No matter your age or season of life, having a routine is key. It gives structure to your day and ensures you make the most of your time. Without a routine, important tasks get left behind, and organizing appointments and responsibilities becomes unnecessarily complicated.
While everyone should have at least a few routines to organize their lives, perhaps no one needs a daily routine for a student more than a college student.
Whether full-time or part-time, college students are almost always juggling many things at once: A long list of classes, clubs, and activities; daily meetings and appointments; work responsibilities; physical activities; time with family and friends; grocery shopping and meal prep; and much more.
If you are a student looking for a way to integrate a daily routine into your life, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a look at a few of the foundations you’ll want to start with as you develop a routine that works for you.
Table of Contents
Daily Routine for a Student: Getting Started
Use these tenets to guide you as you begin to define your own daily routine.
Identify Your Priorities
If you’re like everyone else, your to-do list is miles long and would require far more hours to complete than you have in one day. Therefore, you must prioritize your tasks.
Take 30 minutes to sit down with a pencil and paper and list the major goals you want to accomplish in the near future. Undoubtedly, as a student, one of those goals will be to graduate from college or earn a certificate or degree.
You may also want to do things like staying active and eating a healthy diet, keeping a clean house, finding a new job or earning a promotion at work, etc. Try to organize these goals in order of how important they are to you. When it comes time to fill in your daily routine, make sure your top priorities are included first.
Integrate Breaks and Rest Time
Many people make the mistake of not including breaks and rest times in their daily routines. Humans aren’t robots, and we require downtime. As you fill out your schedule, try to imagine yourself performing each task, and look for times when you’ll know you’ll want a break. Then, feel free to give yourself one.
Consider Daily Organization vs. Weekly and Monthly Organization
While having a daily routine is important, don’t forget about weekly and monthly tasks either. It’s important to make time for things like paying bills, deep cleaning areas of your home, visiting friends and family, and carving out time for vacations and personal growth projects.
Sample Daily Schedule for College Students (Weekday)
While the daily routine of a student doesn’t have to look the same for everyone, it can be helpful to have an example for reference. This will give you a place to start as you organize your own routine.
Let’s take a look at a sample daily schedule for college students.
6:00 AM – Wake Up + Breakfast
The early bird gets the worm. Those who wake early for the day do consistently better than those who sleep however long they want. No matter what time you wake up, set an alarm, and try to stabilize your own circadian rhythm. After you wake, make a protein-rich breakfast. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but make it healthy and full of energy for the start of your day.
6:30 AM – Workout and Prepare for the Day
Get your workout in first-thing, so you don’t skip it later when you’re tired. Then, give yourself ample time to prepare for the day.
8:00 AM – Study
Most people are sharpest in the morning. As the day wears on, their brains get tired, and thinking becomes slower and more laborious. Take advantage of your mental sharpness and do a good chunk of your studying in the morning.
10:00 AM – NOON – Class
NOON – Lunch
Eat a nutritious lunch.
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Class
2:00 PM – Snack
Give yourself some brain food in the form of a healthy, energy-rich snack.
2:30 – 6:30 PM – Part-Time Job
6:30 PM – Head Home + Prepare Dinner
Prepare yourself something healthy and delicious for dinner. Then, spend time with friends, study some more or work on class assignments, take a bath, watch some TV, etc.
9:00 PM – Wind Down for the Night
Shut off all electronics to wind down for the night. Put on your pajamas, turn off the lights in your house, brush your teeth and floss, and complete whatever else you do before bed. If you’re not quite ready for sleep, read a book to calm your brain.
10:00 PM – Lights Out
Getting at least eight hours of sleep each night is ideal. Most people need adequate sleep to have the necessary energy for their days. Sleep promotes a strong immune system, a healthy body, and improved mental focus.
Why Daily Routine For a Matter
Daily routine for a student do so many things to help us accomplish our goals and give structure to our lives. When we have reasonable expectations about each day, we feel more comfortable and capable.
Even during times of stress (and perhaps especially during times of stress), we are better able to keep ourselves on track. Lack of routine can make us feel mysteriously anxious, self-critical about constantly “wasting time”, and chronically in a state of procrastination.
Routines — even when they are very simple and short — can put things in order and will do wonders for you if you are a busy student.
Have you found yourself going to bed at night feeling dissatisfied with what you’ve accomplished during the day? Do you feel like you are perpetually procrastinating and always chasing a to-do list that never gets done? Do you have dreams and goals but don’t know how to achieve them?
Try a routine. Even a small change in how you organize your day can provide amazing results and will certainly lead to a better quality of life.