By Joao Magalhães

I have found that organizing my everyday college schedule is not exactly an easy task. As a young college student, I easily get overwhelmed with the amount of responsibilities that I sometimes have. And for international students with a part-time job, like me, I have even more quests to be completed during the day. 

6 Tips that I Use to Create My Schedule

1. What are my priorities?

First things first, when I create a schedule for my routine, the initial step would be to reflect what should be done first—in other words, prioritizing. However, if I happen to be in the middle of the semester in a week of exams, even taking this first step of reflection can be quite challenging in an overwhelmed state of mind. In that case, before starting, I take a deep breath and have a couple of minutes for a personal meditation. 

2. Always starting with my educational duties

Once I am calm and in the right mindset, the first items you should include in a to-do list should be related solely to my educational duties, such as classes, homework, projects, and exams. I always remind myself that I am in college, a very important part of my life. 

Therefore my priority list should be started primarily with my education. While completing my classwork or during intervals between my courses, I usually take small breaks, as the human brain can only focus on one activity for so long (about one hour and a half). 

3. Taking time to socialize

Speaking of taking breaks, during a period in between my classes is the perfect time to socialize. Even though this might be a topic for my following blog posts in the future, it is important to mention how I get involved with student activities and how other students can get involved with the community too. 

That’s right, making new friends and getting involved is yet another imperative aspect of my college routine and college experience as a whole. And during my time as a college student, I have had plenty of opportunities to create new connections. Including but not limited to many fun events that I have participated in on-campus, student organizations with common interests to mine, and many volunteering opportunities. 

4. Extracurricular activities

Once I have completed my student duties for the day in a healthy manner, then I move to other extracurricular responsibilities that I also have. For example, my jobs. It goes without saying that during my daily routine, my work hours must be far away from my school responsibilities and classes. So If you have a job, your work schedule should be organized in the same way. 

Meaning that when I study in the mornings, I should be working during the afternoon at the earliest, and vice-versa. This is the case for not only my current face-to-face, on-campus classes but for online classes too. Even if you happen to be a really good multitasker, you will not be able to both works and attend a class in an efficient manner. That’s why I completely discourage this behavior. 

5. Clubs and fraternities

I apply this same philosophy to the student leader duties that I must complete since I became involved in multiple student organizations over my years in college. I always remind myself of the words of my SGA coordinators: “I must first be a student before becoming a student leader.” For instance, the most famous and successful college fraternities in the United States, such as NSCS, Phi Theta Kappa, SGA, and the Honors Program, required me to have a high GPA in order to become a member of said associations. Therefore, I first needed to be in a good grade standing in order to enjoy the many benefits that each of them has granted me in my academic journey.

6. Being confident!

On a final note, even with all of this advice, college is still not at all easy. And, there will still be times where I and you too will struggle with making an everyday schedule. Personally, as a full-time student, International Student Ambassador, SGA President, and now a student blogger, I have known struggle first hand through my semesters at HCC. Thankfully, the college already provides us with a virtual and reliable calendar in the Canvas software. 

5 Scheduling Tools to Make Your Life Easier

However, I know of yet another very effective online tool provided by HCC staff at the Student Activities Office: Time Management for College Students.

Along with reliable apps that will help you perfect your daily time management making your life easier:

1. iStudiez (watch this tutorial to get started)

2. Todoist (and here’s a tutorial for how to use it)

3. myHomework (plus its tutorial)

4. Power Planner

Joao Magalhães from Brazil is studying mass communications at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida. His favorite things about Tampa are the weather, tourist attractions, and the friends he has made.