As a student, time management can be a difficult skill to master. It’s common for students to delay studying because they feel like they have heaps of time to study at a later stage. This is known as procrastination. This purposeful delay is then followed by a realisation that there is not enough time left to study effectively, which leads to the use of bad study habits.
If you are striving to excel academically, then it’s extremely important to improve your time management skills. The ability to manage your time efficiently allows you to balance your studies with other activities, reduce stress, and enhance productivity.
In this article, we’ll explore essential time management techniques that will empower you to make the most out of your study sessions and achieve academic success.
What Are Time Management Techniques?
Time management techniques refer to a set of strategies and practices designed to help students make the most efficient use of their time. These techniques aim to improve productivity and reduce procrastination. This will ultimately enable you to achieve your goals effectively.
Time management techniques will often include practices such as setting clear and achievable goals, creating a structured study schedule, and using various time management tools like calendars and task managers. While studying, it’s important to minimise distractions, avoid non-essential commitments, and incorporate self-care activities. These elements are essential for maintaining balance and overall wellbeing while studying.
By adopting these time management techniques, you’ll be able to optimise your study sessions and effectively juggle your academic responsibilities with other aspects of life.
Effective Time Management Strategies
Time management has been researched and studied by many. It’s a question that we all want answered: ‘how do you balance being successful with being happy and having time for yourself’?
There are 5 time management techniques that might just hold the answer to being able to do it all.
Pareto Analysis
The Pareto Analysis, also known as the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto Principle, is a time management and decision-making tool that is based on the work of Italian civil engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher Vilfredo Pareto. The principle states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In other words, most outcomes are driven by small actions.
In practical terms, the Pareto Analysis suggests that by identifying and focusing on the most significant and influential factors of a problem, you can maximise results and efficiency. This concept is widely applicable in various fields, including business, project management, quality control, personal time management and, of course, studying.
How to utilise the Pareto Technique:
- Identify the problem: as an example, we’ll say that the problem is that you are not performing as well academically as you used to.
- Determine the causes: look at your day, how much time you actually spend studying and what the rest of your time is spent on. Perhaps you spend a lot of time scrolling on social media, have a lot of extracurriculars, and do household chores.
- Identify the largest contributor: it’s then important to work out what percentage of time each of these causes takes up in your day. Perhaps you realise that you spend 30% of your time on extracurricular activities, 20% on household chores, 40% on scrolling through social media and 10% on studying.
- Remove the largest cause: it’s clear to see that in this example, scrolling on social media is the largest contributor to not studying enough and your grades dropping. Therefore, the solution is to dramatically reduce the time spent scrolling on social media, so that you may spend more time studying. In this case, switching time spent on studying and scrolling on social media is the answer. Therefore, you should spend 40% of your time studying and 10 of your time on social media.
Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It’s designed to enhance focus, productivity, and time efficiency during study sessions. The technique involves breaking study periods into short, focused intervals, called ‘Pomodoros’, followed by short breaks.
This technique leverages the concept of time boxing, which means working within predefined time intervals. When utilised correctly this approach will help to prevent burnout, increase productivity, and maintain sustained focus. The short breaks act as a reward for completing each Pomodoro, this will help to reinforce your positive behaviour and motivation.
Here's how the Pomodoro Technique works:
- Set a timer: choose a specific task or study material you want to work on. Set a timer for 25 minutes. This 25-minute interval is known as a Pomodoro.
- Work intensely: during the 25-minute Pomodoro, work on the chosen task with complete focus and dedication, avoiding any distractions or interruptions. Try to sit in a quiet place that is dedicated to studying and remove ALL distractions, including your phone.
- Take a short break: when the timer goes off, take a short break of around five minutes. Use this time to relax, stretch, or do something enjoyable to recharge your mind.
- Repeat the process: after the short break, start another Pomodoro and continue the cycle of focused work and short breaks.
- When to take a long break: after completing four Pomodoros (four 25-minute study intervals), take a more extended break of around 15–30 minutes. This long break allows you to rejuvenate and mentally prepare for the next set of Pomodoros.
Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix, also known as the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, is a powerful time management tool named after the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. This method can help you to prioritise tasks and make more effective study decisions by categorising them based on their urgency and importance.
The matrix is divided into four quadrants.
- Quadrant 1 – urgent and important: tasks in this quadrant are both urgent and essential. They require immediate attention and should be dealt with promptly. Examples include studying, completing assignments, and meeting deadlines.
- Quadrant 2 – important but not urgent: these tasks are important for achieving long-term goals but do not require immediate action. These tasks focus on proactive planning, personal development, and strategic thinking. It’s crucial to allocate time to these tasks to prevent them from becoming urgent later on.
- Quadrant 3 – urgent but not important: tasks that are grouped into quadrant 3 are urgent but lack significant importance in the grand scheme of things. They often include interruptions and distractions that can hinder productivity. For example, perhaps one of your household chores is to clean the shower once a week. While it’s urgent to complete this task, it won’t hurt to leave it for a bit later in the day when you have completed a study session or assignment.
