Time Management Skills - Time Management Tips for students
Time Management Skills
Time management skills are some of the important skills a student at college or high school has to master in order to learn effectively. Every day, I listen to students who say that they have no time but have so much to learn. This is because they have poor time management skills. The student who gets the top grade also has 24 hours in a day and that means that he/ she is doing something differently - they are better at time management skills.
Time management is all about being more productive in less time, without compromising on quality of work. It could also mean better planning and scheduling of work and being able to follow a scheduled pattern of work. Time management skills ensure that you will be less stressed as you follow a set plan of work.
Time management skills, techniques and strategies
Get organized
Organize you materials The first key to time management is getting organized. This would call for getting your entire study materials up to date and ready for use, all in one place, well ordered and easily accessible.
Organize your place The next important task is having your study area or your workplace organized. This will enable efficient usage of time.
Organize your supplies Having stationery and supplies in good quantity saves you a lot of time. .
Get yourself a scheduler or a planner. A soft board / white board to put your notes on near your desk . Make good use of it for noting down the things that need to be done and the doubts that arise while studying. You can address these at an opportune time.
Time management planning
Planning
You need to plan your tasks well in advance. Bigger goals need to be broken down into daily activities. Your plan should be specific, laying down schedules for each subject, within realistic time frames. This enables you to evaluate your progress.
Your planning should be realistic and should take into account any roadblocks or emergencies that may arise in the course of time.
Planning should also take into account time for revisions and last minute extra studies. Writing down your plans and timetable and putting it on your soft board helps you stick to this schedule.
Prioritise your tasks. While prioritising you need to ask yourself what are the most important things that you need to tackle first. Have a secondary and tertiary list so that all areas are covered. Start with what is important. This way you would have covered most of the difficult ones in the beginning.
Set deadlines. Stick to these deadlines and make sure that you work well within these schedules. This is the only way to stay on track. Push routine tasks that are necessary to a time of day when you are not so alert. As these are routine activities, you can still do them on auto pilot.
Time Management plan
Plan your important work in your peak productive time. Each of us have a peak performance time, we need to be aware of it. This is the best time to learn effectively . Schedule all other activities around this time leaving a chunk of three to four hours for uninterrupted studying.
Plan time for sleep, rest and relaxation .When you are setting a time management plan, you need to plan time for relaxation into it. Overload yourself would result in premature burn out. You need time for rest, sleep, exercise and other important activities.
Taking short breaks can refresh your mind and help you focus sharply into what you are doing. Make sure that you plan your most important activity at the time when you are bright and rearing to go.
Isolate yourself Yes, you need to close the door to the world, and remain focused. Keep your friends informed, instruct them to avoid calling you during your peak time which should be undisturbed study time. Switch off your phone and cut away from the things that are happening around you.
Practice effective learning skills You need to use effective learning skills to ensure that you make the best use of your time and not shooting in the dark. Effective learning skills helps you prepare your mind, your environment, efficiently plan, use other learning techniques to get good grades. They helps you to be well prepared for your exams. ( all these are dealt with in this articles linked above, feel free to click on them for more information)
Get the right tools There is a whole lot of material available in the world outside but you need to make your choice. Choose the right tools which will help you use your time efficiently and give you good quality results.
Avoid multitasking Multitasking should be avoided when you are studying because your brain can focus on only one thing at a time and it invariably picks the task that is less difficult to focus on. Sometimes, multitasking may also lead to poor quality work.
Time management to include other activities
Have a specific time for other activities. Make time for your online studying, online socialising, e-mails, etc. keep it to a minimal level and stick to the schedule. It is very easy to lose track of time when you are online, either checking emails or chatting with friends or even when you are getting information . So you need to have a disciplined, scheduled time for your online activities.
Learn to say No
A good student who is focused is always able to say “No”. He/She knows when and where to draw the line. Temptations are rife around you, and you need to decide what you need to be doing.
Be determined, dedicated and decisive
Have a vision, work with determination, be dedicated to your goals and be decisive about what you want to achieve. You need to be committed to sticking to your schedules and making them work. Then there is no stopping you. You will be the best student there is.
Time Management skills for effective learning
Time management is all about effective and productive utilization of your time. It is known that planned activities have more chances of succeeding than unplanned activities. I wish you excellence and great success in your efforts.
