College is a time to explore so many different things. It is a chance to explore different majors, different jobs, different clubs and organizations, different people and participate in a variety of different activities. It is a chance for students to find themselves away from the people that they grew up around and formed to. College is an amazing time to find yourself and find your true interests. 

Being a college student in a bunch of organizations, holding jobs and managing schoolwork comes with a lot of responsibility because no one is holding your hand throughout the week, telling you when things need to be done and where you need to be. 

Time management is a skill that hits you in the face the moment you step foot on the college campus for your first semester as a freshman. Although it is important to figure out how to manage your time, here are a few tricks for managing your time and being successful right away: 

1. Utilize a planner: By adding a planner into your daily/weekly routine, you are able to visualize what your week may look like. It also allows you to see all of your due dates so you don’t miss any assignments or exams. 
2. Communicate: Be in communication with those around you about what you need from them and how they can possibly assist you. This could be communication with professors, friends, family and/or UND’s counseling center. 
3. Prioritize: Figure out what on your list of things to do needs to happen first. If you have to go to work for the night, what assignment could you quickly and efficiently get done before heading out? Is there a project you should start working on so you don’t do it all the night before? 
4. Look at how you currently spend your time: Take a step back and reflect on how you are using your time. Are you taking a long nap everyday after classes? Are you spending a lot of time on homework and not much with friends? Figure out why you are stressed and work on balancing!
5. Avoid multitasking: Believe it or not doing more than one thing at a time takes more time. You are not focused on the task that you need to achieve and you’re thinking about so many other things that are causing you to be distracted. Slow and steady wins the race, so do one thing at a time! 

Being a college student is hard. It comes at times when you least expect it to be hard, but if you utilize some of these suggestions, you may be able to handle those tough times with a little bit more ease. College is a time of navigating yourself, and that includes figuring out your priorities. 

Time management is a task that you will use for the rest of your life, so figuring out how to manage your time in college is a great way to get into a habit. Figuring out how best to utilize your time will cause a lot less stress in the years to come.