One of the key skills you should think about whether you’re studying GCSEs, A levels or have started university is that of time management. This is something that a lot of job listings ask for in their skill requirements, and something you’re probably picking up along the way whether you realise it or not. That being said, it can be really helpful to think about what you know about your own time management habits. Considering this early on in the semester is especially beneficial, as you won’t be too overwhelmed with work yet to think about implementing some new strategies.

It’s a great idea to keep a schedule of when assignments are due, when you have meetings etc. This can be done using a calendar, planner, whiteboard or intricate system of post-its. Think about how much information you want to put in this and what format will fit that best, as well as whether you want to plan things out week by week or day by day. There are lots of great printouts that you can find that are designed to help you create this schedule. Using colours and visual elements can help stimulate the brain and make it easier to organise.

When your coursework starts to be assigned, it’s a good idea to give yourself due dates for a first or second draft to be done, or for how many chapters you expect to have revised by a certain point, or how many assigned readings to complete day-by-day. Be realistic with this and really try to stick to it. Use reminders on your phone or computer to keep you on track. Giving yourself varying due dates for drafts will really help when you have three assignments due on the same day. But don’t beat yourself up if you’ve not quite made your own deadlines.

Finally, going to the library for 10 hours doesn’t count if you spend most of that time on Facebook, Buzzfeed or chatting with friends. Consider improving your time management by using a pomodoro technique to work for short bursts with short breaks every 30 minutes or so. MyTomatoes (http://mytomatoes.com/) is great for this because it times your work and breaks for you (make sure you’re using headphones if you’re at the library), and allows you to keep track of what you did during each work session. You can also use a programme like Rescue Time (https://www.rescuetime.com/), which will tell you how you’re spending your time over the course of a week or month. Maybe you know you spend too much time on Buzzfeed, but hadn’t realised quite how much time you spend checking football stats. Once you know where and how you’re losing time, you can figure out ways to work more efficiently.

There is no right or wrong way to manage your time, but there’s a good chance that you can improve on how you currently do this, which will allow you to confidently put time management on your CV as a key skill. So try out some new techniques, but remember you don’t need to try every single one – it’s all about what you think will work for you. After all, you don’t want to waste even more time creating 30 different calendars in different colours and for different time periods. That’s just bad time management.