How do I balance and clean up my general schedule?

Student Lounge College Life
1

So like, I started my first year in college and my general schedule, not my school schedule, is a giant mess. Like, everything I do just feels random and disorganized to me and I’m not exactly sure how I can clean up my schedule. I’m not sure when I should study (and HOW I should study), when I should do homework, when I should relax and/or hang out with friends and/or take part in clubs and stuff. Can anyone help me organize and balance my schedule?

Here is my CLASS schedule:

Monday: -

General Physics LECTURE 8:00 am - 9:25 am
General Physics LAB 9:45 am - 11:10 am
English 12:00 pm - 2:05 pm

Tuesday -
Intro to Chemistry LECTURE 9:45 am - 11:50 am
Intro to Chemistry LAB 3:00 pm to 6:10 pm
Calculus 2 6:45 pm to 8:50 pm

Wednesday -
General Physics LECTURE 8:00 am - 9:25 am
General Physics LAB 9:45 am - 11:10 am
English 12:00 pm - 2:05 pm

Thursday -

Intro to Chemistry LECTURE 9:45 am - 11:50 am
Calculus 2 6:45 pm - 8:50 pm
​

I wake up at like 6:30 am every day so I can get to school by 7:15 - 7:30 ish so I can find a parking spot, so I have about 2+ hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays before my first class class to study or something. On Tuesdays, I have a 2 hour and 10 minute break before my lab. On Thursdays, I have about 7 hours in between my Chem and Calc class. Then on Mondays and Wednesdays, I have the rest of the time to do whatever (study, do homework, etc). I don’t have any Friday, Saturday, and Sunday classes. I sleep from 11:30 pm to 6:30 pm, so I’ll be getting about 7 hours of sleep every day

As you can see, there is a lot of breaks in between classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a lot of time to study or do homework or do something on Mondays and Wednesdays after 2:05 pm.

Please help! I feel like if I keep this messy schedule that I have right now, I’ll eventually fail most of my classes. I need to know when I should do homework, when I should study, when I should relax or do other stuff, and how long I should do each of these. Naturally, I should mix it up from time to time depending on what happens, but I want some sort of set schedule to follow for the time being as I get used to college.

Hopefully this made sense. Thanks!

2

There is a great book that helps with this: I would highly recommend the book by Cal Newport: “How To Become a Straight-A Student:
The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less”
It will help you with time management and how to be more efficient.

3

My students this year are all talking about this app called mystudylife. They love it to help them stay organized. Hope it helps!

4

@bopper thanks for the recommendation! Not sure if I should buy it or not because it requires me to read it first and I’m not exactly sure if I have the time to read that book LOL

@ccprofandmomof2 I’ll give it a try. Thanks!

5

Its a fast read! it is worth the investment in time.

6

Is there a way for you to stay overnight somewhere on Tuesdays?
Then you could get organized better.

First:
Check when Office hours are for EACH class. Schedule one for each subject, each week.
(During the lecture, write down questions you have. Then during office hours, ask “During the lecture on Monday, you mentioned w, could you perhaps explain it to me as I’m not sure I understand”. When you read things or do problem sets, write down questions “I had trouble with exercise Z p. 14, what’s the underlying principle? What should I read to understand it better?” “I found z, mentioned on p; 34, fascinating, would you be able to develop a bit? Recommend further reading on it?”)
If office hours for a subject aren’t at a time you don’t have class, email the professor.
“Dear Professor Z, My name is Vroomvroom Lastname and I am in your 8 am MW Physics class. I hoped to be able to go to Office Hours, since I have a few questions I’d need help with, but unfortunately I have class during the published hours. Is there a way I could meet with you/the TA at any time after 2:15 on MW or any time between 12 and 6 on Thursdays? Thank you for your time. Sincerely, VroomVroom Lastname”.
If a professor/the TA aren’t friendly nor helpful (it may happen), stop going every week for that particular subject until one week before the midterm. No matter what, go to those office hours with your most important questions.

Second:
Ask around: when are study groups? when is the study center/writing center/tutoring center open? How does one “reserve” a tutor or get some help?
Many freshmen think tutors are for failing students - in reality, they’re most often and most effectively used by students who want a better grade (ie., B to B+, or A- to A).
If no study group is set up, set one up for chem, physics, calc.

Third:
Schedule meals. Make them mandatory. You need breaks to recharge your batteries (not talking about your phone :p). No excuse. 30mn down-time every day with a balanced meal in the student cafeteria. Invite fellow students - “I’m going to grab something to eat, want to join me?” - and if you eat at the same time (11:10 or 11:50) every day, it’ll be easier for a habit to form, and thus socialize with classmates. As a commuter, it’s something you’ll find harder than if you lived on campus. If you don’t have a meal plan, see if you university has a commuter plan.

Fourth:
On M and W, don’t go home at 2pm.
First, you’ll have lab reports to finish. Do that before you go home. Get it done, don’t push it back for later.
Also, look around: what groups and clubs meet on Mondays or Wednesday at any point after 2pm? Join them. As a freshman, you’re expected to test everything out until you settle on 2-3 activities you wouldn’t miss.
And of course you’ll have office hours, study groups, tutoring.
Same thing between 12:30 (after lunch) and 6:30pm on Thursdays.
Once you have office hours/tutoring/study group + clubs with meeting hours into your schedule, see where you have 2-hour blocks of time to study in the library. The library’s calm and depending on your college you may even be able to reserve a study carrel where you can lock a few books and study in peace.

7

@MYOS1634 I commute to school. I live only 15 minutes away. Does that count?

And wow. holy crap. this is going to help me a ton. like, A TON. Thank you so much! Just a few comments from me:

First point: I never really thought about doing that. Like as a weekly thing. I only thought about it as like “yeah ill just go only if i absolutely can’t understand something”, so id only go when i feel like it. I’ll try to go to office hours every week now. Luckily, none of the office hours interfere with my classes, so i dont have to email them. Also, that “Vroomvroom Lastname” absolutely killed me LOL

Second point: How should I ask around? No idea how I should find a study group unless I make one myself

Third point: Yeah, definitely. Not sure about that “balanced” part tho. I usally just go to a nearby subway or jack in the box to eat.

Fourth point: Yep! Well, not exactly. I always stay after school to study up til 5 pm. Might go home at 6:30 or 7 pm when clubs start. I went home last thursday to go eat at home actually. Was a bit of a mistake bc I started chilling and just used my phone before going back to school 2 hours before my class started so i could study before class.