Throughout high school, one thing that all students can relate to is stress, brought about by a variety of factors, including poor time management and putting too much on their plates.
The fact of the matter is, there’s a lot on student’s plates. Whether it is extracurricular or academics or both, they nonetheless take up a very significant part of the day. However, there are ways of managing one’s time so as to be as productive as possible, so that we aren’t stressing and trying to no avail to finish last minute assignments. In addition, proper time management can even leave more time that can be spent on various hobbies and projects.
Isn’t it simply amazing how many benefits can arise when one is not procrastinating?
Ways that students can manage their time are setting goals correctly, prioritizing wisely and removing non essential tasks and distractions. Dartmouth University suggests “defining long-term and short-term goals and build your schedule around them.” This piece of advice can come in handy, as it is a solid starting point where further time management can be achieved.
Dartmouth University also suggests to “concentrate on one thing at a time.” Basically, it is crucial not to overload yourself with too many different things at once. This is a message that must be reiterated, especially in high school, a point in time where students feel obligated to take as many APs and participate in as many clubs as possible to obtain acceptance letters to top colleges.
According to the American Psychological Association, “anywhere from 80 percent to 95 percent of students procrastinate, particularly when it comes to doing their coursework.” Most reported procrastinating for at least one hour a day, but for others this number increased to as much as four hours. Eliminating the inevitable procrastination that arises from being distracted through non essential tasks is crucial to better time management. Oftentimes, a common cause of procrastination is the desire for perfection, or rather wanting to do the task at the point when energy levels are highest. While this is understandable, procrastination instead results in reduced work performance, as one often has to rush in order to get the task done. Several actions students can take to avoid procrastination is to come up with a to-do list, prioritize tasks, and take short yet timely breaks in the middle of studying or working. These are simple practices that when practiced often can result in increased productivity as well as reduced procrastination.
In addition, it is also advised to work on higher priority tasks when energy levels are high. According to an article by Wall Street Journal, it is crucial to decide on priorities for the day early on, so that when highest priority tasks are attempted they correspond to the point in time one has the most energy. For some this may be early on in the morning, for others it may be late at night. Whatever the case, it is important to know one’s own limitations and productive schedule.
According to an article on time management by Yale Health, it is advised to “prioritize tasks first and reschedule less important matters for another time.” This advice, often reiterated in different forms, remains a major contributing factor to greater time management. Moreover, the article advises setting a “To-Do list” to check off tasks as they are completed. To-Do lists can be very handy, especially since they reduce the possibility of a student forgetting important information, as well as making sure more timely tasks are completed first.
The busier the schedule, the more necessary it is for apt time management skills. A few tips to help with this are setting a detailed agenda, prioritizing important tasks, knowing your limits and not taking on as many activities, and avoiding procrastination when possible. A detailed agenda can consist of a daily planner, a To- Do List, or perhaps a digital calendar consisting of reminders throughout the day. Overall, it can help with meeting deadlines and completing tasks when one is busy.
Good luck with your time management journey!
