Page 76 - Keys to College Success

KEY 2.5 Keep track of your time with a monthly calendar.

MARCH

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Goals, Time, and Stress Management

One last overarching strategy: Be flexible. Sudden changes can upset your plans.
Although you cannot control all the events that occur, you can control how you respond
to them. For changes that occur frequently, such as a job that tends to run into over-
time, set up a backup plan (or two) ahead of time. For sudden changes, such as medical
emergencies and car breakdowns, or serious changes, such as failing a course, use prob-
lem-solving skills to help you through (your course this term may include more detailed
information about problem solving).
Your ability to evaluate situations, come up with creative options, and put practi-
cal plans to work will help you manage changes. So will your ability to reach out to
people at your college—advisors, counselors, deans, instructors—who can help you.

HOW CAN YOU
handle time traps?

Everyone experiences time traps—situations and activities that eat up time you
could spend in a more productive way. Students just starting college, many of whom
have never before been wholly responsible for their time, often fall deeply into time
traps as they explore how much unproductive time they can spend and still get their
work done. However, with the effort to think about what trade-offs might benefit them
most, they can climb out and find a better balance.
Managing time traps doesn’t mean never doing things like chatting with friends on
Facebook or watching Funny or Die videos; it means making conscious decisions about
when and how long you do certain activities so that they don’t derail you. It also means
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