What to keep in mind when you make a study schedule

College life is not as easy as school life, which is what many students think it would be. The work of a college student does not end when the day’s lectures are over; in fact, this is when the real work starts. As a university undergraduate or post-graduate student, you have to take out time for self-study, read critical essays by various authors and do research work. Moreover, as the semester progresses further, you would have to write assignments, make presentations and projects on different topics. Consequently, you would find yourself in a situation wherein you are only juggling between your daily tasks and are unable to find time for yourself.

In such scenarios, a schedule really helps. All that you need to do is prepare a time-table of what all you need to accomplish in the day, and you would then be able to lead a disciplined academic life, with ample time for yourself at the end of the day.

Here is how you can create an ideal study schedule for yourself and achieve the perfect work-life balance for yourself.

Know your priorities

The first and foremost thing to do is to identify what all tasks you need to accomplish in the 24 hours ahead of you. This could comprise of attending lectures, completing an assignment, preparing for exams, taking out time for gym and exercise, an hour of part time work, etc. The next step would be to arrange these tasks in order of decreasing importance; that is, the most important things should be on the top of your to-do-list. If your assignment submission deadline is round the corner, then make sure that you do that first; but on more relaxed days you can take out some time for yourself first. This way, at the end of the day, you would not have to worry about having important things left undone, and you would not have to pull off an all-nighter.

Be flexible, yet disciplined

You cannot achieve great things in life if you are not disciplined. However, too much discipline can make you very stiff and rigid, and sap out the energy and spontaneity from your life. The key is to strike a chord between the right amount of flexibility and discipline, so that you end up finishing all important tasks in time, and also having enjoyed yourself in the process.

Keep a record of every subject

If you are clear about your academic progress, you will be able to allocate time to different subjects accordingly, and excel in your academics. Therefore, it is a good habit to maintain a detailed record of each subject that you study. Keep a track of how much you have studied, how many chapters are left, in which subjects the homework is completed, etc; and then work accordingly.

Take out time to relax

Often, while making a time table for ourselves, we start to feel that we are super humans, and that we will be able to complete all these tasks without a single break. This is far away from the reality, and at the end of the day, we only feel exasperated at not being able to complete the set targets. Breaks are extremely crucial because not only does the mind gets tired, but so does the body and eyes. Taking a break is a must, since it gives your mind time to relax, and you end up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.