Managing a heavy course load in college can seem impossible, but it’s actually a lot easier than you think. In fact, if you have a heavy course load, you are in better shape than if you take it easy with the bare minimum. It is when you have a light course load that it is easy to fall behind since you feel like you can put things off or you start to procrastinate. It’s a little bit of a fool’s paradise.

With a heavy course load, you at least know what you should be working on at all times. However, having that heavy of a course load can be incredibly stressful. You have to worry about a lot of little things – from making sure that you have the right syllabus, to getting in enough study time before a test. The last thing you want is to cram for five classes at the same time. Here is how to manage a heavy course load in college.

Create Lists

One of the best ways to manage a heavy course load in college is to create lots of lists. The more lists the better. Ideally, you want to create a list for everything – from the miscellaneous tasks you have to do on any given day to all the assignments that are due. The last thing you want is to be late or miss something important. Moreover, you don’t want to get slowed down by shuffling through your papers looking for a deadline and then have to catch up.

Set Timelines

If you don’t have timelines or time budgets, you will undoubtedly start to get stressed out. This is why you want to get very serious about how long you will spend on a certain task. If you spend too much time on any one item, you may get left behind or you may wind up spending the whole night working on a project. It may even help to have a timer on hand.

Get Help if You Need it

Of course, if you need help, you want to speak to someone. For instance, if you need help with one of your courses, you want to speak to a tutor or visit your professor during office hours. If you need help with your course load or your major, you want to consult with an advisor. If you are feeling stressed out, you may want to speak with a therapist. Whatever the case is, you want to get the help you need.

Keep (Healthy!) Snacks on Hand

Also you want to keep lots of healthy snacks on hand. The less healthy your eating habits are, the more stressed out you will be. Ideally, you want to keep fruit on hand, nuts – anything that is easy to eat and is high in protein to provide energy. Moreover, you want to eat something that is fast and simple. You don’t want to eating anything that forces you to slow down too much.

Get Plenty of Sleep

On top of eating healthy food, you want to get a lot of sleep. Sleep will be the elixir of life. When you are on the go and spending all day either in class or in the library at Maryville University. The last thing you want is to kill yourself with a slew of all-nighters. In the end, you want to get at least eight hours of sleep per night.