You might have often wondered why you always end up cramming in the last minute before your final examination. Your choir group is having practice on Saturday and your classmates have a group study planned at the same time.

Time management is essential for leading a successful college career. College life, as commonly known, is full of various surprises- lots of projects and homework, endless examinations, surprise tests and various other things with respect to academics.

Unlike high school, where you deal with the usual subjects each day, classes in college do not meet daily.

Here are a few tips that can help you minimize your stress while dealing with the different activities that you need to accomplish.

Tip #1 : Make a time chart
A Time chart is always recommended in time management. It helps you identify the best time for the different activities that you must do. For college students, the time management is a little trickier as they have fixed classes and free time in between.
A time chart can help give your schedule some structure based on the periods best suited for a particular activity. It also gives your schedule more balance. Certain students concentrate a bit too much on study and lose out on other activities such as sports, social events and recreation.

Tip #2 : Prioritize
One of the most important aspects of time management is prioritizing. It is difficult to decide which activity must be done first and which activity must be done later.
It is extremely important for college students to prioritize and select the activities to which they want to dedicate their time.
Incase you are unable to figure out what to prioritize, here are a few guidelines that can help you fix a schedule better.
• Reward. Find out the things that give you most joy. As you go through personal priorities, don’t forget to add personal fulfillment. There is always a satisfaction in doing something that you are good at. Do things that you know will give you positive results.
• Requirement: when your obligations get too much, stop right there and segregate your "chose to do" from your "must do."
It is common knowledge that any college student will have obligations. You definitely do not have to take up responsibility for all obligations in the world. You need to ask yourself what are the tasks that you need to pursue.
• Results: while sorting priorities, find out those activities that give you favorable returns. Spend maximum time on those activities that require your greatest strength. Do not waste your effort and time on things that do not result in the desired outcome
College is the best period in which to experiment and try out new things. Prioritizing can help you focus on things that are important while enjoying new experiences.

Tip #3 : Do not over-commit
Exerting excessive effort on a particular activity can result in stress, pressure and burnout. Whenever you take on a particular activity in excess, you are denying yourself the opportunity of pursuing some other activity in the same time.

Tip #4 : Write down things
Writing things down is a time management technique that can help you remember the tiniest detail regarding your activities, especially during classes. Avoid the habit of memorizing. Often we forget older details when newer ones need to be remembered.

Use your skills in time management to get rid of unpleasant schedules and to enjoy your student life.