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A Student’s Guide to Postsecondary Time-management
By
Karen Vata
|
1 Min Read
Good time-management can mean a lot of things. Typically, it means not returning home from the pub in time for the exam. But on a really simple level, it means managing daily tasks and events into blocks of time. So at the end of the day, you might actually find some blocks of time for yourself.
Here’s where to start:
- Use time management tools or a calendar to log all your deliverables from papers, projects and exams
- Assign these tasks an importance value to avoid spending more time on projects worth less academically
- Mark out free time and allow time for personal use
- Schedule smaller and more frequent periods for achieving projects goals rather than long and unsustainable ones
- Track your successes and alter your schedule accordingly. Not every student was meant to study Friday night
- Use downtime for re-reading notes or studying, like on the bus ride home
- Evaluate priorities daily
Managing your time can also help to tame your test-anxiety and avoid procrastination, by making you feel like you’re on top of things.
It’s all about understanding yourself as a learner and taking steps to use your strengths and diminish weaknesses.
As with all things, find what works for you–so being honest in your self-evaluations is vital. One tip that may save a student great deal of time (and if used effectively, money as well) is to cook several dinners in one evening, apportion them, and then freeze them. Then, all that is required is to heat/thaw it when needed. If done properly, you can still eat well, spend less time overall cooking, and free up more time for other activiites of your choice.