What is Time Management Really? A Student's Guide to Understanding Time

Text: what is time management really with image of computer and clock

By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed.

We’ve all heard of “time management,” and most of us know that it’s important. Time management is a concept my students and professional clients often say they understand. But when I observe their day-to-day habits, it’s clear that many don’t know how to actually apply it.

So what is time management really? What is this phrase that gets thrown around at work and school? And why does it make so many people roll their eyes?

This blog post is a student’s guide to understanding time and how managing it can quite literally change their life.

What Is Time Management Really?

When I ask my students and clients to explain what time management is in their own words, I often hear some version of it’s when we manage our time.

While this definition is not wrong, it does nothing for one’s ability to manage their time.

The problem with the term “time management” is that it’s vague. Not only is the concept of time abstract (because it’s invisible), but even the concept of management is abstract.

So let’s make the concept of time management specific.

Time management involves three key concepts:

Clarifying what you must do
Clarifying and prioritizing what you want to do
Clarifying when those activities will take place

In other words, time management is about knowing what to do and when to do it with full intention and clarity.

Two words in that previous sentence are essential to true time management: intention and clarity. Without these two concepts, you’re not truly managing your time.

Intention means having a clear purpose for each activity (what do you want? What’s your larger goal?), while clarity involves knowing the specific steps or commitments required to complete it.

We break down each of the above three steps in the section below called How to Really Manage Time as a Student.

What Time Management Is Not

Contrary to popular belief, time management does not involve cramming more things into the time you have. That’s a recipe for stress, overwhelm, and burnout.

Time management is also not just about calendars and clocks. These are time management tools, which we will talk about in a later section of this post, but simply using calendars and clocks does not make an effective time management system. Tools are not systems.

Why Is Time Management Hard for Students?

Time management isn’t just hard for students; it’s hard for everyone. But I think it’s hardest for students because you are essentially the youngest group of people whose “job” is to do things by a deadline. But the problem is that high school and college students are not often taught HOW to manage time; rather, you’re simply told TO manage your time.

(Note: This is the exact reason I created SchoolHabits University – to teach the “how to do school” skills that students need to, well, do school. Yes, managing time included.)

Time management is also hard for students because, for the most part, your tasks and obligations are given to you. Except for hobbies and personal interests, you are essentially told what to do in the form of homework, showing up to class, arriving at afterschool activities on time, etc. This makes managing time hard because when we don’t have a personal interest in what we’re doing, it lacks relevance – and when something lacks relevance, our motivation for doing that thing decreases or becomes nonexistent.

In other words, there is a huge mental game involved in managing time for students because many of the tasks you’re asked to do lack personal relevance.

How to Really Manage Time as a Student

Earlier in this blog post, I broke down the three components of time management. I’ll list them below again so that we can break each one down further.

Clarify what you must do
Clarify and prioritize what you want to do
Clarify when those activities will take place

1. Clarify what you must do

The first step of a good time management strategy involves clarifying what activities you are required to do. For most students, this just means classes. For other students, it may also include a job or any other non-negotiable activity that consumes more than an hour a week.

Make a list of the activities you must do. Even if your list is just one item long (ie: school), write it down because we’ll need it in step 3.

2. Clarify and prioritize what you want to do

Time management involves knowing what you want to spend time on. The goal is to do the right things (right?), but we can only do that if we figure out what those things are. This is where time management becomes intentional.

For students, this means figuring out what activities and after-school engagements you want to do. This includes sports, the arts, a part-time job, internships, and hobbies. These can be activities offered by your school, but they don’t have to be.

Figuring out what you want to do sometimes requires experimentation, and that’s okay. You may try an activity for a few months and then realize it’s not for you. But at some point, especially at the high school and college level, you’ll have to start narrowing down your top interests and your values.

(You may want to be involved in 10 different activities, but as you’ll see in the third step, that won’t be possible.)

A good place to start with clarifying and prioritizing what you want to do is to begin with clarification and end with prioritization.

