Time management skills for students are becoming more and more crucial in today’s hectic environment. Despite your yearning for a simpler era in which time seemed to pass more slowly, the realities of modern Western culture require young people to possess proficiency in efficiency and production.
While ACC does not encourage micromanagement or excessive planning in a student’s daily life, we believe that setting objectives and developing time management skills are essential. In this post, we will discuss the significance of time management and provide students with ways for developing outstanding time management abilities.
In light of God’s desire for us to rest in Him and trust Him to meet all our needs, ACC also promotes a balanced approach to time management.
How do you manage your time?
Time must be used wisely because it is a limited resource, much like our energy and money. Planning and regulating the amount of time you spend on particular tasks is the essence of time management.
Among the crucial abilities students need to efficiently manage their time are:
1. Setting goals
If you don’t know what to do with your time, it’s almost impossible to use it effectively. Setting short- and long-term goals can help students. A short-term objective can include, for instance, finishing their homework early each day so they have plenty of time to practise music. Their long-term objective can be to join the school, church, or Australian Youth Orchestra bands.
2. Setting priorities
It is possible to rank tasks according to their importance by determining what must be completed within a given time frame. Students can achieve their goals by establishing daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly priorities. In addition, it ensures that important but not urgent tasks are prioritized, such as daily devotions, adequate rest, and exercise. Some individuals prefer to complete the simplest tasks first thing in the morning so that they can use the boost to accomplish more. Some individuals prefer to begin with the most difficult tasks.
3. Organization
Having a strategy for completing your priorities is crucial after you’ve established them. Some people are naturally organised, while others require assistance. Keeping a clean study space and keeping your schedule current are helpful strategies. There are several beneficial apps and software tools available to help with organisation.
4. Stress control
Under conditions of extreme stress, nobody performs at their best. Students want wholesome strategies for handling the demands of learning while still being productive. Exercise and getting enough sleep are both excellent stress-reduction strategies that can improve learning.
We’ll go through a lot more strategies for improving time management later.
Why are effective time management skills crucial?
Because they are focused and don’t waste time on distractions (such as social media), students who are adept at time management are able to do more in less time. As students complete their to-do lists, effective time management reduces their stress levels. It can also provide a feeling of accomplishment when goals are accomplished. For example, in order to spend the weekend with friends, someone may opt to write my homework by Friday for me.
In addition, by successfully managing their time, students can complete their assignments on time, remain engaged in their lessons, and have more time for their own pursuits, like sports, hobbies, youth group, and socialising with friends and family.
Effective time management allows students to maximise their talents and experience the joy of success. It is also the ability most valued by employers.
The Bible has much to say about how we ought to spend our time. Christians view time differently from the general population because we are a part of God’s eternal salvation plan through Jesus Christ (Eph 1:4).
Therefore, we must place His kingdom and justice at the top of our list of priorities (Matt 6:33). Ephesians 5:15–17 instructs us to make good use of our time and to seek God’s direction on how to do so (Ps 90:12). Proverbs 21:5 urges us to plan for the future, but we must do so with the understanding that nothing is certain (Js 4:13-14).
Time management that glorifies God and enables us to carry out His will will arise from retaining an eternal perspective (2 Cor 4:18).
Advice for enhancing time management
The good news is that there are numerous strategies for students to become better time managers. Here is a lengthy list that was compiled from resources found on websites like Grade Power Learning and Deakin University.
Start with an agenda. Have your child enter the dates of any forthcoming tests and assignments on an online or paper agenda, either by themselves or with your assistance (such as their school diary or an online calendar). Include both critical events and downtime in your schedule. To leave room for unforeseen circumstances, you can even establish deadlines a few days in advance of the actual due dates.
Make a master timetable and, from it, block out periods of time for studying or working on assignment writing service. This will assist your student in setting project priorities and maintaining deadline adherence. In order to determine how much time to allocate daily or weekly, you may start by calculating how long each project will take. Try to set some time for study each weekday, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Reading the timetable can be made simpler by color-coding the various subjects.
Start your write my assignment for me early because waiting until the last minute to complete them might be unpleasant. Encourage your child to begin working on them far in advance of the due date instead.
Make project plans because procrastination frequently happens when studying or projects seem too much. Help your child divide their assignment or study schedule into more doable, smaller parts. You may help them feel accomplished by setting individual due dates for each component. Avoid multitasking since it hinders learning because it requires divided concentration. For best productivity, concentrate on one activity at a time.
Reduce distractions by asking your child to put away superfluous devices like mobile phones and turn off social media notifications during time allotted for education. Make sure they’re getting enough sleep, have snacks and water on hand, and that they’re getting enough sleep because distractions can also come from internal feelings like hunger or fatigue.
