I returned late Saturday night from a conference to discover one of my roommates popping tiny white pills while staring blankly at his computer screen. After the shock (but not awe) wore off, I asked him exactly what had led him to this pill popping extreme. Several seconds ticked by before he even seemed aware of my presence. “Oh,” he said. “I’ve got two projects due Monday morning and I’ve gotten nowhere on them.” He was taking No-Doze pills to stay awake just to finish his projects. Like so many other college students, my roommate had become the victim of time mismanagement.
Upon reaching college, students find themselves in a unique environment. No longer do they have the pressures of parents, teachers or truancy officers to force them to do their schoolwork. They are free to do as they please, when they please. For many of them, this drastic change from a structured high school life to the freedoms and responsibilities of college leads down the GPA-killing path of time mismanagement.
It begins in the first days of college. Few professors require homework assignments early in the semester, so students around the nation are free to pursue the many social attractions available in college. Even students here in Starkville can find something to do.
When homework is finally assigned, the social habits remain. Work is put off until the last minute, setting the pattern for time mismanagement that lasts throughout college. Eventually, students find themselves working throughout the night and popping No-Doze just to survive.
The student’s social life isn’t impervious to time mismanagement. Once the assignments begin to pile on after freshmen year, students find themselves wasting time “goofing off,” watching movies, surfing the Internet, playing video games and participating in other activities which, up until then, they had plenty of time for.
Furthermore, these activities are addictive, so when the crunch comes between schoolwork, social life and goofing off, it’s often the social life and schoolwork that get put off. And while schoolwork can be made up at 3 a.m., it is hard to have a social life when everybody is asleep.
Not only does time mismanagement destroy GPAs and social lives, it sends students’ stress levels soaring. Students find themselves with the choice of sleeping or studying for an upcoming test, a lose-lose situation for anyone who isn’t Einstein. It’s hard to feel ready for a test without sleep, and sleeplessness leads to worry and stress about the test that further reduce students’ abilities to do their best, especially if the test will have a major impact on their grades. The stress is only compounded for students on scholarship or looking at graduate school, because taking a hit to the GPA can end their college careers.
The problem is further complicated by the fact that many students participate in extra-curricular activities or hold jobs, sometimes to pay for school. These students find themselves with absolutely no time on their hands. They soon become over-stressed, which can affect not only their schoolwork but their jobs or career activities as well. Imagine facing the prospect of having a job to pay for school and losing the job because of schoolwork. The stress of such a situation is almost unbearable.
Clearly, time mismanagement is a major problem for college students. So how does one save GPA, social life and job, while regaining the privilege of sleeping when the sun is down? To begin with, many students could streamline their schedules by taking only one hard class per semester. Simply look ahead and ask fellow students which classes and professors require the most work and schedule accordingly. For students who find themselves financially dependent on a job that harms their schoolwork, numerous sources of financial aid exist. Scholarships, grants and student loans can reduce workload to a bearable amount.
While helpful, these solutions offer only a little relief if students still fail to manage their time. Numerous Internet sites, many of which are set up by colleges, address this issue. One site recommends that students 10-15 minutes to plan every week in advance. Study sessions should be arranged so that two hours of study are scheduled for each hour of class. You can access these Web sites by entering “time management” into your favorite search engine.
Time mismanagement is a major problem among college students. Students’ GPA, social life and physiological well-being suffer from time mismanagement. To prevent ending up like my pill-popping roommate, check out the host of Web sites on time management. Less stress, more time and higher grades-it’s a great deal.
Nathan Alday is a senior aerospace engineering major.