Proper Time Management Skills

Ever feel there is so much work to do, yet so little time to finish them? Many students enter school with high expectations of academic success. They do not understand that how they use their time is essential to achieving their goal. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second - it all matter. How one use them set them apart from their peers. To excel in your studies, students must plan ahead and effectively use their time to optimize their way of learning. Here are some tips you can adopt to make your learning more productive.

1)Goal Setting

How students manage their time effectively should be determined by effective goal-setting. Students should have the ability to properly use the time in a manner that serve their goals. In order to do this, clear objectives have to be set beforehand. For example, you may be struggling with math and wish to improve your grades in the upcoming examinations. Thus, your goal is to become stronger in Math. Allocate more time in your schedule to focus on math so that you are able to comprehend the various mathematical concepts and apply their formulae to problem sum questions. Through setting a goal, students are able to make wise decisions in term of time management that work towards achieving the objective.

2)Planning

“ Fail to plan, plan to fail”. It is essential for students to plan their activities with a timetable so that they have enough time to complete their work. How to plan an organized schedule, you may ask? Simple. First, list down the tasks you have at hand. Prioritise these tasks based on the deadlines. A tip of mine is to always start work with the most difficult or time-consuming assignment. This way, you will be more concentrated on the task at hand and have more energy and time to finish it. As for revision, split the amount of time based on the number of subjects. Spend more time on your weaker subjects. By planning well, students will have ample time to cover all the study materials, optimising their learning.

Take note. You can’t plan for everything. While it is good to have a planned schedule, you should be flexible in changing your schedule due to unforeseen circumstances or emergencies. Don’t fret. Just work around it and get back to your schedule as fast as possible.

3) Remove Distractions

Distractions is the bane of time management. You may have a properly planned schedule. You may have set aside ample time to study each subject to achieve content mastery. However, if you let yourself be swayed from your work due to distractions, you will find yourself catching up for lost time to finish your work. Distractions can appear in different forms where something as boring as staring at the wall can become as entertaining as a movie when the alternative is plain old revision. Distractions make you lose focus of your work and waste precious valuable time.

How do we then get rid of distractions so that we are able to effectively use our time for our studies? Well, studying in a conducive environment is a must. That mean no mobile phone or computer. Just you and your stack of notes. An environment where your notes is the most interesting thing. This could mean a library or on a quiet room at your house. Alos, try not to multi-task as it dilute your learning effectiveness.

By removing distractions, students will be able to stick to their schedule  and stay committed to their tasks. They will be able to complete all work on time. Thus, proper time management can only occur by having students be concentrated on their studies.