Tips for Time Management and Productive Studying

Written by Rita Jabbour

@_ritajabbour

Thumbnail Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

With the start of yet another semester comes the struggle of managing study requirements. Keeping up with assignments, papers, quizzes, and readings may get unruly without a set plan to help you manage your time and get things done. And even so, it may be challenging to focus your mind on studying or doing schoolwork when there is so much going on around you, several different activities you would rather be doing, and places you would rather be. So, here are a few tips to help you manage your time and get you in a mindset to study.

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Make a list

The first step towards organizing your time and ensuring you get all your assignments done is making a list. Write out the tasks you have to complete to physically visualize what needs to be done. You can do this on a piece of paper or electronically. Make sure that you include the tasks in order of importance on that list. Prioritizing will help you organize when you need to do something at  a required time. According to the Eisenhower Box, you should complete the urgent and vital tasks immediately, plan to complete the critical but not urgent tasks, delegate any urgent but unimportant tasks, and finally, forget about any not urgent and unimportant tasks. For example, make a list of your assignments due over one week. Then, based on their importance and urgency, you will know when each needs to be done throughout the timeframe.

Make a plan

Once you know what needs to be done, set a specific time and date to work on that assignment. For example, if you know you are a restless person who cannot sit down and complete a task when you plan for it, then give yourself a timeframe instead of a set number of hours. For instance, if it’s Monday and you have two assignments due on Wednesday, plan to complete one of them on Monday night and the other on Tuesday. Additionally, filling this out in a calendar might help you keep better track of your tasks and assignments.

Set realistic expectations

Although making lists and plans is very effective in ensuring you don’t run out of time to meet deadlines, if you do not set realistic expectations, you might as well have no plan. Be aware of your capacities and capabilities in studying. If you can only focus on one assignment a night, do not plan to do more than one because it will be neglected and postponed to another day, complicating your schedule and organized plan.

Take productive breaks

Managing your time with organized schedules is excellent for staying on top of deadlines. However, working incessantly on assignments and readings does not guarantee effective studying. Instead, make sure you take a break every 90 minutes to ensure excellent results. You can even take a break every 50 minutes if you feel you need extra study breaks. Try stretching, exercising, eating/drinking, or decluttering your area during your break to increase productivity and avoid fatigue. Taking breaks in between your planned tasks will help you maintain concentration instead of ceasing your studying altogether to procrastinate. 

Don’t leave things until the last minute

Procrastinators will be very familiar with leaving assignments until a few hours before the deadline to get done. Try to allocate a specific time or time frame to address your assignments as soon as they are given to you. Getting things done before the deadline will reduce stress and worry and ensure the high quality of your work since you will not be rushing.

It’s okay not to be in a ‘studying mood’

Sometimes, when several assignments need to be written, working on any of them seems out of the question. To battle your ‘non-studying’ mood, try doing something you enjoy, like watching a quick episode of your favourite show or exercising a little. Accept your feelings but don’t dwell on them. Acknowledge that you will not study, think about studying, or even look at your textbooks and notebooks for the next few hours. Then, move on to something else that will uplift your mood, and allow yourself to let go of any worry. Once you have taken a few hours, an afternoon, or even a whole day (if you feel you need it), go back to your calendar and your plan and reorganize the tasks that you were supposed to do during that time. It’s completely normal to fall into a rut occasionally. Just make sure you are productive with your time; take an extended break when you need one, and don’t think about your assignments, but do so only enough to help you carry on the next day.

Take advantage of your biological prime-time

Time management focuses on planning and organizing your tasks to avoid procrastination. It can help your time-management skills if you find the time of day that your mind works most effectively and productively. Your biological prime-time is the time period in which you have the most energy, which means you are more likely to work quickly and efficiently during those hours. Once you know what time of day you have the most energy in, try to schedule your work so that it falls into that timeframe.

Start with simple tasks

When you have several assignments, such as readings, papers, and studying for a quiz, try to find the task that seems the least difficult and which you would be most willing to work on and start with that. Pick an assignment from your favourite course to begin with, and once you’re done with that, you will likely be in the mindset to move on to other assignments.

Break things down

For more significant assignments, focus on breaking them down into smaller and separate pieces so as to not overwhelm yourself. For example, if you have an essay due, break it down into the following: task 1 is to write the outline, task 2 is to write the first half, task 3 is to write the second half, and task 4 is to review it and make any edits. By breaking down a large assignment into smaller tasks that you can complete at different times, you can make sure it gets done without the pressure and worry that comes with it.

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Minimize distractions

To get back to time management tips, minimizing distractions is very important. If you are distracted by something around you or something that has been on your mind, you are likely to end up wasting time, procrastinating, messing up your schedule, and if you do manage to get the work done, it is unlikely to be its best version. So, make sure your phone is off or away from you while studying. Sit in a quiet room if you can’t focus with noise, or sit in a crowded room if that’s how you work best. Regardless, make sure that you minimize distractions. Yet, some people do not have complete control over their surrounding environment and may find themselves in a noisy living area. If that’s the case, try getting a pair of noise-cancelling headphones or finding a quiet spot elsewhere. And, if you are thinking about something distracting, try to write it out or talk about it with someone else to clear your mind and focus.

 Every person has different needs and requirements to study and various time management methods, and the tips mentioned here are just a few of many. Find your own techniques and organization methods that can personally help you stay on top of tasks and assignments without missing deadlines. To wrap up, making a checklist and a plan for your assignments is a practical time management tip, as well as taking breaks, breaking things down and minimizing distraction.