FROM ORGANIZE IT: 4 Tips For Students That Will Set You Up For Life

Organize IT
September 22nd 2008

Last year I wrote a couple of guides for students covering basic advice for getting through university and surviving freshman week. Well it’s that time of year again when students start or return for another year of studying (or drinking). However, I didn’t want to re-hash the same old advice this time around, so I decided to look deeper into my own experiences at uni. It’s not just about getting a degree and moving on with your life. There are certain valuable life lessons that, due to the circumstances you often face at university, are easier to learn as a student. Looking back, I really missed out on these opportunities and had to learn them the hard way after I graduated. Hopefully, if you’re a student you can benefit from these lessons now.

* Time management

Whether it be lectures, social events, playing in sports teams or doing shifts in a bar job, if you are living an healthy student lifestyle you will have a lot going on. Thankfully most of it tends to be scheduled for you so it makes for an ideal time to learn time management 101. If you get organized, are efficient with your studies and choose the right things to exert your time and energy on you will be better prepared when you join the real world with all its unpredictability.

* Finances

Budget your money, keep track of what’s coming in and out and learn to be frugal. You almost have to live on the cheap as a matter of course so it’s a great opportunity to develop the habit of good money management. How healthy your finances are now as a student will go long way in determining how healthy your finances will be for years to come. I know many people who made the most of their student accounts (with their overdrafts and low interest rates) but as soon as they graduated, the banks clamped down hard and they were caught off guard.

* Social skills

It’s very common for students to find friends for life at university (certainly more so that at school) because of the greater shared experiences, the more varied personalities and the social activities available (student union, sports teams). Strong social skills will set you up greatly, especially in your chosen career path, and you never know what opportunities a large social network can bring you.

* Keeping promises to yourself

Though you are largely independent at university, you should still have a large network of support. Keeping promises to yourself is one of the most important, but most under-rated, habits you can develop. If you commit to sticking to a budget or going to student union events and then not follow through with these personal promises you will end up with very little conviction to ever do it (a real obstacle if you intend to grow as a person). However, it’s so much more comforting to know that when you say you are going to put your best into your coursework, you have a lecturer who can give you tips and a councilor to guide you through any stress.