6 Your Goals, Your Time

The transition from high school to college might be arguably one of the biggest transitions in life. Self-discipline is a major key factor for having a successful college career along with a successful life. College students go into their freshman year very confident with their self-discipline or very scared of it. Most college kids that think they have what it takes to succeed get a rude wakeup call. In order to achieve strong self-discipline and have a successful college career, a student must know how to plan and organize, manage their time wisely, and set achievable goals.

Time Management is one of the most important parts of the college process. Students managing their time correctly is the hardest transition for them. Some students look at college as freedom and being able to do their work on their own time, while trying to incorporate social life and extra-curricular activities. Students that look at college like that usually get a rude awakening. It is the foundation when students set their goals or planning out their planner. In order to achieve good time management, students need to figure out how to use their time wisely, keeping up with deadlines, and developing a knack for patience. Procrastination will not be your friend in college. Unlike college, in high school, kids are told by parents and caregivers, when practice is, when dinner is. For college its polar opposite. Trying to start homework before a practice or meeting, continuing that work, going to dinner, and trying to finish it all together, is a hard challenge for most students. We see a trend in students who are stressed in college that do not manage their time wisely. Not only do students have to look out for academic time management but students need to consider their health, as well as their personal time.

Students who use their time wisely have more success in college. This is also knowing that college does not have a fixed schedule every day and that students have to make a set schedule for themselves. Students should use their spread time between classes to get some work done. Students need to figure out what is a more important way to spend their time rather than what they want to do. Procrastination in college is a lot of students problems as well because they think they have all the time in the world and then the due date comes right around the corner. This is also where students get side tracked with their social life, they get too comfortable with the freedom college brings them.

Going to college means that students are on their own and also means students are going to get sick. Students don’t realize how important it is to set aside some time for your personal time and personally health time. Being able to have time to take care of yourself while being out with your friends, staying up late doing papers, and going to class. Most common thing for college students is lack of sleep. Students need to make more time for their well-being and letting them go to sleep. The better a student’s health is the better they have to succeed.

A 2007 meta-analysis by University of Calgary psychologist Piers Steel, PhD, reports that 80 percent to 95 percent of college students procrastinate, particularly when it comes to doing their coursework (Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 133, No. 1).  Students should know going to college that professors will not babysit you like high school teachers. Teachers in high school say over and over again it will not be like this in college and students do not take them seriously until they get their themselves. High school professors write on the board, remind you every time in class when assignments are due, but in college, you are reminded once maybe twice and expected to get your work in on time, ready to pass in. Students need to realize that procrastination is very hard to deal with. College is the real deal and prepares you for after college. After college you are sent out into reality and expected to live amongst people and pretend you know what you are doing. College gives you full preparations and life lessons to learn throughout your experience. You are thrown into the real world where you cannot procrastinate.

Throughout your years at school there are many skills that need to mastered for optimal success, one of them being goal setting.  Goal setting is one of the most important skills that need to be utilized every single day.  Whether it is for a test that you want to ace or a homework assignment that you want to get done by a certain time, proper goal setting can make or break you.  Without setting goals for yourself you are most likely going to poorer than you expect, setting goals for yourself makes you want to complete these and work harder and put in more time than if you nonchalantly do your work without any goal for yourself to reach and accomplish.  “By setting goals and measuring their achievements, students are able to see what they have done and what they are capable of. Seeing their results gives the confidence and assurance that they need to believe they can achieve higher goals.” (“Effective Goal Setting for Students”, 2016)

Goal setting in life is very important and crucial if you hope to achieve success in any aspect.  The best way to describe how important goal setting is, is that if you are throwing darts at a dart board without any goal to hit the bullseye you will probably never hit it.  But with a goal to hit the bullseye it may be a lot easier to hit it or at least get as close as possible.  Goals can keep you motivated at even the hardest times and can give you a light at the end of the tunnel when working on something that is time consuming or hard because they push you to finish what you are doing and eventually accomplish your goal.  “The root of all the motivation or inspiration you have ever felt in your entire life are goals.” (Lucas Falconer, 2015).

When giving yourself academic goals you should always start off broad and then slowly set smaller goals for yourself that eventually add up and help you accomplish your main goal.  Doing this helps you stay focused because it helps you really understand what needs to be done and how.  “You can have all the potential in the world but without focus your abilities and talent are useless.” (Lucas Falconer, 2015).  While setting and reaching these small goals you are adding up all of your progress and slowly getting closer and closer to your main goal without even realizing it.