- Quadrant 4 – not urgent and not important: tasks in this quadrant are neither urgent nor important. These tasks usually consist of time-wasting activities, such as scrolling on social media, mindless browsing, or non-essential tasks. It’s best to eliminate or delegate these tasks if possible.
Therefore, go through all of your tasks and section them into these quadrants. You’ll then focus on all of the tasks in quadrant 1. This will ensure you are always on top of your school work and studying sessions.
Parkinson’s Law
Parkinson's Law is a principle coined by British historian and author Cyril Northcote Parkinson in 1955. The law states that ‘work expands to fill the time available for its completion’. In other words, the amount of time it takes to complete a task is often influenced by the time allocated to it, regardless of the actual complexity or importance of the task.
Parkinson's Law implies that when you have more time than necessary to complete a task, you tend to be less efficient and may procrastinate, resulting in the task taking longer than it should. Conversely, if a deadline is tight, you are more likely to focus and find ways to complete the task within the allotted time frame.
Therefore, when planning your study sessions, try not to give yourself too much extra time. Make sure you are able to complete a section of course material in that time but also make the deadline slightly challenging to achieve.
If you notice your deadlines are too strenuous, slightly extend the time until you get a good idea of how long certain subjects and concepts take to understand and memorise.
Time Blocking Method
The Time Blocking Method is a time management technique that involves dividing your day into distinct blocks of time, each dedicated to specific tasks or activities. It’s a proactive approach to managing your time, where you schedule and allocate time for various tasks in advance. By organising your day into time blocks, you can maintain focus, minimise distractions, and make the most out of your productive hours.
Here's how the Time Blocking Method works:
- Identify tasks and prioritise: make a list of all the tasks and activities you need to accomplish during the day. Prioritise them based on their importance and deadlines. You can use the Eisenhower Matrix Technique to do this.
- Allocate time blocks: assign specific time periods, usually in increments of 30 minutes to an hour, for each task or group of similar tasks. This can include exercising, showering, cooking, chores, and anything else that needs to be done in a day. Ensure that you have enough time for each activity without overloading your schedule. While studying, 25-minute intervals as is suggested in Pomodoro Technique, might be more appropriate.
- Avoid overcommitting: it’s important to be realistic about the time needed for each task. Avoid overcommitting to avoid unnecessary stress and missed deadlines. However, remember to also not give yourself too much time to complete a task as is stated in Parkinson’s Law.
- Be flexible: while time blocking promotes structure, be flexible to accommodate unexpected events or tasks that may arise during the day.
- Review and adjust: at the end of the day, review how you managed your time. Evaluate your productivity and adjust your time blocks as necessary for future days.
Eat That Frog Technique
The ‘Eat That Frog’ technique is a time management method popularised by Brian Tracy in his book titled ‘Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.’ The phrase ‘Eat That Frog’ is a metaphor for tackling your most challenging or important task first thing in the morning, rather than procrastinating or avoiding it.
Here's how the Eat That Frog technique works:
- Identify your most important task: begin your day by identifying the most significant task or project that needs to be completed. This will be the task that will have the most impact on your goals or productivity.
- Prioritise the tasks: once you've identified the critical task, prioritise it above everything else on your to-do list. Consider its importance and urgency.
- Tackle the task first: start working on the identified task immediately. Avoid getting sidetracked by less important or easier tasks. By focusing on the most important task early in the day, you’ll build momentum and set a positive tone for the rest of the day.
- Stay focused and persistent: while working on the task, stay focused and avoid distractions. Commit to completing the task, even if it feels challenging or overwhelming. Persistence is key to overcoming obstacles. If you are very overwhelmed, try to split the task up into small tasks that seem easy to achieve. But be sure to complete these small tasks back to back so that you don't lose momentum.
- Celebrate your achievement: once you've completed the challenging task, celebrate your accomplishment. Acknowledging your progress and success can boost your motivation and confidence.
- Continue with other tasks: after finishing the critical task, move on to other tasks on your to-do list, prioritising them based on importance and urgency.
Making Use of Time Management Tools
By utilising time management tools, such as study planners, you can significantly enhance the effectiveness of time management techniques. Study planners offer a structured framework to implement various strategies like the Pomodoro Technique, Eisenhower Matrix, and Time Blocking Method.
This can help you to break down your academic goals into manageable tasks, set realistic deadlines, and allocate specific time blocks for each subject or assignment. By incorporating these time management techniques into the study planner, you can prioritise tasks based on urgency and importance, allocate focused study intervals with short breaks, and organise your daily or weekly study schedule efficiently.
Furthermore, study planners can serve as a visual reminder of your commitments, helping you stay on track and reduce the likelihood of procrastination, leading you to success.
