Time management tips for students to study effectively

By Dr Nalini Satishchandra

Time management is critical for everyone and anyone.
With more subjects, assignments, project work, practicals and many activities vying for your attention, performing them all becomes a little challenging.
In such a scenario, it is important to set a time for all the necessary tasks.
Effective time management and planning are required when you begin your academic year.
A schedule on how you approach the day, planning out the activities to strike the right balance between study and leisure time, carries a long-term benefit.
It makes you disciplined, encouraging you to become an individual who values time, and thereby, leads you to make winning strides in whatever you wish to do.
Check out these time management tips for students which can help them study and do exams better:

Create a routine
The first step is to begin.
You can create a seven-day schedule allowing appropriate time for each subject.
Also, remember to factor in sufficient time for your hobbies, extra-curricular activities.
Another important thing to keep in mind is to identify the most productive time of the day.
Some people function best during the day, while others are more productive at the night.
These abilities should be taken into account, particularly when preparing a study schedule for complex topics.

Use smart-study techniques
Various techniques will help you memorise your studies better and faster.
One of them, known as “pomodoro”, is a method that is scientifically proven to be effective in boosting one’s cognitive agility.
This technique is very simple and involves studying for 25 minutes at a stretch, followed by a short break and resuming to another 25-minute study session.
Mind mapping, which is a visual thinking tool that involves making graphic representations of concepts and ideas, is another technique that can help you remember things easily.

Work on your writing speed
Finishing exam papers within the allocated time is often a worry for many students.
The easiest way to solve this issue is to solve mock exam papers and previous years’ exam papers while you time yourself.
Create an ambience that resembles an examination hall at your home, ask your parents to be the invigilator and strictly follow the time limit.
During examinations, in a hurry to complete the paper, students tend to write fast which leads to illegible handwriting which may hamper the grading process.
Repeat this process often and watch your writing speed, along with your handwriting improve.

Use the 15-minute question reading slot effectively
In today’s examinations, students are allotted additional 15 minutes for reading questions in the examination hall before the start of the examination.
This time should be utilised well so that one may not just go through the paper, but also figure out which questions to attempt first. It is advisable to attempt easy and short questions as they will boost one’s confidence.
The order in which one plans to answer the questions should also be finalised within the allotted 15 minutes.

Keep an eye on the clock in the exam hall
While reading the questions, it is best practice to allocate the time to be devoted to each of them.
The time allocation should ideally depend on the marks for that particular question.
The higher the marks, ideally, the longer the time that needs to be allocated.
Another thing often noticed is that students often tend to get carried away while answering their favorite questions. Make sure your answers are short and precise and cover all the necessary details without elaborating too much. – India Today