Description: In this article, Private tutor Mackenzie shares his advice on how students can better handle their time management when revising for exams.
Staying Focused
Revision, time management and productivity are ideas that we think about constantly.
Having studied at Cambridge, I know first-hand the importance of managing your time in a way that keeps you productive and focused but also supports your well-being and prevents burnout.
The key to managing your time is that there truly is no one size fits all solution.
We’re all different and our personal recipe for time management and getting our balance right can be hard.
I’ve put some tips together below that worked for me in such a high-pressure academic environment and I hope some of them can be a part of your routine to ensure a healthy, productive and achievable work-life balance.
Plan Your Days
This is an absolute lifesaver for me, and my weekly planner is my best friend.
If it ever feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day then this is the perfect place to start.
Planning your days can be a great way of breaking down deadlines or revision topics into manageable chunks and making a task not seem so daunting.
For instance, if you know you need to tackle a thick book or a broad topic, plan ahead which bits your going to cover and on which days.
Yes, it may take some extra time, but knowing what you’re going to do and when is a blessing when it’s time to get started.
Don’t Do It All Yourself
Take advantage of all the planning/timetabling/organising apps and techniques under the sun.
My personal favourite ToDoist is basically my personal assistant at university.
With planning apps like ToDoist you can see everything you need to do in one place, so you know you’re not forgetting anything and you also have a good starting point.
Another personal favourite technique is the ‘5-minute rule’.
I started living my life by this last year and you’ll be so surprised how much less procrastination goes on.
The ‘5-minute rule’ is basically the idea that if it will take 5 minutes or less, just go and do it.
If you’re anything like me, procrastination over smaller things is a huge barrier to getting stuck into high-priority tasks like studying.
With tricks like these, time management isn’t something you have to do alone.
Get On With It
This is the toughest lesson to learn, sometimes no amount of techniques or planning can change the fact of just getting started.
If there’s that book you really need to read, that essay you really need to write or just that topic you need to start revising, the biggest hurdle is sitting down and starting.
Once you get going, you can start setting yourself achievable goals and building momentum towards that end goal.
As the old saying goes, starting can often be half the battle and it may well be the key to success.
Self-discipline and remaining focused on the end in sight can really help with this, but sometimes there’s no remedy quite like getting to work.
Remember to do Fun Things As Well
This is one of the most important things to remember when we’re managing our time.
We’re not machines regardless of how we might try and sometimes we need to step away from our seemingly gargantuan tasks!
Rewarding yourself for productivity is not just kind to yourself, it also massively increases the chances of you continuing to do productive work as well as making you more focused and refreshed when you begin again.
I promise you that a short break every hour or so, or the occasional night off is going to improve your productivity, not harm it.
Get Back on the Horse
Routines, plans and schedules aren’t perfect and sometimes life will get in the way.
Maybe some nights you just can’t focus, maybe something comes up that has you miss the whole study night you had planned.
Falling off the routine wagon every now and then is totally normal and it’s more about being consistent and realising that missing one study session doesn’t throw the whole plan out of the window.
Getting back on the horse is vital to productivity and time management because we know sometimes falling off is unavoidable, it’s much more important how you spring back and get back to it.
Final Note
Consistent time management is hard, but it is certainly not impossible.
By incorporating some of these helpful tips and also finding out what works for you, you can find a balance that produces healthy, productive results.
The goal here is to find a way to make your goals achievable and visible in order to keep that pesky procrastination away.
Remember, the goal is to have a routine that not only keeps you focused and productive but also supports your well-being and helps prevent burnout.
With these tips in mind, you can take control of your time and achieve great results.
By tutor Mackenzie. Contact Us