By: GeeTee
Yay! It’s Second Semester. Parte after parte, event after event. Who’s celebrating this weekend? The Faculty of Technology or the Department of Chemistry? Oh! There’ll be an Arts Festival at Wole Soyinka Theatre on Thursday. Why Thursday of all days tho? That’s the day I have most of my lectures. Well, money must be made. How much do I book a stand? I have a banner already, where do I rent a table? I must get a very good spot to display my wares. That means I have to pay as soon as possible. In fact, let me just get the necessary information and make the payment now.
Hol’ am dia! You are under arrest, Mr. Studentpreneur. Now that I have your attention, let us both use it well. Of course, as an entrepreneur, you are on the lookout for occasions and opportunities to market yourself to customers and potential customers. You need to attend events that promise you the chance to meet people, network, make massive sales, and promote your enterprise. This is not an attempt to demotivate you, but this might not be the perfect opportunity you think it is. Or it is an opportunity that might have consequences you do not desire if you get yourself lost on its bright side. Before you know it, exams will be at your doorstep and you will have no other option than to welcome it unprepared. The most likely consequence of that is a word that begins with an F, I bet you do not want that.
Therefore, you need to understand how to manage your time while trying to combine your business with your studies this second semester. Five time management tips you should pay attention to are: having a schedule, prioritization, setting of deadlines, appropriate elimination, and taking time to unwind.
The importance of a schedule cannot be overemphasized in time management. You need a schedule to have control over how your time is spent daily. As a student entrepreneur, you need to make a list of things you have to do daily and the time at which each needs to be done. This helps you to keep a tab on how your day goes. As much as possible, make sure you stick to your schedule daily and give no room for other things that are not in your routine — except if it is a matter of urgency. That is how to be productive and avoid distractions.
For your schedule, effective time management technique, and prioritization is essential. You need to perform the most important tasks before spending time on tasks of lesser importance. Completing important tasks first helps you to maintain an organized task list and to feel less overwhelmed. In case you can’t complete all your tasks for the day, you can easily focus on the ones that are of higher priority and get them done. Prioritization helps you think about each task and ask yourself important questions to understand how important they are and the likely consequences of neglecting each task. That helps you to avoid sacrificing your studies at the altar of entrepreneurship.
Also, make sure to note the deadlines of your schoolwork (assignments, group work, projects) and set deadlines for the ones that have no specific deadlines. After noting the deadlines, do well to stick to the deadlines and avoid late hour rush. Get each task done before the deadline. Break down the tasks into components you can do per time if necessary, and complete each component according to the deadlines you have set for them. That helps you to avoid procrastination.
Appropriate elimination is another important technique you should utilize. Learn to eliminate tasks that are of lesser importance to give room for more important tasks that pop up after you have drawn your schedule. Any event that clashes with academic tasks you didn’t plan for might have to go. Hence the need to consider the consequences of forgoing either of the tasks so as to appropriately eliminate the necessary one. Take a minute to ask yourself if it’s necessary or just urgent, urgency is not synonymous with necessity. Let necessity be the determinant of tasks you need to forgo for another.
One last thing, which is very important to note, is the need to include time for rest in your schedule. You need to be intentional about getting enough rest so that you will not break down. You surely do not want to be at Jaja when others are writing tests, making presentations, or sitting for examinations. Therefore, do not overwork yourself in the process of combining your academics with entrepreneurship.
In summary, as a student entrepreneur, you must understand that your studies are as important or even more important than your entrepreneurship. Make sure you manage your time well – especially in this second semester full of activities you can take advantage of to promote your business and make more money – so that your studies will not be neglected. For what shall it profit you, dear studentpreneur, to chase the bag and lose your studentship?
