One way Sajida Gowani (front row, second from right) made better use of her time was by attending the Region 6 MRM!
By Sajida Gowani
Since you all have been trying to start the spring semester and new year on the right foot, I thought it would be beneficial to share some helpful insights and tips on time management that has alleviated some stress for me so far in pharmacy school.
1. Get a head start
It can be difficult to manage time between school, work, extracurricular activities, and making time for yourself. First and foremost, it is extremely important to map out your schedule and your day-to-day activities. Invest in a planner or make an electronic calendar where you have all your exams, events, work schedules, and meetings in one place. This will not only help you with time management but will also prevent you from burning out.
You have heard this one a lot throughout your school career: “Do not procrastinate.” Get a head start on studying for exams early and you will thank yourself later. I try to do that by reviewing for each lecture before I go to class. This small step prepares me and makes me feel ahead.
2. Stop wasting time!
Know your time-wasting habits. You all have some time-wasting habits and being aware of those helps you limit them. If you don’t know your time-wasting habits, there are plenty of apps out there that can help you determine how much screen time you spend on each app on your phone. I have recently implemented this on myself, but monitoring is useless unless you can learn to tell yourself “no.”
3. Make time for you
Make time for yourself, even if it is just stepping out of your classroom during small breaks to take a breath and be in a different environment. These small escapes prevent you from burning out and wasting hours later in order to rejuvenate yourself for the following day.
4. Cross things off your list
You have a better chance of completing a task if you set time limits. Make a to-do list and cross things out. It helps me feel accomplished when I finish a task and can cross it off my list. Prioritizing a task also will help you stay focused on what you need to get accomplished first.
5. Get some sleep!
Be self-aware of what makes you feel better in stressful situations and take care of yourself. Take care of your health and sleep. Sleep is important. Not sleeping before an exam does not give you an advantage since it doesn’t help you retain information, and you have a greater chance of doing poorly on an exam than you would if taking an exam well rested.
6. Get involved
Get involved early in organizations like APhA–ASP. Not being involved and just focusing on your studies doesn’t help you grow as a person or as a leader. Getting involved helps you lay the groundwork for the future and can open many doors of opportunity for you, but don’t get involved in everything. Stick to organizations you are passionate about because being involved in everything makes time management difficult.
7. Break free of your comfort zone
My last tip, networking, doesn’t directly correlate to time management; however, when doing a cost-to-benefit analysis, time spent networking will likely be your time most well spent. Networking is everything—get out of your comfort zone! If you’re an introvert like me, you probably don’t feel comfortable going to other people and starting a conversation with them, but trust me, when I started stepping out of my comfort zone, I was able to open doors to great opportunities. Begin with attending regional or national meetings of the organizations to which you belong. That’s a great way to network and meet people all around the nation. Personally, going to the APhA–ASP Midyear Regional Meeting was the best decision I made in my first year.
In the end, do what makes you happy and do what you think you can handle. Over doing is never helpful in the end. Sure, it makes your CV look good, but it can be overwhelming and you can never give 100% to every organization you are a part of.
I hope that implementing these seven tips will alleviate some of your stress and help you make better use of your time in pharmacy school.