Sergio Guevara
Head of Client Success at Gradehacker
Updated January 6, 2022
Have you ever found yourself thinking, why do I never have time for anything? It seems like your whole life is a ball of responsibilities that take up your time, and sometimes you barely even have time for those responsibilities.
Here at Gradehacker we help college students with their assignments and exams. From our years of experience assisting students, a problem we hear frequently from our clients is that they don’t have enough time to meet their responsibilities.
Nowadays it’s very hard to manage our time with all the constant distractions we face every day. On top of that, our modern day lives are full of activities and responsibilities such as work, family, friends, hobbies and let’s not forget school!
This causes many people who work and study to become practically crazy in the process! But it is possible to work, study and stay alive.
In this article, we have compiled 9 time management hacks that we give our clients, in order for them to better organize and structure their schedules. By following these tips, you can say goodbye to managing your way through time constraints.
1) Find your balance and priorities
Concentrate your efforts on reaching your goals but keep in mind that you must also carry out a process to achieve them. If you have a goal in mind, do not lose sight of it but also remember that you must work to make it.
This will help you maintain the necessary motivation to continue working and studying to achieve your purposes.
2) Organize your schedule
Time is gold! So, it’s better not to waste it. After you have evaluated your responsibilities, try to focus most of your quality time on the activity that you like the most, but also try to keep in mind your work duties.
If you already know that you have to spend six hours working, create a schedule or a task list that allows you to take full advantage of your other activities.
3) Find your comfy place
Sometimes it is impossible to study at home. Or sometimes, we just do not find a comfortable place to concentrate on our academic activities. Finding an appropriate place for relaxation and study can significantly improve your productivity.
Try to find the place that suits you best! Those who preferer silence will feel much more focused in a library, while those who still need a bit of sound to concentrate will find their comfort zone in a coffee shop. Search which are the best study spaces near your home, where you can have quick and easy access to a comfortable place to concentrate.
4) Establish goals and near future plans
Studying and working requires a lot of sacrifices. But it is a sacrifice that will reap significant rewards in your life! Therefore, you should think about your short and long term goals. Evaluate if the activity in which you are spending more time is taking you closer or further away from your personal goals.
This will help you evaluate if you are using the time correctly or not to achieve your objectives.
5) Avoid stressful situations and learn how to overcome obstacles
Work + Study = Stress. It is essential to know how to cope with stressful situations and to have a solution beforehand. It will not do any good if you continuously regret not having free time. Learn how to accept stressful situations and find a better solution that does not add more problems.
A set of activities can help you decrease stress levels such as exercise, taking a walk, meditation, yoga and listening to music.
6) Know your support system
Some people who work and study also have financial support from their families. However, the vast majority of people who work and study have to support themselves by their own means.
Acknowledge your effort and keep in mind that all work and sacrifice will bear fruit! You are your best support system!
7) Try to avoid distractions
Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube can take away a lot of valuable time without you noticing. When you are studying, focus on studying. When you are working, concentrate on working. Put your phone on airplane mode while doing your regular study sessions and evaluate your productivity.
Additionally, there are many tools that can help you focus on being productive, these are a few of our favorites:
This app is a website blocker for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. Freedom can help you block games, social media apps and websites that prevent you from focusing on your tasks.
Also, you can schedule daily or weekly work sessions and Freedom syncs with all your devices.
StayFocusd is a productivity extension for Google Chrome that restricts the amount of time you spend on non-productive websites. StayFocusd can block sites, specific subdomains, paths, and even specific in-page content.
At the same time, StayFocusd allows you to determine a time limit for you to spend on a web page before the extension blocks it so you can have a balance in your workflow.
8) Use your technology
Usually, the use of smartphones can be seen as a great distraction, but it can also help the administration of time and schedules. There are a lot of time management apps that you can use to improve your timing.
Also, on your phone, you have your calendar, your contacts and access to many other tools that can help you save time. You can check your bank account, schedule the purchase of your weekly supplies, and practically do anything. Take advantage of this and spare yourself some unproductive time.
Time tree helps coordinate and manage different schedules for better time management.
Todoist is a task management app that allows you to manage your productivity and have a record of all the daily tasks you must perform.
9) Do not overload yourself
Know your limits! You cannot do all the things you like at the same time. Sometimes, whether we want it or not, we will have to sacrifice activities that we love. But you also have to know to what extent you can get there without your daily routine becoming constant stress!
It can go unnoticed, but organization is an essential element for every person who studies and works. Knowing your priorities, your advantages and disadvantages will help you understand yourself better and fulfill all your responsibilities on time.
Lastly, Check Out The Ultimate Time Management Method
The Eisenhower Matrix
This technique is based on the prioritization of activities according to their level of importance.
The Eisenhower matrix divides activities into four quadrants.
- Do Now: These are the most indispensable tasks that you must do as soon as possible.
- Decide/Schedule: In this quadrant place the tasks that are important to you but are least urgent. At the same time, you can schedule these tasks to do later.
- Delegate: These activities are not necessary to achieve your goals, but they need immediate attention. Here you can delegate your least urgent responsibilities (i.e. grocery shopping, car washing, laundry) to people who can help you like family, friends or done for you services (Amazon prime or Gradehacker ;).
- Eliminate: Here are all the activities that you shouldn’t do (i.e. endless scrolling through social.
The purpose of this technique is for you to successfully decide which activities you have to carry out in order to organize yourself in a more effective way.
Focus on Your Goals and Dreams
Remember to take a deep breath and relax first!
Live in the moment and decide what your priorities are. Put into action these 9 tips and use the chart above to help you manage your time efficiently. You’ll be surprised how good it feels to cross things off your to-do list, increasing your productive time and getting you closer to your goals and dreams!
We understand how hard it can be to have various responsibilities that limit your time. On top of that, it can be frustrating to not know how to manage your time well. When this is the case, it may feel like you have to rush between different tasks.
We hope that this article helps you with your time management, and that from now on you will be able to fit your many responsibilities into your limited time!
Are you looking for more tips to improve your lifestyle? Check out these articles and see how you can take full advantage of your time!
Sergio Guevara
Sergio Guevara has been an avid essay writer and researcher for Gradehacker since 2018. He has helped countless non-traditional students with a plethora of subjects like literature, nursing, and history. Now as the head of the Client Success Team he’s constantly involved with SEO-driven content that can make the life of both non-traditional and traditional college students much easier. You can find him on LinkedIn
