As college students, the number one priority we are often faced with is trying to manage time. We often joke about not having enough time in the day, but sometimes it really does feel that way. However, there are definitely ways to combat this problem that many college kids face.

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Budgeting time seems like a weird concept to most. What would it even mean? By definition, time budgeting is keeping a log or diary of the sequence and duration of activities engaged in by an individual over a specified period, most typically the 24-hour day. It is actually really simple. All it takes is a little bit of effort and a journal to jot down what you need to do throughout the day. The best way to begin budgeting your time is to learn how to be organized. Being organized is a key part of budgeting. Knowing what you have to do daily will assist you in deciding what needs to be done and when. It is also helpful to organize these lists by level of importance.

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There are many different ways to budget, and this is a super popular one for most people in America. However, there are many different ways to organize your day.  The way we view time and how we plan to use it varies from other cultures and communities. We might be used to buying a planner to write down our events for the day, but an Indian tradition is to follow the Ayurveda timeline. This timeline is broken into three different schedules which you then choose from to follow throughout the course of your day.  The three schedules to choose from are the Kapha, Pitta, or Vata schedule.

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The Kapha time begins at 6 in the morning and ends at 10 at night. Kapha bodies wake up at 6 a.m., when they’re most dominant, and they are able to work most effectively throughout the day and manage their time better. The same goes for Pittas, who wake up at 10 in the morning and do most of their work until 2 in the afternoon. Vatas differ drastically from the first two.  Vatas begin their schedule at 2 in the afternoon and work vigorously until 6 in the evening.

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Finding out what type of body you have in this Indian culture helps your specific self-time budget to the best of its ability. While this may work for some people, it will not work for everyone. You must find something that will benefit your body and mind.

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There have been proven tips or techniques for college kids to build effective time management skills. For starters, there is one tip that begins with determining whether you’re an owl or rooster. This kind of correlates with the Indian method as well. To effectively budget your time, you need to know whether you work best at night or in the morning. If you are somebody who works best at a later time, such as 11 p.m., then you’re an owl and vice versa.

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While you determine which method suits you best, the main aspect that helps in budgeting time is to know when things need to get done and then to do them in order of time and importance.