Tips on Effective Time Management for Students

Perhaps the number one concern between parents and students in the modern landscape of education is the time students are expected to spend on everything from school to homework to sports and other activities. How are they supposed to get all of this done? The answer may be simpler than you think: use Google calendar. Many other virtual planning software can work, as well, but Google Calendar is free and remarkably user-friendly. With just the tips below, you can start getting your life back under control and finding more time for the things you love.

Tip #1 Prepare Long Term

The first step to effective time management is understanding what your general daily, weekly, and monthly routine look like. When do you have more time to do homework or work on a project? What days are usually not available for more than basic work? It’s not possible to predict everything more than a couple of days in advance, but you can add time blocks to your calendar that are reserved for general work you know you’ll need to address.

Tip #2 Plan for Specific Tasks

As soon as specific homework, projects, or activities are assigned, replace those general time blocks with specifically planned events. By explicitly planning for individual assignments and obligations, you maintain a current to-do list while simultaneously ensuring you have a plan for accomplishing all of those tasks.

Tip #3 Include Everything

One of the most common mistakes that anyone, student or adult, makes when managing time via Google Calendar is in just adding their extra work to their calendar. In order to be a scheduling master and revolutionize your daily life, you need to include everything. Time in school. Time spent traveling. Meals. Sleep. Only when you’ve put everything on your calendar can you see how much time you have left to devote to other work.

Tip #4 Maximize Free Time

Aggressively scheduling with Google Calendar is in fact the best way to make sure you have some time to relax. No one can run at 100% effort forever, so once you have all the building blocks of your calendar in place in front of you, you can also see how much time is left over for relaxation and recovery. Then, put it on your calendar! Formally scheduling free time may seem like it defeats the purpose, but that’s actually the best way to make sure you take that break instead of missing it because you were too busy on that History assignment.

Tip #5 Keep Adapting

True Google Calendar mastery requires the ability to accurately estimate the time you will spend on any given task. This can be difficult at first, but the more you work with Google Calendar, the more familiar you will become with your own pace of work. Keep making adjustments, and soon you’ll be able to dial in your ideal scheduling arrangements!

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Tags: Education, Time Management, Scheduling, High School, Middle School, Secondary Education, Secondary School, Stress Relief, Stress Management