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How to adopt good time management habits

Updated: Oct 14, 2020



As the saying goes, “Time waits for no one”, and this is indeed the case although many of us might not have realized it since the only physical form it takes is when we look at a clock or your watch.



However, this saying becomes much more significantly evident when we are pressed for time, which makes every single minute look like a second. With this irreversible and abstract measurement created by mankind, it hasn’t been the kindest to us all whenever we need it, so what can we do to ensure that we will always be able to work hand-in-hand with time to live each and every day productively?



1. Conduct a time audit


We must learn and understand what are we spending the time in your everyday life on. We must be able to identify the tasks on hand, and categorize it in terms of its priority. This is important as it allows you to make sure that every single day is spent meaningfully and efficiently, which has no wasted time whatsoever.



For example, you spend 8-hours a day on the computer, which you supposedly categorized this task as “work”.



Upon a further and more detailed inspection of the time usage, you spent 3 hours on doing your assignments, revisions and group projects and 4.5 hours on watching Netflix and surfing the internet. Are you able to identify the issues after this analysis?



First of all, for the portion of the time you deemed as “work”, you spent more time surfing the internet and viewing digital films than the actual time you spent on work itself. This calls for a priority check and needs a plan to re-adjust the misallocation of time spent being distracted.



Secondly, if you haven’t already noticed, 3 hours spent on doing assignments, revisions and group projects plus 4.5 hours of watching Netflix and surfing the internet only adds up to a total of 7.5 hours.



Where did the remaining half an hour go? Procrastination is the bane of all students and this is most likely to be the culprit that caused you to sit and stone for a long time, which leads to an unproductive day.



How will you make a change for the better in this scenario? Let us know in the comments down below!


2. Set a time limit to complete your tasks


It is important to know how much time you are spending on each and every individual task, and whether if you are allocating too much time on a specific task that can be finished at a quicker pace.



That is if you find yourself doing nothing after completing your work, idling away the spare time on things that are of low-priority, like playing your computer games and chatting with your friends on the phone.



Therefore, if we take the example from the previous point: Instead of allocating 8 hours for work, maybe try allocating 6 hours and scale down the time limit set to complete your tasks.



So, for example, initially you have a total of 8 hours to complete your English, mathematics and assignments from both sciences.



Instead of having 2 hours to complete each assignment, you will now have only 1.5 hours to complete your assignments of each subject. This decrement in time allowance helps to decrease the likelihood of potential procrastination and complacency since you have less time to finish the assignments now which adds on an amount of pressure to drive and push you to complete your tasks at a faster rate.


3. Complete the most demanding tasks first when you start on your assignments


You often feel the most energized when you first begin working on your assignments, so place those tasks that are content-heavy and requires more attention right in the beginning so that you can focus better, rather than completing the easy tasks first because you “want to clear it out of the way”.



This drains your energy from its most productive period and in addition, you will be out-of-focus as it is more difficult to deal with content-heavy topics with a drained mind, which is more prone to daydreaming and procrastination leading to inefficiency.


4. Do not multitask


Although it might seem like a good idea to multitask through the different assignments as doing everything in one go will save you a lot of time and frees up your remaining schedule for you to have fun, this compromises the quality of the work you produce.



Furthermore, multitasking makes you more prone to making mistakes as you are not fully focused on a single task on hand, but you are having your mind being all over the place. This also puts on unnecessary, additional stress on your brain, and you risk getting all overwhelmed by the quantity of tasks that you will feel demotivated and reluctant to carry on.


5. Ensure that you have breaks in between completing assignments


It is important for you to take breaks in between of your study sessions in order to prevent a burnout from happening. Although you might feel like you are “wasting time” with all the breaks and rests taken, you have to understand that a human brain can only stay focused for a certain period of time, and for it to maintain at that level of concentration, it is essential that a break is implemented for it to re-charge and remain at a productive rate.

And that’s all for today, students! Math Lobby hopes that after this article, you have understood the importance of adopting good time management habits, which will be a useful soft skill for your education journey and work life in the future!



If you have any pending questions, please do go on to our Facebook page, Instagram or contact us directly at Math Lobby! We have certified mathematics tutors to aid you in your journey to becoming a better student!



As always: Work hard, stay motivated and we wish all students a successful and enjoyable journey with Math Lobby!



If you want to receive more Study Tips from us,


Contact us via SMS/WhatsApp/Telegram/Call +65 96322202

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