The Most Important Grad School Skill: Time Management

What Can You Learn from First-Year College Students?

Several years ago, when I was working with mostly first-year college students, I held a reception with ulterior motives. I invited all the second-semester freshmen to hang out and eat cake in exchange for their insight into what they had learned in their first semester of college.

Fifty students showed up. And 49 out of those 50 told me that the most valuable thing they had learned so far was algebra.

Just kidding (although I do find myself using algebra in daily life to do things like calculate GPAs or modify recipes).

No, what the 49 students identified as the most valuable thing they learned was how to manage their time. What did the 50^th student say? Unfortunately, I don’t remember. Probably something like how to find the cafeteria.

The Importance of Managing Time

Time management was so important for these students because, as new college students, they had found themselves with more discretionary time, less top-down structure from professors or parents, and a new raft of responsibilities (you mean I have to clean my own bathroom?).

For graduate students, the situation is ratcheted up several notches. The demands on your time probably include housekeeping of some variety – even if it is only making sure you eat once in a while – and likely also bigger responsibilities, such as a job or family. And typically, grad school has even less structure than undergrad. When I was in my doctoral program, I remember asking a professor if he wanted me to report on my progress on a particular project at the end of the semester, and his response was something along the lines of, “Nope. Carry on.”

That kind of trust is flattering. Also, a little terrifying. Without clear and present due dates, it’s easy to default to the urgent, and let those important things slide (see this post on priorities for more information on this topic).

Why a Time Management System Is Not Enough

So, time management is vital. But while you need to have a good system, that is only half the battle (and for some of us, it is the easier half). Back when I was trying to get first-years to use planners, I would tell them that they needed to write down their homework, and then they needed to look at what they had written down.

The point is, the system (writing down the homework) won’t do it for you. You need to use the system (look at what is written down) and act on it (do the homework).

Managing time well helps us get important things done. That’s important. But a good time management system also reduces stress by relieving the brain of the anxiety-producing questions of “what next?” “when will I . . . ?” and “what do I do now?” That’s at least equally as valuable.

Stay tuned for an outline of my recommended time management system!

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