No one will dispute that time management is an important skill for students to master.
When students struggle to find the time to complete their assignments, homework, and revision for the exams, that can lead to stress and frustration.
That’s why a strategic approach is required. It can optimise the way a student uses his time so that he doesn’t end up burned out while accomplishing all his tasks.
In this article, we’ll go over tips that can build up time management skills of this sort. You should be able to use these study tips to make sure you never have to cram again.
We already noted why time management skills for students are vital.
Time management involves prioritising tasks as well as completing schoolwork and assignments on time.
Time management therefore requires that a student be able to plan ahead, set aside time needed for projects and assignments, and control his schedule to make better use of time.
In other words, it’s all about becoming more organised. This can make him more confident at school as he’ll be more prepared, less worn out, and able to learn more effectively.
This becomes more important as students get older. They get more responsibilities, deal with more subjects, take on more assignments and tests, and even have more extracurricular activities.
Good time management can help to keep them on track and reduce stress even as the workload increases.
No one will dispute that time management is an important skill for students to master.
When students struggle to find the time to complete their assignments, homework, and revision for the exams, that can lead to stress and frustration.
That’s why a strategic approach is required. It can optimise the way a student uses his time so that he doesn’t end up burned out while accomplishing all his tasks.
In this article, we’ll go over tips that can build up time management skills of this sort. You should be able to use these study tips to make sure you never have to cram again.
We already noted why time management skills for students are vital.
Time management involves prioritising tasks as well as completing schoolwork and assignments on time.
Time management therefore requires that a student be able to plan ahead, set aside time needed for projects and assignments, and control his schedule to make better use of time.
In other words, it’s all about becoming more organised. This can make him more confident at school as he’ll be more prepared, less worn out, and able to learn more effectively.
This becomes more important as students get older. They get more responsibilities, deal with more subjects, take on more assignments and tests, and even have more extracurricular activities.
Good time management can help to keep them on track and reduce stress even as the workload increases.
This puts you in control of your time.
Daily schedules are used by a lot of successful people. Elon Musk is just one example of people who follow schedules to control the way they use their time.
Time blocking is one technique you can use. Block a set amount of time to dictate how you want to spend your time each day.
For example, block 2 hours of your morning (from 8-10 am, for example) for study.
Think of it as blocking time for your most important tasks, whether that’s revising, writing, or something else.
The key here is to be focused with what you’re doing when you’re doing it. Avoid distractions during that time block, which means avoiding things like social media.
Don’t forget to add blocks for breaks, social time, and everyday tasks too! That’s the only way this can work. You have to provide for down-time, or you’ll burn out very quickly.
A schedule is just an ideal version of your day. But you can’t make it unless you know how you currently spend your time.
Try time-logging for a day or two. It should give you a better idea of what tasks or things to provide for in your schedule once you make it.
Goal-setting is a great way to stay motivated.
But for many of us, we may have been setting goals the “wrong” way, where we just focus on the end result.
We often forget to consider exactly how we’re going to achieve the goal… or how much time it may take to get there.
Provide for that by focusing instead on consistent progress and better daily habits that lead to the goal.
This is an extension of the previous tip. Breaking big goals into smaller daily tasks can keep you more focused and reduce procrastination.
When a task looks too big to manage, it can be overwhelming. A lot of people end up never starting tasks because of that.
By breaking it down, the first small step looks more doable – and this helps to build momentum.
Say you have to revise for a big exam, for instance, but it covers so much material that you can barely imagine finishing revision.
Break it down into topics or subjects! You can cover only this topic in this time block or day, and then spread out the others for other blocks or days.
Given smart time blocking and ample breaks in between, you’ll find yourself finishing revision before you know it.
We all naturally have times throughout the day when we’re more alert and energetic. Being aware of that can help you craft a schedule that takes advantage of it.
You’ll be able to do your most important work when you have the most energy, for instance. Try to schedule your most intense work during the times when you know you have energy highs.
Time management is a valuable skill for students – and with these tips, it’s within reach for most.
But as a final tip, you should watch out for the planning fallacy when you start practising time management.
This just means that it’s easy to be optimistic about how much time you need for tasks. In all likelihood, a lot of tasks will require more time than you’ve blocked off.
To avoid getting stressed out by this, don’t over-plan. Remember that schedules can be flexible and that you don’t need to overload yourself with work.
Among other things, we suggest adding a buffer to your schedule based on how familiar you are with a task. New to it? Add a bigger buffer block. Familiar with it? You can probably do with a small buffer then.
At any rate, that should get you started. If you need a little more help with your studying after this, contact us.
At Aspire Hub we have small class sizes, personalised lessons plans, and experienced teacher-coaches who can further help you achieve your educational goals. Learn more now!
