6 Time Management Tips for Architecture Students

3 minute read

Life as an architecture student is fast. There are long days without any sunlight. There are sleepless nights. There are never-ending submission deadlines. And I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t get easier. Architects need to juggle between working on dozens of different things at once.

So, how can we keep up with it all? What gives architects the superpowers of time management and how can we make a start towards being successful at managing our time and deadlines?

Here are 6 Time Management tips for Architecture Students that will improve your day-to-day.

Time Management tips for Architecture Students #1.

Eliminate distractions.

Before sitting down to study, remove all distractions that will tempt you to procrastinate. Leave your phone in another room, close other apps on your computer or simply work at a clean desk.

Allow yourself to check your phone at specific times – you’ll be surprised how often we “check” our phones simply because we’ve made it a habit, when there’s nothing to even check.

Time Management tips for Architecture Students #2.

Don’t multi-task. Focus on the task at hand.

Have you ever been so focussed and tunnel visioned on what you are doing that time seems to have flown by? This mental state is what I call a “flow” state.

You are in flow state when you are completely immersed and involved in an activity. “Flow” is what drives motivation and energy. It increases enjoyment of the activity and also INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY A LOT.

But how do you get into this flow state?

Find a challenge, develop your skills, remove distractions, devote the right amount of time to studying, set clear goals and use those goals to drive your actions and focus completely on the task at hand.

Time Management tips for Architecture Students #3.

Use a calendar.

Use a calendar to schedule due dates and set reminders the week before something is due. Simply writing in due dates will help you understand what you have to do throughout the semester and when you have time to relax or when it’s time to work.

A lot of students “wing it” and when they relax find themselves stressing as they are unsure if they should be doing something productive instead. By using a calendar, you can have a clear mind when relaxing so that you actually are switching off from your study.

When writing in deadlines, be sure to factor in extra time as everything takes longer than you think, that’s just life.

Time Management tips for Architecture Students #4.

Use a checklist/to-do-list.

A calendar is more for your longer term goals, or dates that need to be remembered.

Use a daily checklist/to-do-list to complete those shorter term activities and to understand what you need to do for the day before you put your feet up on the couch. I love writing these down the night before, just before going to sleep, so that when I wake up I am motivated and know exactly what I need to do to have a successful day.

Check out this high-performance daily planner that I use.

Time Management tips for Architecture Students #5.

Schedule rewards/breaks.

I’m a big advocate of having regular breaks, but saying that I can sit in my room for 6 hours straight drafting or model making when I get into my “flow” state. Nevertheless, it’s still great routine to get up and stretch once every 30-60 minutes. For the 1-5 minutes you spend having a break you increase your productivity by A LOT for when you sit down next.

Whenever you feel yourself losing concentration, get up, go to the bathroom, drink a tall glass of water and get some fresh air.

Time Management tips for Architecture Students #6

Sleep is important.

I make a lot of memes about how architecture students don’t sleep. And I mean . . . it’s true. But it shouldn’t be. I still get 8 hours of sleep most nights and I like to credit my success to this one thing. Without 8 hours of sleep, I tend to lose function and am way less productive.

You can easily get 8 hours of sleep a night, it’s just a matter of how you use your day. If you follow all the previous steps, you should have a productive enough day to be able to collapse at 10:00PM and fall asleep like a baby.

Just don’t get sucked into spending an hour on your phone before bed, this will mess with your brain and make you want to stay awake. It only takes a couple of minutes to catch up on all the great Successful Archi Student posts you’ve missed during the day anyway 😉 That’s all you need, right?

I sincerely hope this post has been helpful and if you have any concerns or questions please don’t hestitate to contact me.

If you want the perfect all-in-one planner, I highly recommend Brendon Burchard’s (author of High Performance Habits) high performance planner mentioned earlier. It has made me so much more productive and I spend a lot more time stress-free as I know what I have to do and when by. You can check it out below.

Your Biggest Fan,

Kyle Sinko, Founder of Successful Archi Student // Architecture Student from South Australia