks from my busy high school schedule over to my college lifestyle and it has helped tremendously. I have decreased my stress levels for larger class activities meanwhile increasing my much-needed social free time with these few simple rules I’ve set for myself.

The immediate results in health, grades, and quality of work from this routine change will motivate you to continue this challenge. This realization is my new superpower in my intense college experience that I have learned to love and hope that those of you reading this will attempt to implement in the near future.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

As a college student fresh on your own, it’s difficult to learn how to get things done without the structure that high school provided. Since we are all on different class schedules and learning different things, not everything works the same for each student. With the culture shock that college comes with, here are three things I have learned that work for me to be productive throughout my days at the University of Tennessee.

Start With Breakfast

I always start my school days with a good breakfast that I can look forward to. I try to keep this item consistent to limit the stress of “what am I going to eat?” This item becomes something I get excited about when I wake up in the morning and provides me with motivation to get out of bed. Usually, I’ll make waffles or drink a protein shake; these are quick items that keep me moving and take little amounts of time to make.

Tackle Your To-Do List After Class

I have morning classes, so usually when I have a chance to sit down after class, I plan the rest of my day. In my plan, I will create two different lists detailing what must be completed and what I would like to complete. I do this after class because there isn’t anything I can finish during class that needs to be done throughout the day, so to avoid added stress I wait to create a list. This relieves a lot of my anxiety throughout the day as I cross off things, and it promotes productivity as I know exactly what I need to carry out.

Get Some Exercise

Either at the middle or end of my day, I will work out. Working out is so beneficial for your brain and your body. It is a good chance to step away from your computer and the overloading information to spend time with yourself. Any kind of workout is beneficial, but I personally hit the gym for about an hour. Working out makes me extremely productive because I completed work for school and for myself.

Productivity isn’t based on how much you get done, but how accomplished you feel. You can complete 10 different assignments, but still feel like you didn’t do anything. Making lists, taking breaks, and rewarding yourself with a satisfying meal can help produce these feelings of productivity. Use these actions or brainstorm your own ideas of what you can start to incorporate in your routine. Waking up is an accomplishment, especially in college! Always make an excuse to celebrate!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started!