Creating an Effective Schedule

Managing your time in college can feel overwhelming—but building a weekly schedule can help you stay in control, reduce stress, and make time for what matters most.

Start by making a list of everything you regularly do in a typical week. Don’t worry about getting super specific—this list is for you. Think about your classes, work hours, family responsibilities, and even things like meals, downtime, or student club activities.

Fixed vs. Flexible Time

How does fixed time apply to the items in your list above? Remember that fixed time is time that you have committed to a certain event, while free time is flexible time that can be used however you’d like.

Now that you’ve reviewed the concept of fixed time, go back to your list of responsibilities, and assess which ones are fixed and which can be scheduled during free time. You might want to note responsibilities or activities that are not altogether fixed but need to be done during specific periods of time. Let’s mark these as F (fixed) or SF (somewhat fixed), or O (open).

Now you have a good idea of all the things you need to do in a week. Next, let’s look at how to fit them all in.

Now, let’s think about waiting time. Do you remember what waiting time is?

In your schedule, try to identify the bits of waiting time that are part of your day-to-day schedule. Then, think about what sorts of activities you might complete during these waiting times. Remember, these are short bits of time when you don’t have the ability to maximize your concentration. So you probably can’t plan to write an essay during the bits of time between classes. But you could review or make some flashcards. What else could you get done in these bits of time?

Here are some examples:

• Make weekly to-do list
• Review notes
• Check school announcements, messages, and emails
• Make flashcards

Study Time

Now, let’s think about study time. Do you remember how many hours of studying you should expect to spend for every hour of time spent in class?

Having scheduled your fixed time, your class time, your study time, and your somewhat fixed time, how much time do you have left? Did you remember to schedule time to eat? Did you schedule time for friends? Friends are very important to your success in college. If you haven’t already done so, think about making a study group so that you can use your study time but also spend time with friends. This can be more productive than you think!