Time Management for Working Students

Students who are also doing work at a job—either to put themselves through college or because they’re going back to school after entering the workforce—often find it hard to juggle everything they need to do in a day.

Time management is key if you’re a working student. It can feel overwhelming, but there are some practical steps you can take to balance your school and work responsibilities.

Let’s talk about time management for students who are also working, including some tips for achieving your goals.

Prioritize

Before you can start planning to get things done, you need a clear idea of what you need to do. You also need to have a sense of the order in which you should tackle the tasks you need to complete.

Start by making a list of everything that needs to be done. Be prepared for it to be long and intimidating at first—but don’t worry, we’ll organize it and break it down later.

Look at the list and note any items that have a due date. For example, is there training at work you have to finish by the end of the month? Do you have a research paper due next Tuesday?

Put the tasks that need to be done soonest at the top. Once you’ve got all the high-priority items in place, look at the items that don’t have a firm “due date” but more of a suggested timeline.

For example, you may not have to get laundry done on a certain day, but you want clean sheets once a week. You may not need to go to the grocery store on Monday, but you will need to get groceries by the end of the week.

Do you have some lower-priority items left over? For example, maybe a hobby or a novel you’d like to get back to? Keep them on a side list that you can skim and fit in when you have time.

Make a Schedule

Probably the first time management tip anyone would give you is to make a schedule and stick to it. Why? It works! It seems obvious and simple, but a schedule is one of the most straightforward ways to manage your time.

When you think about the day ahead but don’t make concrete plans, you risk forgetting something, misplacing your priorities, or getting so overwhelmed by your to-do list that you just do nothing. Don’t underestimate the power of having a schedule to guide you through your busy days. Order is key for managing time, and a schedule helps get your life in order.

Start by writing out your day in 30-minute chunks. First, fill in all the events that are not flexible, like class times and work. Think about your priority items and fit them in first.

When those times are marked, you’ll be able to see what other time is available for other tasks like studying and taking care of responsibilities at home (here’s where you can work on laundry day and grocery shopping).

Use Downtime to Recharge

When you're planning your time, remember that you also need time to unwind and relax, maybe by watching an episode of your favorite show or taking a long bath. Making time to decompress and de-stress is important to avoid burnout.

You'll also have to accept that sometimes your downtime may have to be cut short. You only have so many hours in a day. When you’re overly stressed, you may want to lean more heavily into self-care—but instead of using it to shore up your reserves, you’re turning to it as an escape.

For example, if you’ve been working and studying all day, reading a chapter or two of a book for fun as you get ready for bed would be making time for self-care. On the other hand, if you binge-watch an entire season of your favorite show because you’re too overwhelmed to start writing a paper you’ve been putting off for a week, that’s avoidance.

You don’t have to take an “all-or-nothing” approach. You just need to balance the restorative power of stress-relieving activities with meeting your responsibilities.

Taking a short break can help you refocus. When you come back to your work, you might even be more productive. But resisting the urge to always choose a “fun” pursuit over the more challenging things you need to do requires self-discipline.

Being able to balance work, play, and rest is key to achieving your goals, but it takes practice and honesty. You need to tune into your needs but also be real with yourself about whether a break will help you or if it’s just a way for you to justify not doing something you don’t want to do.

Try Not to Procrastinate

Whether you’re putting off writing a research paper or doing a required (but boring) training for work, procrastination is something that even the most motivated and well-organized people do.

When you’re thinking about all the things you have to do, maybe you tend to see every single step along the way. Not surprisingly, it all starts to look like too much, and you get overwhelmed and just do nothing. Then, as you start thinking about all the stuff you have to do that you’re not doing, the anxiety sets in.

But instead of getting started on the task, you just keep putting it off. And then you feel guilty. Maybe you even start doing other things that aren’t even on your big to-do list just to feel like you’re doing something. To relieve the guilt you feel about putting a task off, you do other stuff (like household chores) to make it seem like you are accomplishing something.

Sound familiar? Procrastination might be common, but it’s not helpful. It can make it harder to manage your time effectively.

If you feel procrastination seeping in, you'll have to get real with yourself about the consequences of it. While it might feel better in the moment to free yourself from a task, you’re just making the “later” pile bigger. The truth is, if you’ve broken up a big goal into smaller tasks, the time it takes you to “do the thing” is often much shorter than you think. Once you've started, you’ll feel relief at getting it done.

It can also help to think more creatively about the task. For example, does the order of your to-do list matter? Could you shake up some tasks so there’s a little more variety? For example, could you do a few work tasks first, then do some coursework, then do some chores?

Use Tools

If you’ve got a laptop, tablet, and/or smartphone, you’ve already got a lot of tools to help you manage your time. There are apps and programs for everything—from scheduling and setting goals and reminders to enforcing productivity and reducing procrastination.

Here are just a few examples of tools you can use:

• Calendars are built into just about any device and can even sync between all your devices. You can track assignment due dates and study sessions and set up notifications and reminders. If you prefer writing things down, a physical desk calendar or planner can still have a digital counterpart—just scan the month or take a photo so you always have it on hand.
• Timers can be a big help if you tend to either stare at the clock and wish it would move faster or get so wrapped up in something that hours pass and it feels like seconds. Setting a timer can help you make sure you’re staying on track to finish a task in the time you have, as well as make sure that you’re taking breaks.
• You can download programs, browser extensions, and apps that make it harder to procrastinate. For example, you may want to block social media for a set amount of time when you need to work. That way, even if you can’t resist the urge to check (or just are in the habit of doing it mindlessly), you’re prevented from engaging with the time-suck.
• Journals and apps that help you track progress can help you stay motivated and give you a visual sense of how close you are to meeting your goals. It’s also a place where you can vent, work through the stressful feelings you’re having, and possibly even uncover some triggers and trends. You might be able to adjust your time management strategy based on what you learn about yourself.