Time Management

Introduction :
Doing well in your studies has surprisingly little to do with your raw intelligence. Brilliant students
can flunk out if they waste their time and average students can ace their classes by using their time
wisely. If you want to increase your productivity, improve your concentration, and actually get more
free time, you should make the best use of your time .This is known as time management .It is
important to strike a balance which allows you to carry on with the important things in your life,
including studies, relaxation and entertainment.

1.What is Time Management?

Simply put, time management is a way to balance your hours of rest and leisure. Whether you realize it
or not you are always making time management decisions .Everyday, you decide when you sleep-in,
go to class, study, go to the library, go to the gym or chat online. These decisions play a role in your
personal time management strategies.

2.The Importance of Time Management

Better time management can lead to improved concentration, better overall organization. Higher
grades and, most importantly, it will reduce your level of stress. By organizing your time more
effectively, you will find the right balance your leisure, rest and study time. On top of that, you will
feel happier.

3.High-and Low-Quality Time:

Not all available time will be of the same quality. It will range between:

High-quality study time: when you are alert, able to concentrate and can work undisturbed for a
decent chunk of time.

Low-quality study time: when you are tired, your concentration is poor, there are distractions around
you and you do not have long enough to get deeply involved.

4. Reasons for Drifting while Studying:

The feeling of drifting in a sea of uncertainty makes you grasp at straws of distraction. When you don’t
understand the lecture and you are not really sure what you are trying to do, you feel restless.
Distractions provide relief. They offer the chance to focus on familiar and meaningful aspects of your
life and escape from the uncertainties of studying. Routine and orderly tasks enable you to reassure
yourself and you can control your domestic world, even if your studies feel chaotic. The urge to avoid
uncertainty is very strong. That’s why it is important to set yourself a specific tasks which help to give
shape and meaning to your work.

5. Strategies to Improve Concentration

To keep up your concentration, work out ways to keep actively engaged as you study:
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1) When you read, use a highlighter pen to make useful passages in the text, and make notes in the
margin. This will keep your mind focuses.

2) Check your progress. Do you need to change strategy to finish o time? Set yourself a target to
achieve before the next break.

3) Sit somewhere else for a while and take a short break.

4) Focus on what you find interesting.

6.Steps for Effective Time Management:

1) Set a clear and attainable long-term goal for your studies, and set short-term objectives that would
help you achieve your goal. Then, decide on a time frame for the end result.

2) Identify where you are spending your time at present.

3) Keep a calendar, date book or computerized agenda on which you write down important academic
dates (i.e. last day to add a course, last day to drop a course, mid-term and final exam dates,
assignment due dates, end of classes, study breaks, etc.), and mark down dates for personal or social
activities(i.e. travel times, sporting tournaments, theatre performances, doctor’s appointments, etc.).

4) Set your priorities. You will certainly find out that some of your daily activities are more important
than others.

5) Identify your high-quality study time.

6) Create a weekly schedule starting with the essential activities like attending classes, sleeping eating,
study time, and commuting, then add the chores such as house cleaning, laundry, and shopping. Then
complete your schedule with socializing, clubs, sports, and other fun activities.

N.B.1 Remember to use high-quality study times for the task which require most concentration and to
consider your priorities while planning.

N.B.2 The goal is not to fill your entire schedule but rather to make sure that the things that need to
get done, actually are done.

7.Goal Setting and Time Management

The first step to accomplishing anything worthwhile is to start with a goal. When you know what you
are working toward, you will be able to stay focused on the result that you expect to achieve. Goals
must be specific-not general or vague-and achievable within a certain period of time. From the time
management perspective, your life is a sequence of big and small choices and decisions .It is those
choices that really manage, not the flow of time.

Although you cannot manage the flow of time, you can make the right choices include using the time
that you have and take the correct steps to keep moving toward your goal. Thus, you should manage
your time to meet the deadlines.

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8. Strategies to Maximize Time Management
Here are some general rules of good time management:

1) Get enough sleep: between 7-8 hours a night .Try to plan all activities between 7:00a.m and 11:00
p.m.

2) Allow time for breaks.

3) Occasionally plan a whole day without any school work.

4) Be realistic. An overflowing schedule is discouraging and inefficient.

5) Be flexible and adapt changing situations.

6) Make a list of what you have achieved and forget the plan you didn’t fulfill.

7)Learn how to say NO (you can refuse to go out before an exam or take on more optional commitments).

8) Avoid procrastination which is the worst thing that can kill time management. You should not put off
what you could do today, otherwise your life will turn into a mess.

9.Strategies To Overcome Procrastination?

By using an agenda, you will know exactly the number of activities you can fit in a day’s time and you
will quickly find out that putting off any assignments or research just won’t help you in the end.

A few tips to fight the temptation of procrastinating:

-Start small and early: starting a project as soon as you get it is best but not always possible. Try to
break down your projects into more manageable activities and start as early as possible. Start small,
choose your topic, write a plan, create your template, create sections and subheadings, write down your
major ideas on a given subject, etc. These small steps will start you thinking about your assigned work
and make it less overwhelming the next time you sit down to do more.

- Work without distractions: Turn off your computer’s instant messaging programs such as
Messenger, Snapshat or whatever else keeps your attention away from your work

- Change subjects regularly: Changing your focus can actually be more productive and keep you from
becoming bored.

Class/Homework:
1) What are your current strengths in time managements?

2) What aspects of time management might you need to improve?

3) Write down your weekly schedule.