Pearl Hlanguza, a Damelin student who will be graduating soon, shares how she effectively managed her time juggling her studies and an internship. “I needed to first understand what it meant to be a student, and an intern. Completing an internship as an undergrad student gave me invaluable experience that helped me to boost my resume, career experience, refine my communication skills and exposed me to the front lines of my area of study. In hindsight, time commitment is required, which at most times I found daunting and overwhelming but I needed to apply myself.”
It is very important to keep a diary. When you wake up in the morning, write down how much time you are going to spend studying and how much time you are allocating to your social activities. Be careful not to allocate more social time to yourself than time with your books. Rather balance the activities or give more time to studying. You will be amazed at how much difference two hours of studying everyday can make when its exam time.
“I considered taking the internship because I was able to schedule work accordingly, since I only had classes twice a week and work three times a week. Mon-Tues was campus days and the rest of my week was dedicated to my internship. Weekends were purely for studying, especially during exam time, I also got a day off for revision if I happen to write in any of the days I was meant to be working,” said Pearl.
If you manage your time effectively, you will not feel the pressure to study a whole module and cram it into a few hours because you would have given yourself enough time to really absorb what you were being taught. In addition you would have given each module enough revision, allocating two hours to each module every day before you go to bed. You have to get into the habit of putting in the time if you expect to get great results with your studies.
Make a study schedule and strictly adhere to it. This will help to properly guide you through your day as well as to prioritise better. You will be more conscious of how you split the time and allocate each activity better. Prioritising will also help you to focus on the important things.
“I prioritised both work and study. I also committed to one semester at a time, by this I mean, I applied for the internship at a less busier time, which was my second semester, for a three month period. This worked for me. This was the most critical aspect as far as time management is concerned. It assisted with the control of how much time I allocated to each responsibility. An academic schedule was extremely vital in this instance,” said Pearl.
Making time management a habit while you are a student is an investment you make in yourself. This will be beneficial when you enter the working world, where everything hinges on tight deadlines. Start being conscious about how you allocate your time during the day and reflect when the day ends. Time management is a crucial skill that will help you become a more organised individual in your life. Practice makes perfect. Try it.
