Who wants to know Elliott's top tips on managing your time well at University?

If you answered yes to the above question, then stick around and have your mind enriched with the knowledge I am about to imbue upon you.

The first wee treat I will give you is the concept of "day planning", I do this every night before I go to sleep and all I do is write down small tasks I need to get done it the day, it would look something like this:

• Make a depop post.
• Do a food shop.
• Apply for my postgraduate accommodation.
• Write up a time management blog.
• Return Library books.
• Pack up clothes.

This then means when you wake up you have the day laid out in front of you; so, you can then better plan your day around these things; this leads me onto my second tip, keeping track of the day.

Now you have your perfectly laid out list that definitely doesn't resemble my days at the moment 😉 lets have a look at arranging the time in the day. I like to set my alarms depending on what I have on in that day, so the example I gave earlier I would wake up between 09:00-10:00 and then do my morning routine, breakfast, shower, etc...then I would begin with the tasks allocating certain amounts of time for each, here is the updated list below:

• Make a depop post. (20mins)
• Do a food shop. (1hr)
• Apply for my postgraduate accommodation. (2hrs)
• Write up a time management blog. (2hrs)
• Return Library books. (20mins)
• Pack up clothes. (2hrs)

You need to keep in mind that you need lunch, tea, and breaks so allocate this correctly and make sure you take the time to do so.

The final tip I have for you is grabbing yourself something to write on a planner/calendar, not just on your phone. The reason for this is it puts all your thoughts on paper and means you can visualise them on your desk; this works very well for me as you can see deadlines/events that are coming up; this also means you can then put this in your "daily planning" to ensure you remember it!

I hope these quick three tips helps you stay on-top of all the stuff you have going on in your busy lives; being students you have a few things to be getting on with :') I sure did.

I hope you have a wonderful day folks!

By Elliott Halford
I am a 3rd year student here at the university of Chester studying physics