How Time Flies!

To be successful in college, a student must be able to manage his/her time effectively. There

are many self-proclaimed experts on the topic of time management and each will have a fail-

proof method that will help you get things under control. The reality is that there is no singu-

lar technique that works for everyone. You may have to try a number of different strategies

until you find the one that works best for you. Here are a few.

Know Your Priorities. Priorities are what you think is important. They can be classified as

A, B, or C Priorities. An A Priority is something that relates to your lifetime goal. These are

the activities that become the most important tasks to accomplish that day. A B Priority is an

activity that you have to do but is not directly related to your lifetime goals. These activities

are less important than A Priorities, but are still necessary for survival. A C Priority is

something that can be postponed until tomorrow with no harmful effect. However, the long-

er you put off a C Priority, it moves up and becomes a B Priority. Sometimes, we fall victim

to what is known as "C fever." This is where we focus on the C Priorities and never get

around to the others, often because the C Priorities require less work and provide a sense of

accomplishment.

Schedule Your Success. By scheduling your activities, you will find it easier to complete

tasks and remain organized. Create a master schedule with your classes, work, activities,

sleep, and study times. You will then have a better understanding of how much free time

you actually have from day to day to tackle other projects and tasks. Using a schedule helps

you avoid procrastination, find time to study, eliminates panic caused by doing things last

minute, and relieves pressure because you have things under control.

Create To-Do Lists. To-do lists are a quick way to organize your time. Simply write down

what you need to do that day and prioritize the tasks by placing a star by the most important

item, or give numerical rankings. As you accomplish items, cross them off the list. The list

helps you focus on what is important, serves as a reminder not to forget certain things, and

shows you what you have already completed.

Aim for Excellence, Not Perfection. Aiming for perfection in tasks creates anxiety and pro-

crastination. There are times when perfection is not necessary. In aiming for excellence, you

must challenge yourself to see the big picture. Could your time be better invested accom-

plishing other tasks? Does this project need to be perfect? Sometimes when things get too

hectic, it may be more important to complete a project than to do it perfectly.

Do the First Small Step. The most difficult step in completing any project is the first step. If

you have a challenging project, think of a small first step and complete that small step. Make

it something that you can accomplish easily and in a short amount of time.

Material adapted from College & Career Success, Marsha Fralick.

Spring 2012, Volume 2

Tips from a

College Graduate Some people may study

better individually, but for

most of us, it helps to have

the support of peers to get

efficient studying accom-

plished.

Study groups offer various

dynamics that lead to bet-

ter knowledge retention

and higher grades. With a

group to hold you account-

able, you are more in-

clined to do your part and

actually look at the materi-

al. Also, some people may

understand the coursework

better than others and can

teach it to the group. A

large group is not ideal, so

avoid trying to form a ses-

sion with all 50 people in

your class; larger groups

lend to less progress.

Maybe you think you’ve

already mastered the mate-

rial. Participating in a

study group gives you the

opportunity to teach oth-

ers. A great test of mas-

tery is the ability to com-

municate the material to

others; the clearer they

understand it, the more

confident you can be that

you truly understand the

subject.

Lastly, there is no shame

in asking people to form a

study group. The anxiety

of putting yourself out

there and asking people

can be intimidating. Think

of it like asking a question

in class: chances are if you

don’t understand what the

professor was saying,

someone else doesn’t un-

derstand it either. Re-

member the old adage

“nothing ventured, nothing

gained?” If you don’t ask,

you will never know.

Spring 2012, Volume 2

.Why Am I Always Broke?

With the freedom of college life, the responsibility of managing your finances follows.

Now that we have moved out of our parents’ house, we have a need to prove our independ-

ence...especially when it comes to money. Here are a few tips to manage your cash:

Junk food draws a surprising amount of cash flow from your wallet. When “4th meal”

calls at 1am or a late-night study-run to Whataburger seems necessary, it is hard to ig-

nore your stomach and cravings. You can save money and avoid packing on pounds by

keeping healthy snack options readily available. Stocking up on pretzels, trail mixes,

cereals, juices, and other easy to carry lunch-box items will keep you energized and

won’t drain your wallet.

You have a meal plan. Use it! Often, meals go to waste at the end of the week which is

essentially throwing money away. The cafeterias (Fresh Food Company in Moody

Towers and Real Food on Campus in the OB) offer a variety of flavors at different

meals, and FFCo is open until midnight most days so move the study sessions to these

locations or even grab a to-go box instead of splurging on late-night carbs.

A great habit to start is creating a weekly or monthly budget. Tracking your income

and expenses is a routine that ensures an awareness of available funds. Since our debit

cards are our best friends in college, this process helps avoid the dreaded over-draft

fees. It’s silly to pay an extra $25 for the $6 value meal.

Credit cards glitter with the option of deferring payment…but you still have to pay

them. Credit card companies target college students and make it extremely appealing

to sign up. They will tell you there is nothing to lose, promise free shirts and other

gifts just for filling out the application, and many other tactics. What they are not tell-

ing you is that even applying for credit cards affects your credit rating. Ultimately, you

are approved for a high interest credit card that has a low credit limit. You say that you

will only use it for an emergency, but everything is an emergency...especial the Spring

Break trip all of your friends are taking. If you don’t have a means of paying off the

credit cards, it’s best to walk away. Avoid accumulating interest fees that get added on

to your monthly statement by opting to pay off the card every month.

Remember, it is up to you to watch your expenses and spend wisely. It’s easy to say that

you will do better next month and shop smarter when you’re staring at en empty bank ac-

count, thinking about all the money you wasted on stuff you didn’t need. However, you

must change your habits in order to change your spending. Make a conscious effort to stay

home more, avoid buying things you don’t really need, and utilize your meal plan or buy

food items that you can keep in your room instead of eating out with friends all the time.

Questions, Comments,

Suggestions? Feel free

to contact us.

Freshman Year

Residential Experience

Moody Towers—Rm

15

713-743-6881

fyre@uh.edu

www.uh.edu/fyre

Christopher Miller,

Program Coordinator

Andy Chang,

Student Programming

Director