Figuring out how to properly manage time is a valuable lifelong skill every child needs. However, many have difficulty finding enough time to study, engage in extracurricular activities and rest without stressing. This leaves them continuously overwhelmed, frustrated at their inability to complete tasks, and stressed.
To succeed in K-12 education, learners need to develop proper time management skills to have enough time to pursue everything they want. If they cannot plan their day, they risk not achieving their personal and academic goals. To help children utilise their time, here is a comprehensive guide on time management strategies for students and some tips to get them started.
What Is Time Management?
This refers to organising and making productive use of your time. This, in turn, allows one to complete all the tasks they set out to do. Effectual time management will enable them to control their free time and energy better, channelling them between the tasks they must complete.
Proper time management requires shifting the mindset from focusing on activities to results. With good time management skills, learners can complete their tasks with minimal effort and optimise their time by working smarter, not harder.
Why Is Time Management Important For Students?
With limited time in a day, students need to make the most of it to achieve their academic goals. Learning time management skills allows students to organize and plan their time to attain these goals efficiently.
One learns to keep track of their time and utilise it as efficiently as possible, optimally use their resources, and avoid time wastage. With these skills, learners have more control of their schedules and can stay focused and organized and meet deadlines.
Top 7 Effective Tips For Time Management
If you are wondering how students can manage their time, here are seven time management tips for students
- Specify and organise tasks
Decide what needs to get done, prioritise them, and organise them in order of importance. Encourage students to create a checklist of all their tasks, add their deadlines, and sort them in order of importance.
- Have a master timetable
Creating a master timetable can help easily add essential tasks and activities that need to be completed. It can serve as a template to create other customized timetables or as a comprehensive plan where all the tasks of the day, week, month, or year are listed.
- Get rid of distractions and Avoid multitasking.
Learners must eliminate any distractions that could negatively affect their ability to focus. For instance, putting away their phone, turning off notifications, eating, hydrating, and getting enough rest so they can fully concentrate on their tasks.
Focus on a singular task at a time rather than tackling a bunch of tasks in one go. Learners are less likely to not complete tasks, overwork themselves or make serious mistakes if they focus on a singular task, complete it, and then move to the next one.
- Break down big tasks into smaller ones.
students can get swamped if they have to tackle all their IGCSE school work at once. For instance, writing a 20-page essay in one night. However, if they break down this task into smaller ones and write about three pages daily, they will complete it much more quickly. The thought of working on a 3-page every day is less intimidating than writing 20 pages at once.
- Remain realistic and flexible.
It is impossible to dedicate all day to study. What about eating, sleeping, or extracurricular activities? Before making the timetable, encourage students to find out how much free time they have, then divide it between the jobs they need to complete. Some tasks might take longer than expected, so plan accordingly.
- Reward yourself.
Completing a to-do list is not easy. Learning to manage time effectively is a habit children nurture, and rewards can help to reinforce it. Rewarding children helps them to establish a pattern that will eventually become their habit.
- Get enough rest and exercise.
While children must make the most of their time, they must get enough rest and exercise. Quality sleep and exercise help increase focus, energise, and rejuvenate one’s mind and body.
How Can Time Management Benefit Students?
- Achieve goals faster – Suitable time management helps increase efficiency. Rather than multitasking, students can focus on one activity at a time for a specified duration enabling them to give their best and achieve their goals faster.
- Prioritising important tasks – Creating a timetable pushes learners to prioritise important tasks that require immediate action. This means they complete them on time because they planned and set aside enough time to work on them.
- Increased productivity – Allocating a task enough time helps one to focus on it entirely. If one fails to dedicate time to working on them, one will likely not complete them, let alone beat deadlines.
- Lessens stress – Having several tasks and not enough time to do them is stressful. Proper time management helps learners to lessen the pressure by prioritising essential tasks and handling them first. With a schedule, students know what they should do and how much time they have, lessening anxiety and overall stress.
- Prevents procrastination – Procrastination is a slippery slope that leads to stress, frustration, and poor grades. Setting aside time for a task can motivate one to complete it. It overcomes laziness, allowing students to allocate enough time to research or get help to complete the job. Not knowing how to tackle a task is why many students procrastinate.
- Boosts confidence and increases career opportunities – Managing time allows students to complete their work on time, evoking confidence in their abilities. When students get employed, it can help them become a reliable employee who turns in high-quality work on time, improving their value as an employee, raising their professional reputation, and opening up more opportunities to further their career.
How Can Students Improve Their Time Management Skills?
These student time management tips will help learners improve their time management skills.
- Analysing habits – Knowing how much time is spent on a task, how quickly it can be done, and whether it needs to be redone if not completed successfully helps learners determine how to manage different tasks, which impacts their time management.
- Ask for help – Procrastination can drastically affect the child’s ability to get any tasks done, especially if they think it is too complex and doesn’t know how to tackle it. Rather than putting it off until later, encourage students to ask for help and complete the task.
- Take breaks often – Working on something for long periods can decrease focus. So it’s essential to take short breaks every half hour to recharge. Taking a walk, stretching, or dancing helps refresh the mind. Make sure not to get sidetracked and complete the tasks.
- Set limits – Set hard time limits for the tasks so they don’t waste time allocated to other tasks.
- Avoid perfectionism – Perfectionism and fussing over minor details is frustrating and quite time-consuming. Rather than trying to make the work perfect, motivate students to complete the tasks with diligence.
How To Manage Time While Studying At Home?
- Get in the right mindset – Dedicate enough time to study at home and stick by it. Work to maintain the same time management skills at home.
- Make a study schedule – Asking students to create a timetable that will help them cover everything they need. For instance, dedicate more time to complex subjects and tackle them when there are few distractions.
- Be consistent – The key to proper time management is consistency. Students can easily cope with studying pressure and not feel overwhelmed when they stick to their schedules.
- Set realistic goals – At home, students don’t have the same stringent time management schedule they have at school, so they should set realistic goals. For instance, learners have less time to study, so they need to work smart and properly utilise the previous tips on time management.
- Limit distractions – There are many more distractions at home, so find a good place to study, or plan their study schedule during less busy times, such as in the middle of the day. Mornings and evenings are more hectic.
What Is The Impact Of Time-Management On The Student’s Academic Performance?
A sound time management system can help learners achieve their academic goals in a realistic time frame. They can allocate more time to their problem areas, thus improving their overall grades. By prioritising their tasks, they work more efficiently, and subdividing big tasks into smaller ones ensures they don’t feel overwhelmed.
Conclusion
Practical time management strategies allow students to fully utilise their time without worrying about schoolwork. They can explore their interests and hang out with their friends, all without risking their academic performance. At OWIS Singapore, we work to help your child attain these lifelong skills that will benefit them in a lot more ways aside from academic performance.
