How To Make Your College Schedule Cohesive

You’re signing up for classes and it hits you: When will I have time for lunch? If I put a break here, will I actually study? Being able to choose your own times is an awesome power, but at times it might feel like more of a hindrance than a help. Instead of staying overwhelmed, use this guide in order to make sure that your college schedule is right for you.

1. Decide if you’re a morning person

Don’t think about that time when you were six years old and you got up at 7 AM every day, think about the past couple years and judge yourself based on that. Do you have insomnia? Can you not put your phone down till way past 12? If you’re going to bed later and later every night, it doesn’t make sense for you to force yourself into a habit of waking up sooner just because it seems like the healthy thing to do. Whether you wake up or not, NEVER take 8 AM classes. There’s a reason they’re called hate AMs. Ignore that one chipper friend, mark my words when I say do NOT do it. Find another schedule.

Non-morning folk: Try to get your earliest class at 10:30 AM. It’ll make you feel like you have to be up and ready for the day while, in reality, many of your friends will be up earlier. Take note that this doesn’t include any morning gym time, so if you aren’t a morning person but you tend to hit the gym then push that 10:30 back to 11:30 or 12.

2. Don’t forget lunch

Lunch is the main meal you’ll be eating, especially during those times when you feel too tired to find yourself an actual dinner. Do yourself a favor and leave in a good 45 minutes or so around 11-2 for you to eat every day. There’s no harm in having a few crunch days, but you should be eating a well-sized lunch at the very least 3 times a week. Please, please eat. Your body will thank you, you won’t feel miserable, and remember to bring something to drink with you to your classes to remain hydrated on the daily as well. Make sure to remember filler time when leaving lunch open in your schedule, such as the 15 minutes it’ll take you to move to and from your classes.

3. Get classes over with

Whether you’re taking any classes in the morning or not, try to finish up every day as soon as possible. Aim to have your last class over by 5 at the latest, unless you absolutely have to take a night class once or twice a week. This will leave time for you to relax, grab dinner, and then work on homework and other things. When you finish up fast, you’ll feel as though you have more time. No more wasting half of the day on your phone waiting for Cal 1 to let out, push those classes tighter together and give yourself bigger chunks of time off rather than little moments throughout the day.

4. Post-lunch study break

The post-lunch study break is perfect if you’re the time to pen in some time to study in an ongoing manner every day. Giving yourself some extra leeway to use as lunch time can also be turned into studying or homework time as long as you still remember to consume food every day. Many dining halls are located near libraries, assuming your college has the usual absurd amount of libraries on campus. Take a break and spend 20 minutes eating with friends, then use the remainder by heading to one of the silent floors and getting your work done. If you like studying to music, plug your headphones into your laptop and study away. Put your phone on airplane mode, set an alarm if you must, and get at least one thing done to lessen your nightly load.