College Students' Time Management: Correlations With Academic Performance and Stress

Abstract

Many college students may find the academic experience very stressful (Swick, 1987). One potential coping strategy frequently offered by university counseling services is time management. One hundred and sixty-five students completed a questionnaire assessing their time management behaviors and attitudes, stress, and self-perceptions of performance and grade point average. The study revealed 2 major findings. The Time Management Behavior Scale consists of 4 relatively independent factors; the most predictive was Perceived Control of Time. Students who perceived control of their time reported significantly greater evaluations of their performance, greater work and life satisfaction, less role ambiguity, less role overload, and fewer job-induced and somatic tensions. Findings are consistent with theory and advice on time management (e.g., Schuler, 1979) but also indicate that the dynamics of time management are more complex than previously believed.