As a student, you must have heard a lot about the importance of managing time efficiently. There is no doubt that if you learn how to manage time well, it helps you not only achieve academic goals, but also professional milestones. Time management is a skill that shapes your mind and helps you make your life more disciplined and efficient.
Both discipline and time management are of paramount importance, especially if you want to become a good student. Both these skills enable you to be more productive when it comes to managing 24 hours in a day.
Students who know how to utilize their time efficiently, rarely face problems covering academic subjects. Not only does it allow them to focus on the subjects individually, but also makes them experts in their respective subjects. However, not everyone is granted this skill, more helpful hints.
To put it simply, learning time management is all about developing the habits to spend your time wisely. Unfortunately, the skill is not taught in any school as an academic subject. It is one of those skills that you, as a student, need to learn on your own.
If you are a student and often struggle to manage your time when it comes to completing assignments with tight deadlines or preparing for exams, reading this article will help you. Discussed here a few very effective time management tips that will definitely help you score high marks.
Before we plunge into the discussion how can you manage your time skillfully, let us understand how exactly learning this skill benefits you.
Why Effective Management is Important?
Effective learning and time management go hand in hand. That means when a student knows how to manage his/her time effectively, he/she becomes adept at learning and studying quickly. It allows students more time to gain expertise in the subjects.
Once students become effective learners, maintaining good grades throughout school and college becomes a breeze. This ultimately brings peace of mind.
In addition to that, learning time management may result in efficiency gains. College or university life is not only about studying or attending classes on and off, but also participating in other activities. There are very few students who get quality time to pursue the extracurricular activities that interest them.
Time management is the only skill that benefits students here. When they learn to divide their time well, they enjoy all the sporting and social activities, along with classes and academic schedule. Plus, it enables them to devote adequate time to their studies.
How to Manage Time Effectively
Make a Study Schedule
This is undeniably one of the most important tips and an integral part of every successful person’s life. Following a proper schedule is the key to mastering time management skills. That means if you want to finish your study tasks on time, it is extremely important that you create a study schedule.
Making a schedule is also important because not all yours subjects require an equal number of hours to study. If you find following a day-to-day schedule difficult, you can also create a weekly schedule. Make sure you allocate an adequate number of hours to study, exercise and leisure activities.
Moreover, your schedule should be attainable and flexible and help you become more productive. Evaluate your progress weekly to see if your schedule really helped you meet your weekly study goals.
Be Realistic about Schedule
As the last point stated, the tasks in your study schedule have to be attainable. Many students often overestimate their learning ability or what can be achieved in a single day. When students do not complete what they’d planned in a day, it discourages or demotivates them.
That is why making a realistic and practical study schedule is extremely important to make your plan work for you. An easy way to do it is to always keep some space for unforeseen interruptions, such as extra class or emergency, to avoid any failure to complete your tasks.
Be Focused and Avoid Distractions
Focus is one thing that is central to the idea of time management. If you are not focused, you won’t be able to complete your tasks no matter what or how much you do. It may interrupt your other study tasks.
Scientifically, focusing is a mental state that is called flow, which allows you to completely immerse yourself in an activity. To maintain this level of focus, it is very important to avoid distractions.
Distraction is what leads to procrastination. To eliminate distraction and stay focused, it is necessary that you study in a peaceful place with little or no crowd in your surroundings. Keep your phone away if possible or turn off its ringtone. Try to check your phone once in an hour and not more.
Exercise between Study Session to Keep your Mind Active
The tip may seem bizarre, but it really works when you are exhausted. Take 5 to 10 minutes breaks between your study sessions and do some exercise. It clears your mind and boots your cognitive functions.
Get Organized
The tip refers to setting your calendar or checklist of your to-do list for a day. It will make you organized; plus, it will save lot of time while helping you manage time in a better way.
Rest and Get Good Sleep
You may not consider it important, but getting good sleep is one of the important tips to become a good student. If your mind and body are not fresh, you will not be able to concentrate on your studies. Consistent studying can make you less productive.
Use Your Travel Time Effectively
Utilizing time efficiently means learning to use each and every minute of your day productively. To achieve that, you can use your travel time to review or revise significant concepts you learned in a day.
Author bio
Stephanie Ward is an academic writer and editor, expert at writing guides for students.