Regular breaks are important since working on something for an extended period of time might make it difficult to maintain concentration. Think about switching things up with a quick stroll or a drink in the backyard. Just watch that they don’t become distracted and then go back to studying!
Encourage your child to begin their homework as soon as possible after school by becoming an early bird yourself. This increases the amount of time they have to do it while they are awake and lowers the possibility of bedtime delays. People differ in terms of when they are most productive, so let your student work on difficult activities when they are at their best and leave simpler ones (like organising their books or lists for the next day) for when they are not. For instance, some people might prefer to work before the start of the school day.
These more helpful hints are provided by Psych Central, Lifehack, and The Balance Careers.
Set deadlines, such “do your Introduction to Humanities essay by 3.30pm.” This stops tasks from consuming time set aside for other activities.
Utilize time-tracking software and applications, like those described on Lifehack. Keep a clock in plain sight in front of you to keep track of the time. Avoid being a stickler for accuracy and obsessing over small things. Trying to make your work perfect the first time around, especially, is frustrating and a tremendous time waster. Get something on the page instead (or into the brain). If necessary, you can go back and make changes later.
Use your downtime wisely. For instance, children could practise oral presentations or their times tables in the car on the way to or from school. They might be able to study or plan their day while travelling by public transportation. This guidance ought to just be utilized sparingly, however, as getting some margin for rest and calm is similarly noteworthy.
Reward success: Don’t forget to rejoice when your child achieves significant objectives. This doesn’t have to be a significant or expensive undertaking. It should ideally be something wholesome. A visit to a favourite beach, park, or activity, a modest treat, or even making a contribution toward something they are saving for are all potential options advice about time management from successful people. It’s obvious that some people are naturally good at managing their time and have done so successfully. These are some of their advice.
Author, mentor for teenagers, and lifetime
An academic Daniel Wong offers 45 advice on time management for students. He has some really smart suggestions, like:
If you’re feeling unmotivated, set a timer for two minutes; chances are, once you start, you’ll keep working even after the two minutes are up.
For a few days, keep a time journal and ask your child to record how much time they spend on each activity. This will highlight areas where they may be more efficient with their time. Create checklists for everything you have to accomplish; writing things down helps you remember them and prioritise activities.
On social media, unfollow everyone but the individuals you genuinely care about.
Since doing this, Wong claims to have saved hundreds of hours. He also suggests unfollowing YouTube channels.
Say no more often. Wong advises declining engagements that don’t align with your priorities in light of the abundance of ways you might spend your time. Richard Branson, an entrepreneur and the founder of Virgin Airlines, has a morning and evening ritual that he claims helps him focus and accomplish his goals. Every day, about five in the morning, he gets out of bed, exercises (playing tennis, walking, or cycling), and then eats a high-fiber breakfast like muesli and fruit.
Most prosperous businesspeople, according to this article in Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, have a daily routine similar to Branson’s, which typically included getting up early, working out, having a good breakfast, and starting with the most difficult assignment.
They also make the argument that successful people, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, don’t overbook themselves. According to reports, both men credit their efficient time management to planning a tonne of leisure activities. This gives you freedom to deal with unforeseen occurrences. They can concentrate on their interests because of it as well.
Is it possible to have a time management obsession that goes too far?
It’s good to teach kids how to manage their time, but too much might backfire. Children may get in trouble and exhausted if their parents constantly seek new activities.
According to this BBC article, time management practises may work for some people in specific situations but not for others. According to 2017 statistics, trying to improve time management is a losing method since people initially do more, but forget that productivity has a cap.
When people don’t recognise their true motives, their influence grows. Christine Carter, senior fellow at Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Centre, says this is one reason such approaches fail. “Contrary to popular belief, emotion rather than self-control is what activates you.
Brad Aeon, one of the study’s authors, said people today have a lot of control over their schedules and various obligations, which causes stress. When you have flexibility, you must plan your time better, he says.
After realising we will all die, he had a revelation about time management. He uses calendars, timers, and to-do lists, but he doesn’t overschedule. He says that modern technology “should allow you to rule your life and your work.”
In a culture that reveres activity, this is a reminder of life’s meaning and essentials. God tells us to rely on Him instead of fighting for our needs (Matt 6:25-34).
God wants us to work with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9), but He gives rest to the tired. He offers to meet all our wants with his fortune (Phil 4:19). (Matt 11:28-30).
In a culture that prizes hard effort and success, the Bible’s warning against egotism is especially relevant (Prov 21:4). God welcomes us to His rest (Heb 4:1-11). Jesus worked hard, yet He wasn’t time-conscious. He obeyed the Father’s orders (Jn 5:19). Christ is the best time-manager.
