How to Manage Your Time between Your College and Startup?

When analyzing the reasons for lesser number of students starting up, one of the main reasons that students cite is the lack of time. There is no dearth of startup ideas among students today but their greatest challenge is balancing studies and their entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover Venture Capitalists today look for high levels of commitment from students. The amount of time that students are willing to invest in their ideas is one of the deciding factors for investors while making an investment in student ventures. This makes it all the more necessary for students to manage time efficiently. With the increasing burden of classes, daily assignments and projects, managing time well is not just an option but an absolute necessity. As Stephen Covey says, “The key is not in spending time but investing in it”. Here are few tips on managing your time between your college and startup1.    Make an activity log:

Continue doing the things as you are used to doing for a few more days and keep track of how you spend your time. Try listing out how much time each activity takes. Be meticulous in maintaining a record of your activities

2.    Analyze your activity log:

Once you record how you spend your time for a few days, analyze the same. Make a list of all the unnecessary activities that consume your time.

3.    Prioritize :

There is a lot of difference in being busy and being productive. You can be busy the whole day and at the end of the day, you may not have completed the task you have been assigned to do. Or you may spend no more than a couple of hours and finish the work assigned to you. The difference here is priorities. Prioritize on what is important for you. Decide on doing things that actually take you closer to achieving your dream

4.    Set clear goals:

When you know what your priorities are, set specific goals. Set both long term and short term goals. The goals that you set must pertain both to your academics as well as your entrepreneurial activities.

5.    Make a timetable:

After getting a clear idea on your priorities and goals as well as the activities that time is wasted on, sit back and spend a few minutes on how you want to spend your time. Consider all the activities that you are involved in. Schedule a fixed time for academic activities and for the startup. Don’t mix the two. Keep a certain buffer time for doing things that may crop up all of a sudden.

6.    Get organized:

The easiest way of getting all your work done quickly is by getting organized. Arrange all your stuff in such a way that you can find things quickly when you need them. Arrange your writing materials, files and books. Organize your computer files and sort out the ones related to your startup and your studies.

7.    Stop Procrastinating:

Stop putting off things. Adhere strictly to your timetable and don’t postpone the activities scheduled for now. There is no better time to do than now. Putting off things may seem to be easy at the moment but it is detrimental to your progress in the long run. Stop putting things off

8.    Think of your own smart time saving tricks:

All of us have the same 24 hours a day. But what we accomplish each day depends on how we decide to use our time. Most of us spend more time in sleeping. Try waking up an hour early. It gives you extra 7 hours a week! Try to finish most of your daily tasks such as bathing with as little time as possible. Fix a certain time for checking mails and don’t end up checking them the whole day. If you spend a lot of time travelling, utilize that time for checking your mail or such other activities. If not try reducing the time spent on commuting. As for your college work, try making good friends who will be ready to help you in case you have to miss classes. You can decide on more things that will help you manage time.

These tips will surely help you manage your time better, but what matters the most is your commitment to manage your time better. It is you who needs to make a firm resolve to put in more value to your time in a day. Happy Time Saving!