8 Time Management Tips for Adult College Students

8 Time Management Tips for Adult College Students

By Beth Dumbauld

Choosing to go back to college as an adult is an easy decision. There may be no better decision when it comes to enhancing your career and reaching lifelong dreams. In fact, there is a substantial income gap between college grads and high school-only grads. Studies have shown that on average, a person with a college degree earns 74% more than a high school graduate -- a gap that’s up from 40% in 1980.¹

Though the decision to go back to college may be easy, following through can be difficult. For the adult learner, finding the time to realize your educational dreams can be a huge challenge. You aren’t alone, however: most college students are crunched for time. In fact, most college students work: 78% of undergraduates work, and on average, employed students spend almost 30 hours working with 25% of them working full time.² Many non-traditional students also have the additional time commitments related to family life. If you do return to college but aren’t overly focused on managing your schedule and your available time, you can easily become overwhelmed by all there is to do. 

A successful college student is also someone who knows how to manage their most critical resource -- time. Here are a few time management strategies to help adult learners like you do the same:

1. Know your priorities: Make a list of all activities you need to do or possibly delegate. Mark what should be considered high priority versus low priority. You may want to try numbering them. A 1 could mean an essential task with a 2 and 3 holding a lower position; tasks that can wait. Be sure to make a daily to-do list grouping the 1’s, 2’s and 3’s together. Each day you’ll want to reconfigure this task list and reward yourself for accomplishing your most important tasks first.³

2. Work time: Assess how long each task will take and how much energy.⁴ For highest priority tasks requiring the most energy, you’ll want to schedule that activity when you do your best work. Know yourself. Are you a morning person or do you do better work late at night?

3. Be healthy: Paying attention to your health may seem basic, but you really do want to give your body and mind its best chance at top performance. Healthy activities include regular exercise. Exercise, among its many health benefits, can help reduce stress. Stress reduces performance, as does lack of sleep. Make sure to keep a good night’s sleep a priority. Rest allows your brain to perform at its peak. Lack of sleep can make the day seem longer and tasks more difficult.⁵ Another good strategy is to include a walking/stretching break between study activities. When switching between subjects, walking helps clear your mind and reset your brain for new activities.

4. Build in flexibility: An adult learner will benefit from a flexible mindset and schedule. As you consider a return to college with a life already full of commitments, you may want to consider an online college for its scheduling flexibility. An online program allows a student to control when, where, and how they take classes and study. No matter where you choose to go to college, flexibility also means building in extra time to manage unforeseen obstacles (UFOs) on your time into your schedule. UFOs will happen.⁶ Plan accordingly.

More on Letting the Little Things Add Up

¹Inside Higher Ed, The Case for More College Grads, June 27, 2011
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/06/27/report_makes_case_that_u_s_needs_more_college_going_citizens#ixzz1hkcnKqJb 

²Acenet Issue Brief, Working Their Way Through College, May 2006, p.1 (PDF Download)
http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=1618

³Academic Skills Center, CA Polytechnic State University, Time Management, p.1
http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/TimeMgmtStrategies.pdf

⁴IBID

⁵The College Board, Time Management Tips for Students, 2011.
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/116.html

⁶Academic Skills Center, CA Polytechnic State University, Time Management, p1
http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/TimeMgmtStrategies.pdf