Time management starts with setting goals. You have to know what's important to you so you can allot adequate time to the things that matter. Brainstorm a list of goals you want to accomplish while you are in college. After you've listed at least 10 ideas, choose the three or four most important to you. Goals for a university student could include graduating with honors, achieving a certain class rank or completing a major, minor or certificate program that your school offers.
Purchase a wall calendar that you can post in a conspicuous place. Review your syllabus for each of your classes and write in every significant date: finals, mid-terms, term papers, quizzes, projects and assignments. Working backward from those deadlines, fill in milestone dates. For a term paper, for example, choose a date by which you will select your topic, a date when your research will be complete and a date when your first draft will be written, giving yourself a few days to polish the draft before the paper is due.
Create a detailed weekly schedule for every week of the term. Your college education should be your full-time job, so plan to spend 40 hours a week on academics. Fill in your weekly class time and any mandatory meetings with your professors, your study groups or your counselor. Add sufficient time for sleeping and eating healthy meals. The time remaining is time you have available for academic and personal pursuits. It may surprise you to see how much available time you have in a week.
Every weekend, fill in your available time for the coming week. Schedule study time in the morning and afternoon, when your brain is most alert. Schedule some review time for each class; reviewing material helps you retain it. Schedule some personal time during the week for activities you enjoy. Exercise contributes to mental alertness, so stay physically active during the school week by scheduling fitness activities.
Don't overlook the value of small blocks of time. Instead of standing outside talking to your friends, review material from your last class in five minutes if you are sitting in the classroom waiting for class to start. In 10 minutes, transcribe notes from your last class into a course outline. In 20 minutes, research references for a term paper or make flash cards. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can't study without having 90 minutes of available time in one chunk; every bit helps.
Manage your time on a daily basis by making a short list every day of the things you must accomplish that day. Your list determines what you do with your unscheduled, available time. Going to class should be on the list every day. Writing your task list every day during breakfast is an effective habit to get into to make sure you start the day with proper nutrition and that you focus your mentality on the tasks at hand.