Managing your time well is an essential aspect of being a successful student. However, at a school like Oak Park High School, balancing work and free time can be a struggle. Here are seven tips to enhance your efficiency.
- Know your goals and prioritize
Goals give you a sense of purpose, somewhere you can work for. You can prioritize your tasks if you know your deadlines and what you want to accomplish by then. You know what work you should start earlier and how much you must complete daily.
Created by Stephen Covey, the Time Management Matrix arranges tasks into four categories: urgent, not urgent, important and unimportant. This way, you know which tasks to spend more time on and which ones to put on the back burner.
- Learn how to study effectively
Studying is a big part of the workload, especially for students. Students tend to cram and pull all-nighters the days before major tests rather than slowly absorbing the information over a period of time.
Several famous studying techniques exist, such as the Feynman Technique, a four-step process in which students study a topic, teach it to themselves or another person, review anything they don’t know, and then return to simplify their teaching.
There is also the Pomodoro Core Process, in which students set a Pomodoro Timer to 25 minutes, in which they concentrate on one task, take a five-minute break and then repeat the process. For every four of these, the student should take a longer break.
- Make a calendar
Calendars are helpful organizers, ensuring you never miss an assignment and important events. Furthermore, if you feel overwhelmed, writing down everything you have to do on a calendar can give you perspective on how much you have.
You can use a digital or physical calendar. A physical calendar can be placed somewhere you can see anytime, while a digital calendar can be easily edited and checked. Harvard Summer School’s Liam Parson recommended digital calendars, including Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Fantastical and Calendly.
- Take breaks and time off
Whether going on vacation or resting for five minutes between tasks, taking breaks is essential to productivity and recharge. Liam Parson writes, “Consistently including time for yourself in your schedule helps to keep your mental health and your life in balance. It can also be helpful to have things to look forward to stressful periods.”
In a study conducted by Sooyeol Kim, YoungAh Park and Qikun Niu, 86 South Korean office workers were monitored for ten days to observe the effects of four micro-break activities: relaxation, nutrition intake, social and cognitive activities. It was found that relaxational and social activities during breaks reduced a negative end-of-workday effect.
- Don’t multitask
Under stress, students may try to do multiple tasks at once to feel like they have gotten more done quicker. However, this results in the opposite effect, in which your tasks could be done more efficiently. Doing tasks one at a time may be the best strategy.
“Some research has indicated that chronic everyday media multitasking is related to errors in our ability to hold and use information in mind (working memory) and our ability to retrieve information (long-term memory),” Kevin Paul Madore, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, said. According to Stanford, multitasking can even lead to memory issues as it can interfere with collaboration between different brain systems.
- Get rid of distractions
Distractions, predominantly media devices, can disrupt your workflow and reduce productivity. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recommends finding the best environment to study, deciding which noise level is best for you, giving distracting electronics to others to keep safe, and studying with others to stay accountable.
“If you allocate time to a task but spend that time switching among several different tasks, the end result will likely be different than what you intended,” Maura Thomas, a productivity trainer, said. “Controlling your attention means effectively managing internal and external distractions, and single-tasking for higher-quality work done faster.”
- Create a daily schedule
Making a specific schedule for every day can help you organize your tasks and priorities. For example, you can block out what time and how long you want to work on a task. In addition, having a daily schedule will help you form a positive routine over time.
Simplilearn states that you must “make a conscious effort to adhere to your schedule as closely as possible to maintain organization and focus.” It will not be helpful if you do not follow your schedule and continuously adjust it to your whims.
Implementing the tips listed will result in less academic and extracurricular stress and improved mental health. They can even free up time to explore hobbies and spend more time with family and friends.
