Life is rarely black and white—with the exceptions of introverts and extroverts, Apple and Android users, morning people and night people and of course, the time management professionals and the chronic procrastinators.

In high school, we all knew the classmate who would start the seven-page term paper the weekend it was assigned. Or the classmate who would trudge into homeroom late on the day the paper was due with their hair pointing in several different directions and claim they pulled their second all-nighter of the week. 

In light of becoming less stressed, effectively working to complete homework, daily tasks and balancing social and extracurricular activities can be helpful in college and beyond as responsibilities continue to increase. 

I am sure most have heard the following tips for time management: 

“Don’t save your work to the last minute. Be organized. Prioritize.” Yet I think these tips require a more specific breakdown. For example, instead of thinking in the negative, think in terms of incentives—envisioning being less stressed, doing well on the test or rewarding yourself with a treat for completing a paragraph a day is helpful in getting started earlier. For many people, it is simply the thought of starting work that is the hardest part, but once in the workflow, it is much easier to continue. Studying with friends, working in a minimalist workspace or breaking down your homework assignment into smaller components are all useful to combat this. 

Other ideas include being disciplined in the limited time you have by using the Pomodoro method, timing each task or planning the order in which you do tasks strategically could all be helpful. Specifically with the order of tasks, I find completing smaller/miscellaneous tasks first (e.g.: signing a syllabus, scheduling an event later in the week, etc.) relieves clutter from the mind, and from then I can move on to longer projects. 

Thupten Palmo ’27 said that setting a timer for each of her tasks allows her to stay on task, as well as taking five to 10 minute breaks in between assignments. Cheatra Chheang ’27 also noted that the use of breaks and scheduling his day by the hour helps him stay on track. 

Working smarter, not harder is also important. Do your homework on time so that when the test approaches, you already have a good foundation instead of trying to memorize the entire textbook the night before. Multitask efficiently: do a repetitive homework assignment such as a language character sheet while watching an assigned movie for history class. 

Some other skills that contribute to doing things faster and ultimately becoming a less stressed college student include:

• Becoming a fast typer 
• Utilizing time in transportation 
• Creating a system to quickly access downloaded papers and documents 
• Assessing the priority ranking of each task

Whether time management continues to be a menace or is second nature, the same thing will still hold true—no matter how we get there, rest assured that the submit button will still be pressed before the deadline.