While searching motivational quotes on Pinterest once, I found an image that said,

"You have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyonce."

And we all know that Bey always has a lot on her schedule. It's great motivation, and it worked on me. Just that silly little thought (that can now be bought on mugs and tank tops FYI) got me really thinking about the importance of managing my time well. College students often hear a lot about time management, but a lot of that information is about how to manage one's time- not about the importance of it. Usually we just hear that it is important.

Learning how to manage time is one of the most important, if not the most important, skill that I have learned over the past few years. Do I always manage my time to best of my ability? Absolutely not. I'm human and make mistakes (and take naps when I really shouldn't) but the point is realizing that there is a give and take that comes with time management.

When you can effectively manage your time, you are able to have more "you time" in your schedule, be that getting coffee with friends, reading an interesting book, going for a run, sleeping a little more, cooking, or whatever you enjoy doing with free time. Those who can knuckle down and focus on the job at hand, and not get distracted by cat videos or snacking are able to do more with their 24 hours.

It takes maturity and maybe a little bit of experience) to know that taking a Netflix break every time you finish a homework problem is NOT a good idea. You could be doing so much more with your day!

Dr. Seuss put it quite accurately when he wrote in a poem, "How did it get so late so soon? It's night before its afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?

Once you start to manage your time better, you'll find little pockets of time that you never knew you had-- and those do not necessarily need to be filled. As one who is tempted to try to fill every minute of every day doing something, I have to remind myself that not having anywhere to go, anyone to see, or anything to do is a gift for which we can all be grateful.