You hardly ever learn about Time managment techiniques for students in your school.
Yet is one of the most useful tools that students can develop during their study years, and which will continue to be an excellent and worthwhile life skill for the future. It is automatically expected that students will be alble and capable to balance every aspect of their demands on time. This includes studying, researching, writing, sporting activities and of course socializing, and yet all too often students procrastinate those activities which they feel unsure of. No doubt, they are simply incapable of managing their time effectively. Along with that, it comes as no surprise that their efficeincy is low, and this can bring about a decrease in their self esteem and their confidence in their abilities. The end product is work which is below the standard to which they could have aspired.
Whats students need is to be able to strike a delicate balance between the various demands, without sacrificing those aspects of their lives which are not purely academic. Time management for students is about being able to provide an ability to manage all the conflicts on their time. Of course, any method still has to be realistic.
Indeed, only realistic strategies of time management for students are likely to ever be successful. What is the most common reason given by students for why they have abandoned a plan that had been drawn up? Once the plan is drawn up, students then believe that that is the ened of the process, and that all issues will magially dissapear. For students especially, realising that getting things done and effectively using time management techniques is not simply about drawing up a grand plan. It is a process which must be on-going, frequently monitored and adhered to honestly if it is to achieve the positive outcomes necessary.
Another source of time management issues is that technology tries to help us with such things as personal digital assistants, time plannets, graphic organisers and such. These items can easily become a distraction from the goal. This only adds to the already problematic procrastination for which students are so renowned.
Teachers can help their students to understand the management of their time by developing and maintaining a class calendar. This draws attention to the amount of time available, and showing how larger tasks can be broken into smaller, more easily manageable ones. Most students also find that it is more beneficial to have three tiers of organization – short term, medium term and long term. Goal setting is important for long term understanding of “what it’s all for”. This aids focus and general direction, whereas the short term planning needs to be much more immediate and detailed.
Any system of time management for students must be simple to develop and maintain, simple to understand and realistically achievable. The main key must be in eliminating the tendency to procrastinate, which is the student’s worst enemy. Ultimately, schools would benefit from introducing time management as a taught discipline. This will exponentially improve the lives of the students, as well as producing better results for the academic institution.