Wellness Tip of the month
Time management and your health
Most college students learn very quickly the value of their time when they are struggling to balance work, school and a social life. With so much to do it can be easy to become overwhelmed, stressed, and eventually burnt out. You probably know that good time management will help you get more done each day. But it has important health benefits too. By managing your time more wisely, you can minimize stress and improve your quality of life.
To get started on a path to better planning, take the following quiz: Planning Well.
With a better understanding of your planning style, now consider the following principles to master time management and get out of feeling overwhelmed:
- Time is your GREATEST asset in life. You get to CHOOSE how to spend it.
This is a hard concept to embrace because it means we all have to stop making excuses for our stress. Instead of saying, "I can't exercise because I don't have time," we have to admit, "I choose not to exercise because I'm not prioritizing it into my schedule." It means letting go the belief that the only way to lower stress levels is if your professor, adviser, boss stopped dishing out so much work. Instead of learning better time management strategies and easing up on perfectionism, you continue to spiral towards ill health, anxiety and sometimes depression. Take control of your time right now and be calmer and happier!
- Time management means learning to say NO.
Saying 'yes' to requests for your time is not always a bad practice. In fact, it can often be rewarding and lead to accolades. The problem occurs when you say 'yes' to almost every request or volunteer your time no matter how much work you already have on your plate. Whenever you accept a new task or responsibility you are always giving up something else. It could be free time, an extra hour of sleep, or exercising. Without realizing it, you could be choosing to spend your valuable time doing things that are trivial and don't really matter to you or your well-being.
Remember that you can do almost anything, but you cannot do everything!
- Sleep SAVES time.
According to Beverly Coggins, author of Three Steps to Time Management for the College Student, sleep needs to be the first thing that goes on our master schedules. Sleep deprivation has the same affect on you as too much alcohol (and many know what a time waster being hungover is). Your reaction time is slow, you cannot think clearly, you gain weight, and you can get depressed. Don't make sleep the last thing on your agenda! In fact, schedule your day backwards from your goal of bedtime so that sleep is not an afterthought.
- You can master procrastination.
Nearly two-thirds of students say they've procrastinated so much that it affected their performance on an exam, paper, or course grade according to a College Health Services survey. Often procrastination is because we have bit off more than we can chew and need distraction! So to avoid this trap, try breaking big tasks into small pieces and work backwards from your deadline. Also make sure to plan breaks. In fact, every 45 minutes take a 15 minute break to avoid brain fatigue and wasted time. In fact, if a break runs 15-20 mins. long, the brain is still processing the information studied.
Time management provides you with the opportunity to create a life and a schedule that works for you, not for anyone else. The personal attention given to YOUR time will give you the health and well-being you crave!
