<p>Any tips and advice on how to effectively manage your time and please don't tell me to get off CC ;)</p>
<p>Haha, well, besides getting off CC...</p>
<p>Something I've started to do recently is not go back to my room between classes. Instead I'll go to the library or student union between classes and get work or reading done. No distractions like TV or computer or just being too comfortable in your own room. I've found it to be quite efficient.</p>
<p>go to the learning center (or whatever its called) at your school. They'll have handouts you can take, counselors you can speak with, etc.</p>
<p>Get a planner! I write down on every day what's due when, and I leave it open on my desk to that week. If you keep it open, it's much harder to ignore. As I get things done, I cross them off. Also, it makes planning things in the future easier...I can see very quickly what my "hell weeks" are, so I try to plan extracurriculars and such around them.</p>
<p>Every night before I go to bed, I make a list of what I need to do the next day. It is a great feeling to cross things off the list as you go, and eventually throw out that piece of paper once you have finished everything!</p>
<p>Lists are a good idea, but problem with fixed lists is they don't capture the complexity of the choices we face. Here's an example: I have a paper due in 3 weeks, a midterm next Wed, a few chapters to read for various classes, and homework due on Friday. If today is Wed, what <em>MUST</em> go on a list for tomorrow's actions? Nothing really, right? So what goes on the list is somewhat arbitrary and may not meet the circumstances of the morning (yuor energy, unexpected things that come up, etc). So this approach can be a good tool, to be sure, and a lot of people swear by them but they can impose some unneccessary rigidity.</p>
<p>An alternative system that uses lists but in a more flexible manner is called "Getting Things Done" after the book of the same name. In a very brief nutshell anything you can't complete at one sitting is a "project", and you make a list of these projects. Every project <em>does</em> have one or more things that can be done to move it along, these are called "next actions". You have a list of next actions, and you use your judgement to look at that list and choose what to do next. And on your 1st pass setting up the system you may realize you've promised to do too much immediately, so some of the projects get scheduled into the future (eg. a project might be "write Poli Sci term-paper", a next action might be "read 2 chapters from the book on your topic", and looking at all the other things on your plate this week you might decide the term paper can safely be deferred for 2 weeks). </p>
<p>A better description than mine is at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done</a>, and the paperback is available pretty cheaply. The GTD system is especially popular with those having a science or engieneering bent.</p>