Time Management Secrets of High-Achieving College Students

I'm sure you're with me on this one:

Time management is a skill most of us struggle with. One of the primary reasons for this struggle is that some still consider time management nothing but planning and crafting to-do lists for a day, week, or month. Guess what?

It never works.

Time management is not just a single skill but a combination of more than ten skills that help us use time effectively, giving us control over tasks and enabling better performance and a healthier work-life balance. College is the ideal stage to develop and refine these skills. During this period, students can experiment with flexibility, learn to prioritize activities, and delegate certain tasks—such as opting to buy an argumentative research essay from a trusted writing service—to avoid academic burnout. This approach also allows them to enhance focus, improve decision-making, foster self-awareness, and manage stress effectively.

Planning, communication, organization, patience — high-achieving college students are masters of these time management skills, too.

How do they do that? Any secrets we could "steal" from them and use to our advantage?

Below are the five to practice.

1 — Set Boundaries

You can't be everywhere and on time with everything. Multitasking doesn't work, so let's learn to prioritize and say no to some activities or projects.

High-achieving students block some courses, for example, signing up only for the programs they prioritize as essential for their future careers and success. We all can do the same:

• When freelancing, take projects that are worth our expertise and time.
• Say no to a friend inviting you for a last-minute walk when you have other plans already.
• Delegate some domestic work to family members.

2 — Establish Routines

Don't let small tasks pile up, creating the impression of a backlog you don't have time to deal with.

Re-order some things for better comfort and time-saving:

• Wash that blender right after using it instead of spending time scrubbing all the dishes at once.
• In the evening, decide on the clothes to wear tomorrow instead of doing it in the morning when you're slow and sleepy.
• Clean the dust and throw away the trash every night instead of spending a whole day cleaning once a week.

These "invisible" details will make you more organized and allow you to focus on the must-do tasks in your checklist.

3 — Identify Productive Triggers

Most people focus on time wasters, struggling and trying to beat them.

Do you know your chronophage, aka a time-eater preventing you from productive work? Mine is social media and YouTube videos in the evenings, though I've made friends with the latter. (I do cooking and cleaning with those videos in the background instead of staring at the screen when in bed.)

Time wasters are nice to know and prevent. Their opposite is productive triggers, which motivate you to work and stick to your plans and schedules.

Identify your productive triggers to make the most out of your time.

These activities or habits make you more productive and willing to do something rather than procrastinate. For example, you know you work better in the early mornings so that you can organize resource-consuming tasks accordingly. Or, you know you're driven to meet deadlines and work better under such pressure. Or, you are more efficient and productive when anticipating a reward you know you'll get after completing all tasks from your to-do list.

Figure out your productive triggers — and you'll master your time.

4 — Use Procrastination Right

College students admit they often run out of time because they are procrastinators. The secret most high-achieving of them revealed is that procrastination can make us more productive, too.

Here's how:

• Use it to generate ideas and plans for the future, reflect on your goals, and build strategies.
• Use it to take breaks and recharge your inner battery for more efficient work. (Tip: Add breaks to your to-do list. Yes, you've read it right. Otherwise, you may "forget" to rest during the day.)
• Short-term procrastination de-stresses you for a productivity boost. (Consider the 90/20 rule of working and try the Pomodoro technique.)

5 — Block Time

Stress comes from not knowing what will happen next. While we can't always predict that, blocking or setting aside time for a specific daily task can help mitigate that stress and help with more efficient planning.

The trick is not to keep your to-do list open-ended but to divide it into time blocks, each dedicated to a specific task or group of tasks.

For example, with time blocking, you won't check your email several times a day but spend one hour (10 am to 11 am) on it. Or, you might block out 1 pm to 2 pm to have lunch instead of having it "somewhere during the day when I'm not that busy."

Time blocking is an efficient time management technique because:

• It provides a clear structure.
• It improves your organization by categorizing tasks.
• It increases your focus (you do one thing at a time) and boosts productivity.

That's It, Folks!

Time management skills are many, and many are tricks and techniques to master them and become a stellar time manager dealing with everything. The five strategies from college students in this article are a great start. Try them out, and let me know which worked for you.