Time is the ultimate equalizer—everyone is granted the same twenty-four hours each day. However, making good use of that time might be the difference between getting things done and struggling to stay up. But these time management skills can assist you in streamlining your day and working smarter.
Conduct a Time Audit
Do you ever wonder where the time goes after a workday? Perhaps you wonder why you weren’t able to do as much as you had intended. Well, you may be squandering more time than you know. There might be a gap between how you believe you spend your time and how you really spend it. However, conducting a time audit can really be one of the best time management skills and may prove to be eye-opening!
Here’s a quick way to do a time audit.
Get a timer that may be set to go off every 30 minutes. (The alarm app on your phone may suffice.)
Start the timer and go about your work. Allow the timer to run silently in the background without thinking about it.
When the timer runs off, make a note of what you’re doing at the time. Be truthful! Admit it if you’re looking at Facebook or sending a humorous text to your best buddy.
Set a timer for another half an hour and repeat the procedure until your day is done.
Examine how you’ve used your time. How often have you been caught doing something unproductive?
Try completing an audit every day for a week to get a solid idea of how you’re spending your time. (You may alter the duration between check-ins so that you don’t become used to hearing the alert every thirty minutes.) If you discover that you’ve been spending too much time reading your email, looking through your social media feed, or conversing with coworkers, you’ll know precisely where you need to make changes.
Keep Distractions at Bay
Now that you’ve identified what’s distracting you, it’s time to shut it out. If social media is your hindrance, consider productivity software that limits internet distractions. Focus Me, Cold Turkey, and Self Control are a handful of the accessible alternatives for time management for students.
If you’re working on a writing assignment, try using the fullscreen mode to avoid opening tabs or responding to desktop alerts. And most importantly, turn off all notifications. You probably don’t need to be notified every time a new email arrives or someone engages with you on social media unless it’s important to your studies.
Make Time for Yourself
Worrying about how you’ll fit all of your responsibilities into a typical weekday might seriously hamper your productivity. When we are anxious, we find it difficult to be productive, which might lead us to work for longer hours to fulfill deadlines. Who wants that?
To-do lists may get daunting if you have a lot to do. Instead, utilize your preferred calendar program as one of the time management strategies to schedule yourself. Set up an hour for responding to emails, two for researching and preparing those essential notes for next week’s test, one for lunch with a friend or family member, and so on. If your friends and family have a shared calendar, that’s even better. If you have time set apart for critical work, you may inform your close ones to interrupt you only when actually required.
Try Not to Multitask
You could believe you’re adept at multitasking, but you’re probably mistaken. When you divide your concentration between tasks, you are essentially shifting attention from one activity to another, consuming more brain bandwidth.
So, take advice from one of the best schools in Dehradun and employ one of the best time management strategies to not multitask. And, you’ll see yourself doing better when focusing entirely on one task at a time.
Encourage People to be Considerate of Your Time
Do you remember that get-together you were invited to attend that had little to do with you? The one where you couldn’t give anything? That is an hour of your time that you will never be able to reclaim. Leave those pointless get-togethers. Every get-together should have to explain its existence, and every get-together organizer should have to justify your obligatory participation, especially if not attending the get-together will make you more productive in the long run.
Remember Your “Call to Action”
What do you want to gain from the phone conversation or the casual meetup you’re going to schedule? Before beginning, you must have a clear understanding of what you are requesting or, at the very least, what you intend to accomplish. Otherwise, you will waste time in ineffective interactions and meetups.
Allow for Adequate Downtime and Recuperation
Taking a break during study time may appear counterintuitive, but one research revealed that sleep deprivation costs more than one could imagine. It’s because, when you’re sleep-deprived, you’re not at your best.
And don’t be afraid to take your vacation time. Skipping vacation is detrimental to your health. Not only that but taking time to unwind might boost your productivity. When you’re well rested and rejuvenated, you’re considerably more likely to approach your responsibilities with attention and excitement.
