6 Time Management Mistakes to Avoid

Written by Julia Gralki.

When a professor asks, “What’s one of the most important soft skills?,” at least ten hands will shoot up and at least one of them will answer with, “Time management.”

In a world that never seems to slow down, time management is indeed a crucial skill. Every job description and resume seem incomplete without the keyword “time management.” But while we all believe to have mastered the art of time managing, have we really?

Mistake 1: Ineffective scheduling

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Do you feel most energetic as the sun rises, or when it’s pitch-black outside? It’s quite normal that productivity levels change throughout the day. However, you can play out your circadian rhythm to your advantage by scheduling high-priority tasks when you are the most productive. That also goes for tasks that require a lot of mental power, like writing an essay or brainstorming project ideas. Work that requires less brain power (like replying to emails, repetitive drawing homework or reading a book for class) should be scheduled during times of low energy.

Mistake 2: Addiction to busyness

Sometimes, it’s easy to lose track of focusing on important tasks and work on low-value tasks that eat up your time. You’re staying busy, but the work isn’t contributing to the goal you’re trying to achieve. While you might satisfy your addiction to busyness, you’re actually feeling stressed because you’re ineffective. To avoid this, try to slow down by bunching low-value tasks together. For example, dedicate one Friday afternoon to running errands and doing them all in a row.

Mistake 3: Not prioritizing tasks

We’ve mentioned prioritization a few times already, but here we go again. Knowing how to prioritize tasks can be difficult, especially when you’re facing a bunch of deadlines, exams and other responsibilities. Tools like Notion or Action Priority Matrix can help you determine which tasks should be prioritized.

Mistake 4: Getting distracted

Distraction plays a huge role in time management. You can lose up to two hours daily to distractions. Every time you get distracted, it takes some time to return to your original task. Imagine what you could do with the time you regain by staying off your phone, keeping your browser taps minimalistic or not clicking on that YouTube video while writing an art history essay. If you want to learn more about how to stay focused, read our article “How to get your focus back.”

Mistake 5: Procrastination

The word procrastination is part of our daily vocabulary as college students. Procrastination is that guilty feeling when you’re putting off essential tasks you should be focusing on. Perhaps you haven’t started the design project you know is going to be challenging, and you also haven’t posted the art history discussion post you’ve been dreading. It’s currently 6 p.m. and they’re both due at midnight. There’s always a point where procrastination will catch up with you.

To avoid procrastination, you can make a deal with yourself that you’re only going to work on the project for ten minutes. It’s typical for procrastinators to want to complete a project in one go, even though that might create overwhelming expectations. By focusing on small amounts of time, it’ll be easier to get started.

You might also want to try breaking projects into smaller steps, so the work doesn’t seem insurmountable. Create a to-do-list and jot down the stepping stones that will eventually lead you across the river to complete the project. You will be less overwhelmed as you tackle the project step by step instead of all in one go.

Mistake 6: Skipping breaks

You can’t be productive without taking breaks. While it might be possible to work for ten hours or pull an all-nighter before an important assignment, it’s impossible to stay focused for that long. In order to remain productive, you need to give your brain time to relax and recover. Taking breaks is not a waste of time, instead, it’s much-deserved downtime that will improve creativity and efficiency. If you struggle to stop working, schedule regular breaks by setting an alarm or reminders. Also, don’t forget to eat because productivity doesn’t happen on an empty stomach.