Many Palo Alto students woefully stare up at the face of a ticking clock and think: there is never enough time in the day to accomplish what I want to finish. Whether you have a big presentation to prepare, a bill to pay, or a paper to write, deadlines are the omnipotent enemy.

Our counselors and professors offer time management tips to use in our schedules, but the term ‘time management’ to many students means successfully sprinting from one class to the next on time either before or after a long shift at work. As a result, the motivation and performance of a working student may deteriorate quickly.

“If I have a bad day at work, I don’t want to go to class,” said Alisha Randow, an Elementary Education major. “I want to go home and relax, take a bath and get ready for the next day, but instead I have to go school.”

Randow works full-time at Clark Management during the day and attends college part-time at night. Managing her time means sacrifice, including the surrender of her weekends.

“I try to dedicate my Sundays to going to the library and staying home on Saturday nights to study,” said Randow.

But how can a student learn to buckle down?

“Hanging out with people who have more of the same goals as you is better,” said Randow. “Other students who know what it’s like to go to work and to school (help you) focus.”

Work may place extra stress upon a student’s shoulders, but it may also serve as a platform of responsibility and restraint.

“(Working) forces you to be disciplined because you have to stay on time,” said Thurman Reeves, an Electrical Engineering major. “You’ll have extra time and you’ll feel like you want to go play, but you realize, ‘no, I have to study.’”

Students who choose not to work while attending college full-time are not immune to the trial of managing their time successfully. Many students find that staying organized with the help of a day planner or calendar and prioritizing tasks is the secret to their success.

“I keep a big notebook full of my classes,” said Monica Castoreno, a Pre-Veterinary major. “[The notebook] is full of my assignments and deadlines, and I go home and do all of my work. If I don’t keep organized, nothing works out.”

Whether it’s sacrificing your weekend to study or using your downtime to go over your notes, many students find it difficult to discover and maintain their own system of time management. But with encouragement from our peers, there is hope for students everywhere to sit down and manage our schedules, incorporating work and school so that they balance effectively.

Now we just have to find the time to sit down!