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Time management strategies for increased exam success

Time management strategies for increased exam success
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The life of a student can be full of many tempting distractions, and without an effective time management plan, staying focused to study, getting good grades and meeting the overall requirements can be hard to achieve. It is important for students to learn how to manage their time to balance academic work with social and extra mural activities. Despite the importance of time management in the life of individuals both in school and non-academic environments, it is not a subject taught in school. The focus of this article is to provide students with time management tips to help them achieve greater academic success. Here are four strategies to help you manage your time.

Organize your schedule

There is nothing that trumps a neatly organized study regimen in achieving your academic goals. To maximize your chances of success in tests and exams, you need to plan and organize your study pattern from the beginning of the school session. There are different ways of achieving this, but one easy approach is to break down your workload into chunks that can be completed in a day, week, month, etc. Using this method is effective for some reasons. First, you can set time bound study milestones for yourself. Secondly, you can measure and manage your progress as you go forward. If you set out to read every note taken in class before you sleep, you can measure your progress by the number of notes you covered. Set yourself up for success by planning your study from the beginning of the semester, use timetables, syllabus and the academic calendar to guide and measure your progress. The result at the end of the semester will impress you.

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Your schedule should be realistic

When creating a schedule, you need to choose a timetable that will be easy to implement. A too demanding schedule will stress and burn you out. Make a to do list to guide your day. Set achievable goals and prioritize your time. Make sure to leave enough time to socialize, get some fresh air and enjoy yourself after a hard study session; you will need it. When making your schedule, choose a time at which your level of understanding and assimilation is highest. For some people, it’s late in the night, for others it’s early in the morning before going to class. Remember to break the work into small easy to do chunks, try different approaches, and if you are not making progress on a topic, get help as you can’t learn it all by yourself. Consistency is the word here. Develop a schedule and follow it religiously, tweak it to achieve greater efficiency, and do not procrastinate.

Tackle the difficult subjects first

An effective strategy towards managing your time as a student is to know your strengths and weaknesses. Tackle subjects in which you are weak in first. By devoting more time to the hard subjects, you will be able to gain more ground as you need less time to understand the easy subjects.

Remove distractions

The vast amount of information from different media robs many individuals of their productivity. From television to video games, to the social media networks and other habits, students require a huge dose of self-discipline to achieve their academic goals. There are different strategies you can take to reduce the level of distraction when trying to study. You can remove things that lead to distractions. If social media is a source of distraction to you, you can leave your mobile device or computer out of your study space. If it is a habit, stay away from individuals and environments that trigger the distraction.

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The ultimate dream of every student is to come out in flying colors, but poor time management practices often prevent most from achieving this lofty goal. We hope that these time management strategies will help to make your academic aspirations a reality.

References

Madsen, S. (2015, February 15.) 7 Essential time management strategies. Retrieved September 01, 2017, from the Web

Gardner, M. (2016, September 8.) 6 Successful time management strategies for students. Retrieved September 01, 2017

Campbell, R. (2017, April 20.) 7 Time management tips for students. Retrieved September 01, 2017, from the Web

Lawan Dalha

Lawan Dalha

An applied linguist with research interests in academic writing and computer-assisted language learningView Author posts

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