How to manage my time as a college student?

Options
2»

Replies

  • Laurenloveswaffles
    Laurenloveswaffles Posts: 535 Member
    Options
    Personal experience:
    I work full time and go to school full time. Work 7-5 classes 5:30-10:30
    How did I make it work? NO EXCUSES
    My *kitten* is in the gym at 3:15am every morning.
    The answer is to simply make time and make yourself do what you need to do.

    Good luck this semester
    Yep. I have almost the same exact schedule as hers. It can be done
  • Aries_95
    Aries_95 Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    Like what others said wake up at 3 or 4 and go to the gym

    Thats what I'm planing to do next month, 4th year, studying 7 subjects in civil engineering: (In paranthesis are the stuff I'll have to do in the course)

    Concrete design (Designing an entire building) - Traffic Engineering (Calculating traffic in an entire nation) - Foundation design (Designing building foundations) - Bridge design (Designing a bridge) - Steel design (Designing a steel structure).

    Toughest semester yet but I'm hoping to make it work. If me & the others can, so can you!

    Seems like this is what i'll be doing!! Thanks for the suggestions & good luck :)
  • Aries_95
    Aries_95 Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    I'm on the same boat as you, I'm going to be trying to go to the gym between classes and taking my notebook with me so I can study on the treadmill! Whatever works for you honestly, even if you have to stay up late and do a 20-30 min workout or wake up really early and do it, GOOD LUCK!

    Thanks for the reply hun! Yes i'll be doing this hopefully! TO YOU AS WELL! :D xo
  • nicjustine
    nicjustine Posts: 37
    Options
    Meal Prep for sure- planning your meals and having them ready to go/microwave/grab is a huge time saver. If you have a gym at your school, go there after class or walk the track (if you have one.. around the area/campus if you don't). There are ways to squeeze in activity throughout the day, you just have to get a little creative. :)
  • scarletpride16
    scarletpride16 Posts: 191
    Options
    Some of these suggestions are great! I am going to try waking up early to workout since I have early morning classes and so I can have time to eat before my first class (working out in my dorm)! It's a balancing act for sure but set aside time for studying/homework, friends, and working out. Good luck to you!
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Options
    Use the campus locker system and showers and get your workout in while you're on campus and make them compound lifts because they are most time effective or some sort of super set. I used to workout after getting off work at 2 am.. #sacrificetowin
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    Options
    My classes start at 8 and end at 4:30 everyday & I wake up around 6 to shower, make breakfast & drive to my college.. I reach home at 5-5:20 & I usually sleep between 11-1.. It takes me two hours to do chores/dinner/laundry/shower & I need 3 hours to finish my school work :( it takes me a while to study i dont know why! Last year I could barely finish this and have an hour to rela/watch tv/chill with friends.. How can I do all of this and add an hour workout this year? I need some tips on how to manage time please! Or to multitask or anything :(

    School is just the beginning, welcome to the real world.

    First going tot he gym isn't required to lose weight, you can in fact lose weight just by closely watching your food intake and eating at a small calorie deficit.

    For general health purposes, the gym is very necessary. If you try a heavy lifting program like "Strong Lifts" you only have t workout 3 times a week and it's only 3 exercises per workout. If you're strapped for time I highly recommend this workout.

    Also, you're doing something wrong if you legitimately have 2 hours of chores everyday. Laundry only happens once a week (for me at least) and can easily be done on the weekend when you have more time. Dinner preparation can be tough but if you're making a lot of meals completely from scratch that might be a problem too. Maybe on workout nights 3x a week you could try simpler recipes. I buy salmon from costco that takes 30 minutes to bake with no prep. I can boil some rice to have with it and that takes 5 minutes.
  • annemariejv
    annemariejv Posts: 4
    Options
    YES MEAL PLANNING WORKS! I find when I get a free 5 minutes or so I'll reflect on what food I have at home and make my meal list on MFP for a day or two in advance! This way the plan is there when I don't have the time to make it and I don't over eat when I'm stressed or improvising because it will already be there!
  • natashac84
    natashac84 Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    I've been in university for 4 years now. You do not have classes for 8.5 hours straight every day. I'm enrolled in 5 courses, have classes every day. On Monday and Wednesday I start at 9am and end at 4pm, but only 4 hours of that is spent in class; 3 hours of class on Tuesday and Thursday; 1 hour on Friday. It takes me 30-60 minutes to get home by car, double that when I'm using public transportation (which is most of the time).

    my husband is planning on doing a course when he finished his current course. It is an intensive 1 year course that is 5 days a week 9-5. They pretty much do one unit a week, I personally think he is crazy lol, I know I couldn't do it.
  • jancie84
    jancie84 Posts: 83 Member
    Options
    You only sleep 3 hours?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Options
    Multi-task.

    Can you read/study while on the treadmill? Jog in place while watching TV? Use time between classes effectively. Some of it to study, some of it to walk on campus or use the fitness center if there is one.

    I work full time 40 hours a week. And part time 10-12 hours a week. And I'm a full time grad student, plus 3 kids & a husband. Life is busy for everyone. Its about finding ways to make it work. Being healthy does not mean devoting 40-80 hours a week to fitness, but working it into your life.
  • fultimers
    fultimers Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    I only take a half load of classes and I can't imagine the stress of full time classes + a job + family responsibilities. However, I do maintain a 4.0 average and have had to make choices. Most of the time, I choose to be active in MFP but it is easy to make excuses and allow myself to slack off on logging into MFP--but I don't like the results.

    What I have had to do is cut out almost all television and social activities. (I don't do well with the social activities anyway when foods that I don't need to be eating are always present). I am trying to spend less time on FB and the boards of MFP because it can be addictive but I also find that mini breaks on FB help me get back to my studies with a fresher mind.

    My husband doesn't really cook but he doesn't mind grilling so I try to have fresh fish and chicken breasts in the house for him to grill and then all I have to do is prepare a side or two. In the past, I have done Once a month cooking and have these meals ready to thaw in the freezer--this can be a big time saver. I like the suggestion of doing more crockpot meals and need to utilize this time saver.

    We students just have to experiment and discover what works best for us to fit it all in. For me, not getting enough sleep is not an option. I can function for a night or two with 6-7 hours of sleep but it catches up with me. When I can get 8-9 hours of sleep, I do so much better in focusing and studying. However, I'm sure that some students (especially the ones who have jobs) cannot get as much sleep as they need.

    Good luck to all of you who are students and who are trying to reach their weight goals in MFP. We can do it!

Categories