Efficiency

I often hear the phrase from fellow peers that they are a busy college student with little wiggle room for extracurricular participation, involvement in out of school projects and social activities. This blanket term of “busy college student” is humorous to me in several ways. College is about learning, experiencing and growing. How could one possibly be too busy to have flexible scheduling on the side? Are they fulfilling their duties as a student and living it to the fullest? And if a typical college student is taking three classes, what could they possibly doing when they aren’t involved in school?

Let me introduce myself. My name is C Hayley Halstead, and I am a senior with a business administration degree and a concentration in marketing. I currently am taking four classes, have two part-time jobs, am a member of AKPsi’s executive board (VP of Marketing), run a committee  and have been a “big” for the past three pledge classes. On top of that I make all A’s and B’s, with extra room to jump into more activities. How I do it isn’t rocket science. 

Organization is golden 

Proper organization is essential to leading an efficient life. I am either absolutely appalled or incredibly impressed when I hear about someone who does all of their planning in their head. When it comes to assignments and prioritizing so that everything is done, I am very much a visual person.

Here’s my schedule for next week in a smartphone application I use called “Weekly Calendar.” 

This calendar is absolutely essential to my success because I can clearly map out my required time blocks and fill in the spaces, known as my "flex block." During my flex blocks, I assign time to getting homework done, studying, writing articles/conducting interviews for my newspaper job or spending time with friends relaxing. 

Another app I have used in the past to organize my to-do list is called "myHomework." This is a completely free app that will categorize, prioritize and remind you about upcoming deadlines. Here's an example of how it can be used:

Some people may say that in order to be efficient, you need to have an organized work space. I don't necessarily agree with this, as my work space is constantly changing (I use computer labs on campus). What I do agree with is that you can feel better about yourself by being neater and tidier. For example, something as routine as making your bed in the morning can have a refreshing feeling, especially when you come home after a long day to a nicely made bed. Plus, if you have roommates, they would probably appreciate someone who likes to keep things clean in public areas. 

Discipline is key

Despite the fact that it is much easier said than done, do not procrastinate. It will make life a lot easier if you can get ahead of your projects before the night before it's due. Also, in a practical setting, it makes a lot more sense to spread out the work evenly over a period of time so you can gradually finish it. One of the tricks I use is scheduling my due date for at least a day before it's due, to allow for any last minute issues that may arise. This is called "shrinking your mental deadlines." 

Take a break 

Maybe one of the reasons you are inefficient is because you spend too much time at the task at hand. By taking breaks and rewarding yourself for what you have accomplished, you can be more productive by having a fresh start. Get up, stretch, have a healthy snack or even go workout and return to your work. Find good stopping points along the way, as not to cram everything that needs to be done into one session. 

Multitasking  efficiency

Okay, so we have all done this before. I can find myself guilty as charged for this, but as it turns out, multitasking can actually hinder your performance. Focus on one task at hand so that you can give it your one hundred percent. Probably one of the most common ones would be social media and homework. Avoid these distractions! Here's a PBS article about how multitasking won't get things done here. I separate the tasks I need to do and conquer them one at a time.

These are just a few suggestions that I use everyday in my life to juggle all of the madness. What can you do TODAY to be more efficient in your life?