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Are you managing your time effectively?
We all know how stressful studies can be, especially before exams.
When it comes to your studies, research has shown that having good time management skills can not only improve academic performance but also reduce stress. Students who perceive greater time control have significantly greater performance evaluations and outstanding work and life satisfaction.
I would argue that time management is probably the most essential skill you need when preparing for exams, especially if you have many exams and coursework deadlines coming up. This is why the GT Scholars programme places such a significant emphasis on private tuition, time management, and building study skills. Read more tips on how you can improve yourself academically here.
When I was studying for my GCSEs, our teachers checked our school planners every week to ensure we had filled them in. Most of us felt like filling out the planners was just homework, but our tutors encouraged us to develop our time management skills.
Planning your time will make sure that you waste less time on things that aren’t important. It helps you become more productive at tasks in a shorter time, procrastinate less, and keep up with upcoming deadlines. All of which help reduce your stress levels!
So, now you know the advantages of time management, here’s a little tutorial on managing your time effectively!
Tips for better time management
1. Use a student planner to manage your time
Writing down upcoming deadlines and daily to-do lists in a planner is the best way to stay organised and make sure you are approaching tasks in order of importance.
My top tip is to plan your day the night before. Break the following day into hourly sections and plan how to use them. First, block the hours you have to be at school, private tuition, and after-school classes such as music lessons and then plan what to do with the spare time blocks. Will you do an hour of revision before dinner or after you get home from football?
As you have it organised in advance, you’ll be stress-free on an excellent night’s sleep!
2. Create a specific ‘study space.’
Your study space could be a desk in a public or school library. It could be in your bedroom, study or the kitchen table at home. The most important thing is that you keep the space free from distractions so that you can focus on studying. Once you start associating a particular space with homework or revision, it is easier to get straight to work when you arrive there.
3. Have a clear focus and goal
The best thing about learning effective time management is that you give yourself a goal to achieve in a certain amount, e.g. write a certain amount of words in the time you’ve given yourself.
Sometimes managing your time is more about staying motivated and focused in that period. It’s easy to procrastinate and think of reasons you shouldn’t study or revise, but having a clear goal and a set period should prevent this.
By giving yourself something to focus on, you will have less time to be distracted. One of the best ways to avoid procrastinating and stay focused is to set a timer for every 30 minutes. Once the timer goes off, take a quick five-minute break and grab a glass of water or fresh juice before setting the timer again and getting back to work. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in those 30 minutes.
And, of course, the less you procrastinate, the more personal time you have for yourself when the work is done!
We hope this is helpful to anyone that’s trying to manage their time effectively. If you need further support, the GT Scholars programme is an after-school programme for ambitious young people who want to achieve top grades, get into top universities and enter competitive careers.
We provide study-skill sessions, after-school enrichment activities and skill-building courses to equip young people with the tools they need to become better learners.
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Katie Dawes has a BSc in Psychology from Sussex University and a background interest in motivational psychology. She writes about growth mindset, self-leadership and motivation for teens. Katie also enjoys travelling the world and runs a travel blog.
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