How did Aman Goel manage studies and extracurricular activities like clubs and events during his time at IIT Bombay?

If you enjoy things, you will be able to get the best out of yourself.

I never joined any random club or society for the sake of it. I was engaged in the following extra-curricular activities during the college days:

• Convener at Rubik’s Club: that was because I loved solving Rubik’s cube and wanted others to learn the same.
• Teaching Assistant for Multiple courses: that was because I had some thoughts, ideas, and approaches of looking at things differently and I wanted to convey those ideas to others and possibly get some more suggestions. Being a Teaching Assistant was a great way to achieve the same because I got an opportunity to interact with a bunch of some of the smartest students in the country.
• Department Academic Mentor: this is because I love interacting with people and sharing my experiences with others.
• Multiple Freelancing Projects: as an engineer, I love building things and solving problems. Freelancing is a great way to do that. Plus, it never hurts to make some side money while in college.

Time Management in college is fairly simple. The trick is simple - pay attention during the lectures so that you can focus on other things outside of the lectures.

Where most students screw up is that they don’t focus during the lectures. That way, the entire time is wasted and then you have to engage in self-study separately. While self-study is good, it is much better to do it alongside the lectures so that you can save time.

At IIT Bombay, the lecture hours are relatively less as compared to other colleges (at least that’s what I have heard from my friends). For instance, a typical semester at IIT Bombay (CSE) would not involve more than 4 - 5 hours of lectures a day. That way, I used to get plenty of time for other stuff.

The bottom-line is time management. Learn to prioritize things. Learn to build a schedule. Learn to build habits and things would be easy to manage.