The Fine Art Of Time Management As A Student Athlete
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When you are involved in sports as a student, whether in the NCAA or in high school sports, one of the biggest challenges that you’ll find will be how to carefully balance all of your daily responsibilities. From your training to your schoolwork to social time to time with family, you’ll have a lot of different things that you need to take care of.
Balancing all of those can be a tricky process, and one that takes an immense amount of effort to master. But the fine art of managing your time effectively is one that is worth working on for any student athlete. Here are a few tips that can help you make the most of it.
• Understand that not everything will get done in a single day. Dividing up your day is important, and when you accept the fact that you can’t get every single thing done at once, the process becomes less stressful.
• Instead, learn to set schedules based on priorities. For example, for today’s athletes involved in NCAA or high school sports, training and education are the two priorities. As such, you know that a certain number of hours each day will be spent in class, then on training. With that remaining time, set up a schedule that includes everything else and base it on what is a ‘must do’ for the day – homework, spending time with parents, and so on.
• Also, work on sticking to a set schedule every day. Humans are very habitual creatures, and when you have a set routine it’s much easier to get the most from every minute and to stick with your usual routine.
• Find time saving shortcuts wherever you can. Whether it’s freezing ahead pre-mixed smoothie ingredients for breakfast or lunch or listening to lectures on your iPod while working on your running, small shortcuts can help you dramatically when it comes to improving your time management.
• Finally, be sure to give yourself some time for fun. TV, video games, or a few hours out with friends are all worth doing on a regular basis since they help keep your mind focused during the rest of the day. Without that downtime, it’s harder to concentrate and focus on what you’re doing.
It’s certainly not easy to balance training, education, and all the other responsibilities that athletes in the NCAA or high school sports have. But mastering this time management process will help you not only during school, but throughout your life as well.