Goal setting in my opinion is probably one of my most useful skills when it comes to getting all of my work done and passing a college level course.  For me I always start a semester out by setting a simple goal of passing the class, and as the semester goes on I set smaller goals like completing assignments or passing a quiz or test.  By doing this it helps me focus on what is in front of me now, and gives me a clearer picture of how I am doing in a class and what needs to be done.

One of the best way to successfully achieve this is with the help of a student planner, where a student can outline every day in a calendar that is created with them in mind. Sketching out a week’s plan on a blank piece of paper works, but it lacks the organization a of a student planner. With a planner and a plan, the student’s week will be a lot less hectic. Planners are great for writing down your everyday assignments so you do not forget anything and are always on top of your work.

Planning is a huge part of life whether that is planning for college, planning in college or planning for life after college. Many people when they think of college all they imagine is that it’s all just a big party. That is where they are wrong; college life is rushing from class to class, reading, writing essays, and working a job all at the same time. Organization is the key to overcoming this stress. Students should start by using a syllabus for each class and planning ahead of time how much time you think you will need to block out to get work done. Students have to remember that schoolwork takes time. Planning is imperative for students so they are not writing an essay the night before it’s due, knowing you also have a quiz on another subject the following afternoon. Students also need to plan out their papers as well. They have to remember that a five-page paper is not just a five-page paper. Papers require research, rewriting, and editing. Most students do not realize this and think, “Why edit or rewrite when you can just hit print?” The problem with this is if you want a solid grade then revising a paper is critical. The best writing comes from hours of work and multiple drafts. Many college students do not want to do that; it’s not because they are lazy, but because it takes so much time. Hence why having a planner to plan out your work is imperative to success in school and in everyday life. “By consistently using my student planner, everything became significantly manageable. Throughout the rest of my high school career, I explored new tools and tested various techniques such as RAM charts for projects and the Cornell note-taking method,” said Northwestern University senior Joseph Lee (College Students: These Soft Skills Lead to Academic Success)

By planning, students can alleviate the anxiety of last minute cramming and essay writing. The key is to set up a schedule. For example if a paper is due a Friday, on Monday spend an hour doing research, Tuesday write the first draft, Wednesday rework the paper a couple of times, Thursday do a final edit and print it out. By doing this and spreading out the project or work everything will be less overwhelming and students will be more successful. Unfortunately very few students are able to this mentally which hurts them in the long run. Noting the time spent at work will allow them to be more realistic in their planning, helping them throughout their whole life by being on a schedule. Let’s a student has five hours of work on Tuesday along with five hours of classes. This might sound obvious but with the week rushing by it’s easy to have work pile up on an inconvenient day. By planning ahead of time, the stress of the student’s workload can be alleviated. Once a student has their schedule done, they can sleep easier, knowing they have already planned out the upcoming week. No last minute essays, last minute study sessions, or last minute readings. While the students friends are freaking out on a Wednesday night about their workload, the student is able to relax, knowing they have already completed what needs to be done thanks to planning ahead of time.

Example of a Planner

Monday:

7:00 AM Wakeup

8:00 AM Breakfast

8:30-12:30 PM Classes

1:30-2:30 PM Homework1:00 PM Lunch

3:00-8:00 PM Work

8:30 PM Dinner

9:00-11:00 Relax
11:00 Sleep

Tuesday:

7:00 AM Wakeup

8:00 AM Breakfast

8:30-12:30 PM Classes

1:00 PM Lunch

1:30-5:30 PM Homework
6:00 PM Dinner

10:00 PM Free time

11:00 PM Sleep

Work cited

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Collegedegrees360. “Learning.” Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

Kotler, Steven. “Goal Setting 101.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

NerdWallet. “Expert Advice: Planning Your College Class Schedule – NerdWallet.” NerdWallet. N.p., 18 Apr. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Pardon Our Interruption. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

“Plymouth State University – Connect.” Plymouth State University – Connect ‹ Log In. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

Student Planner. Digital image. Flickr. Shelly, 8 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Sloane, Cathryn. “College Students: These Soft Skills Lead to Academic Success.” USNews. N.p., 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.