Different Strategies to Manage Your Time
- Sai Bikkineni
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
As high school students, time management is a key component of academic and personal success. Time management is also a big factor on your mental well-being. So, as we’re ending the summer and going back to school, let’s talk about effective management of time.
Know how to Spend Your Time
A key component of proper time management is knowing how to properly spend your time. This involves identifying your most time-consuming and important tasks and doing them first. Another thing to consider is the time of day you are most productive. For instance, if you're most productive in the morning, it would be better to do the hardest/longest tasks at that time.
Stop Procrastinating
People procrastinate for a variety of reasons. It could be that the task is overwhelming, unpleasant, and other times, it may simply be that you’re too busy leading you to delay things. Regardless of the reason, procrastination doesn’t make the task easier. It may lead to temporary relief but in the long run, both anxiety and pressure builds up leading to more stress as the deadline looms. Mark Twain, a famous author, once said “If it’s your job to eat a frog today, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the big frog first.” Another effective approach is the “snowball” method, which involves breaking tasks down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Experts recommend creating a reward system for yourself after completion of tasks, regardless of the method you use, to help maintain your motivation.
Avoid Multi-Tasking
During busy times we often tend to multi-task, believing it will save time. While many understand that multi-tasking can reduce the quality of their work, not everyone realizes that it can actually waste a significant amount of time. This is because constantly switching from one task to another disrupts efficiency, causing a slowdown in productivity. In fact, focusing on one task at a time often leads to better time management.
Organize Your Stuff
Many people may not realize that disorganization can significantly affect time management and contribute to a decline in perceived well-being. When you feel disorganized, your productivity can suffer, leading to slower and less efficient work. Also, you may end up spending more time searching for important items, which ultimately wastes time. If needed, one can use a planning tool to organize tasks. Planning tools come in different forms, such as an agenda, a calendar, a notebook paper, or an app. These tools can help gain awareness of how you spend your time, increase productivity, and prioritize tasks effectively. The key to using a planning tool is consistency, make sure to use it regularly. However, it is worth noting that unplanned events may arise, and you have to be flexible with your planning. For instance, if you have your day's events scheduled in your planning tool, but a new assignment comes up that’s due today, you will need to adjust the schedule to accommodate that particular assignment.
Set Your Priorities Straight
Each activity that we engage in falls into one of three categories: not important and not urgent, important but not urgent, and important and urgent. Some may confuse important with urgent, but experts say that they’re two different things. Something that’s really important doesn’t always have to be the most urgent. For instance, let's say you have several school assignments due today but you also want to learn a new sport. Although both tasks are really important, completing your assignments is both important AND urgent while learning a new sport comes under the 'important' category. In this case, a wise decision would be to prioritize your assignments first and save time later to learn the sport later. Be sure to set a specific time to practice the sport so you don’t keep procrastinating. It is crucial to limit activities that fall in the "not important and not urgent" category, as these can consume your valuable time. The only time this category is useful is when you need a mental or physical break. Therefore, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what is important, what is important and urgent, and what is not important and not urgent.
Take Care of Your Health
Research shows that those who prioritize their health and mental well being tend to work faster and produce higher-quality results. taking care of oneself includes getting enough sleep and proper nutrition, taking regular breaks from screens, and allowing mental rest. By incorporating these habits, you can enhance both your health and work performance.
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