
3 Ways to Manage Your Time as a Student

1) Sacrifice is inevitable, so choose your sacrifice wisely
There are 24 hours a day, and we must know our priorities. Start by shifting our mentality from “I can’t get all of this done” to “What am I willing to sacrifice?”. “If I only had 1 hour to do activity A or B, which would I choose? And why?”. Importantly, ask yourself about what truly matters to you. Ultimately, the value of these choices comes from the sacrifices we made.
2) Discipline provides you with Freedom
I believe this has happened to us before: Mindlessly scrolling through TikTok during a “study session” for hours only to realise that the time is up, and you haven’t achieved half of what you set out to accomplish. Here are some methods to combat this:
Firstly, using a to-do list or timeboxing our day can give us the structure we need to ensure that we are on track to completing our assignments. Always give your tasks buffers to avoid overloading and overstressing yourself and factor in break times. That way, we have something to look forward to, and the breaks become more fulfilling.
Secondly, use a calendar to schedule significant due dates and activities. Having all our tasks visible may be daunting, but there is clarity in our deliverables.
3) Learn to say “No”
For my extroverted peers, this may be the toughest. When a friend invites you for supper, or “just one round of mahjong”, you might find it extremely difficult to reject such an offer. Nonetheless, learning to say no with conviction might be the secret to unlocking more time for yourself as it achieves two things:
Firstly, people would respect your time more as they see how much you would respect your goals. Next, saying no allows us to keep on track with achieving our goals, and not let external forces derail our progress.
Keep Hustling and Stay Hungry!
Kwek Xiu Qi
Financial Services Consultant