Written by: Tiffany Bartell
How many of you have heard the words, “You need to work on your time management skills,” before? As a PhD candidate, I’ve heard my own inner voice saying those exact words as I juggle the competing demands of work, school and family.
Time management can be the difference between getting the grade you want in a course or struggling to pass it. It can also have a significant impact on your mental health as you manage your stress and pressure in either adaptive (healthy and flexible) or maladaptive (unhealthy or unhelpful) ways.
So, what does time management mean? A usable definition of time management is that it refers to using one’s time in an effective or productive way. In college, it can feel like you have to choose between self-care and productivity. In the next sections, we will debunk that myth and talk about how to manage your time to reduce your stress and take care of your mental health.
Feeling assignments pile up or having the sense that you are behind in important tasks can increase your feelings of anxiety or stress levels. Knowing upcoming due dates and making sure you have enough time set aside to take care of those items can relieve your mind and enable you to make a plan. This is our first time management skill: Make a plan! Setting a schedule for studying, putting due dates in your planner and making sure you have set aside time for both work and relaxation is key to taking care of your mental health while being successful academically.
The old adage, “work before play,” is also surprisingly a mental health friendly tip for time management. It can be helpful to take short breaks between assignments and make sure you are staying connected with yourself and others. Engaging in social activities while you have assignments looming can create an underlying feeling of anxiousness. Planning to finish your tasks before you head out to socialize or watch a movie can create what I call: “guilt-free recreation time.” We want our relaxation to be untainted by anxiety or stress and be purely refreshing.
Another tip is to take care of your body. Trying to be productive when missing out on one of the three pillars of mental health — sleep, exercise and nutrition — can be difficult. Studying or writing a paper can take longer and be more difficult to accomplish if exhaustion or hunger are factors. Breaking large tasks into smaller ones can also help to both accomplish tasks and reduce stress. Doing these smaller tasks one at a time can keep tasks on track in a healthy way.
Last — but definitely not least — be an encouraging coach to yourself. So often we use harsh self-talk to push ourselves into getting things done, but an encouraging and empowering approach can help you be productive and take care of your mental health at the same time. Commit to only using the kind of language you would use with someone you are being paid to tutor or with a close friend. It is possible to be successful academically and enjoy wellness while you are a college student, and having strong time management skills is one excellent way to do this.
