Before this week, I always assumed that the term “project management” was for business professionals. For people who worked in corporate and were higher-ups in their company. However, I discovered the opportunity to take something so otherworldly to me, and use it to my advantage.

As a student at Quinnipiac University who is in the works for my masters degree, I have a lot on my plate. I am a full-time student, who works a part-time job. On top of this, I am the Music Manager of Quinnipiac’s student run radio, WQAQ. With all of this, I have a lot on my plate and decided it was time to manage all of my projects and time in a professional manner.

I knew I had to focus on what my distractions were, and what deep work I had to prioritize for this to work. My distractions were narrowed down to text messages, social media, phone calls, and even emails. My deep work was narrowed down to sending important emails for the radio, setting strict deadlines for schoolwork, and making sure I put 100% of my effort in at my job. To focus in on the important ideas, I decided to use the project management source of “Basecamp.” In my opinion, this one seemed like the most manageable, as well as the one I could keep all my work together in one place.

I created a to-do list, and a schedule first. I loved the layout that Basecamp has because it is all laid out in front of me in a neat and organized manner. It is more simple than I expected from a project management planner, and is very cut and dry. By doing this, I felt very motivated to get my work done because I found it incicing to get rid of all the tasks I had to do, and see my schedule laid flat in front of me.

Not saying it cut all my distractions, but having a more professional layout in front of me made me feel like all the work I was doing was important. By prioritizing and putting the work in front of my face in a specific layout, I found that I did get my tasks done in a more efficient manner than if I did not start with project management at Basecamp. If you are a student, I recommend you try it. It will not only help you out now, but also prepare you for your professional career in the future.