How to clarify what you want to do:

Make a list of everything you want to do for the next 6-12 months. This can include activities you’re already involved in.
Narrow down your list to the top 3 to 5 activities. (This is the maximum amount of activities a typical high school or college schedule allows.)
Determine the time commitments for each of the 3 to 5 activities that remain on your list. Be realistic, accurate and granular.

How to prioritize what you want to do

Consider the list of 3-5 activities you created in the previous step. Rank them in order of most important to least important.

This is a personal decision that needs to weigh not only the activities that bring you joy but also the activities that will lead you to your future goals. For example, if you want to enter the medical field, you may need to prioritize an internship in a lab over a pick-up ping-pong league. As your future goals change, so too will your activities. That’s why a good time management strategy always includes periodic reevaluation.

3. Clarify When Your Activities Will Take Place

The magic of time management happens in this step. This is the step where we make time visible. This is also where time management becomes a math equation.

This step is also where we talk about tools like calendars and clocks.

Every activity we commit to consumes time – whether it’s an “official” school-run activity like soccer or a personal hobby like playing the guitar. These are minutes and hours that you have to measure and account for. But remember: we can’t measure what we can’t see.

In this Google Calendar tutorial for students, I teach you a step-by-step process for using a digital calendar for school. It’s this process that reveals whether or not you have the time to complete your activities.

If we don’t go through the work of adding the activities we want to and must do to a calendar, including commute times to and from those activities, we will never fully master time management.

Many of my students and clients buy into the false idea that time management involves feelings: I’ll often hear students say “I feel like I have time to do this” or “I feel busy.”

My response? Time is not feelings.

So here’s how to clarify when or if your activities can get done:

Take out a calendar. It can be digital or analog. If you want to use a paper version, use my free weekly planning template. It’s a PDF download so you can print it out or use it digitally.
Take out your list of activities that you want to do and must do. You created these in steps one and two.
Add your activities to your calendar. Add commutes to and from each activity.
Add your meals.
Add you when you wake up when you go to bed.
Add in time for studying, homework, and completing school readings.

At the end of this process, you should see whether or not your math equation is balanced.

Do you have space in your schedule to fit your activities? Do you have space in your schedule to rest? If the answer is no, you need to reevaluate.

If the answer is yes, then you have successfully balanced the time management math equation and you theoretically have time to complete the things you want to and have to do.

The Reality Of Time Management

Let’s assume you have successfully identified the activities you want to do and have to do, and you have made time visible by adding those activities to a calendar and determining that you have the time to do them all. Great. What’s next?

The reality is that time management has to be fluid. Life happens, schedules change, and sometimes we have to pivot unexpectedly. (Tip: build buffer time in your schedule between events.) If you don’t have tools and strategies to manage what happens if there’s traffic or you need longer than planned to complete an assignment, then you’re going to struggle to stay on track.

For starters, it’s essential to avoid these time management mistakes. These mistakes can undo all of your time management efforts, so take them seriously.

It’s also essential to take your focus and concentration seriously. The best time management strategy in the world will collapse if you are not focused and if you can’t complete what you say you’re going to complete in the amount of time you allotted for that activity.

The Pomodoro Technique and the Power Hour are two effective time management strategies that Can increase your concentration and productivity. (Note: those links are for the blog post and video versions of the tutorials. If you prefer podcasts, here you go: How to Use the Pomodoro Technique and How to Use the Power Hour.)

Final Notes About Time Management for Students

I’ve already said this but it’s worth saying again: a good time management system involves periodic reevaluation.

Every 6 to 12 months, take a look at your system and assess whether things are working or not. Are you feeling stressed? Rushed? Overbooked? Or perhaps you’re feeling bored and not involved enough?

It’s okay if your priorities and goals change as long as you come back to the foundations of good time management so you can get back on track.

What are the foundations of good time management? You know this: clarifying what you must do, clarifying and prioritizing what you want to do, and figuring out when those things will happen.