Time must be used wisely because it is a limited resource, much like our energy and money. Planning and regulating the amount of time you spend on particular tasks is the essence of time management.
Among the crucial abilities students need to effectively manage their time are:
1. Setting goals
If you don’t know what to do with your time, it’s almost impossible to use it effectively. Setting short- and long-term goals can help students. A short-term objective might be, for instance, finishing their homework early each day so they have plenty of time to practice music. Their long-term objective might be to join the school, church, or Australian Youth Orchestra bands.
2. Setting priorities
It is possible to rank jobs according to their priority by determining what must be accomplished in a specific amount of time. Students can achieve their objectives by setting priorities for each day, week, month, and year. Additionally, it aids in ensuring that important but not urgent tasks are prioritized, such as daily devotions, getting enough sleep, and exercising. Some people prefer to save the simple tasks for first thing in the morning so they can use the boost to get things done. Some people prefer to start with the bigger tasks.
3. Organization
Having a strategy for completing your priorities is crucial after you’ve established them. Some people are naturally organized, while others require assistance. Keeping a clean study space and keeping your schedule current are helpful strategies. There are several beneficial apps and software tools available to help with organization.
4. Stress control
Under conditions of extreme stress, nobody performs at their best. Students require effective strategies for handling the demands of their studies while still being productive. Exercise and getting enough sleep are both excellent stress-reduction strategies that also improve learning.
Advice for enhancing time management
The good news is that there are numerous ways for students to become better time managers.
- Start with an agenda. Have your child enter the dates of any forthcoming tests and assignments on an online or paper agenda, either by themselves or with your assistance (such as their school diary or an online calendar). Include both critical events and downtime in your schedule. To leave room for unforeseen circumstances, you can even establish deadlines a few days in advance of the actual due dates.
- Make a master timetable and, from it, block out periods of time for studying or working on assignments. This will assist your student in setting project priorities and maintaining deadline adherence. In order to determine how much time to allocate daily or weekly, you may start by calculating how long each project will take. Try to set some time for study each weekday, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Reading the schedule can be made simpler by color-coding the various subjects.
- Start your assignments early because waiting until the last minute to complete them might be unpleasant. Encourage your child to begin working on them far in advance of the due date instead.
- Make project plans because procrastination frequently happens when studying or projects seem too much. Help your child divide their assignment or study schedule into more doable, smaller parts. You may help them feel accomplished by setting individual due dates for each component.
- Avoid multitasking since it hinders learning because it requires divided concentration. For maximum productivity, concentrate on one task at a time.