Believe or not, ladies and gentlemen, effective time management is a gift more powerful than any magical feat you can think of. There are 24 hours in a day. 24 hours and most times this is never enough to complete every necessary task that must be done as students. We must attend classes, go to church, read after every class to avoid piling of notes, hang out with friends, meet with that special person, attend seminars, and partake in extra curricula activities, sleep, cook and a lot more. A student’s life is without a doubt a busy one (apart from the boring and triangular students’ of course), and if one is to avoid being swamped, we must maintain a delicate balance between all of these activities and this is where time management comes into effect.
Time management is a must-have skill for every student that desires to be efficient. Effective time management is the reason why it seems like some people achieve so much than others within the same time frame. Its importance cannot be over emphasized. According to Rachel Campbell, time management is simply the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities. Good time management enables one to work smarter – not harder, so that more work can be done in less time even when time is tight and pressures are high. It also aids greater productivity and efficiency, less stress, increased opportunities for advancement and greater opportunities to achieve important life and career goals. Failing to manage your time on the other hand damages your effectiveness and causes stress, leads to missed deadlines, inefficient work flow and poor work quality.
Having highlighting the benefits and otherwise of time management, here are some time management tips for students:
What do you have to do?
The first stage of improving your time management is to list absolutely everything that you have to do. This may sound obvious, but experience has shown that most students, if not all, tend to leave important tasks until the very last minute, which negatively impacts the quality of their work and their overall grade. Include any deadline of any assignment or activity in the list and make a note of how much time each priority will take out of your schedule.
Create a life schedule:
Whether it is a pin up planner, a time table or a calendar on your phone, find an organizing tool that works well and add your list of priorities to it. There are many time management applications that can help with this. Also, think about when you are most alert, so that you can plan your study periods around these times.
Be flexible and realistic:
Typically, allow around 8-10 hours a day for working, socializing and anything else practical you need to do. As a full time student, you are expected to dedicate at least thirty five hours (35 hours) a week to University lectures. Try to meet up with it and plan other activities to fit this schedule. It is important to remember that things often take longer than expected, so allow a little extra time in case you spend longer on a task than you thought you would. Be flexible, create time for unexpected occurrences and make out time at intervals for breaks.
Allow time for planning to avoid repetition:
Taking the time to research, planning and thinking about your work is crucial for good time management. Allow yourself the time to process new information and plan how you are going to use it, as this can help you to avoid having to re-read and repeat such research. One way of effectively planning researching is to make a list of everything you want to find out, so that you can make notes below each sub heading as you go.
Avoid procrastination and distraction:
One way to avoid procrastination is to think about the different places you have been when studying – where were you most focused? Where were you most distracted? Is there anything you can do to make studying actually somewhat enjoyable? Remember, what works for one person might not necessarily work for you.
Has your organization been effective?
Constantly reviewing and reassessing your schedule can help you recognize whether you need to make any changes in order to help you complete any task and also have time for other activities and finally,
Maintain a habit of discipline:
Discipline is very important. Without discipline, keeping up with daily schedule would be almost impossible. Try as much as possible to avoid distractions and be focused and determined to achieve your already set goals.
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