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20 Effective Time Management Strategies and Tools for Students

Teachers can use these too!

One of the most important life skills for anyone to master is time management. Keeping track of everything that we have to do and carving out the time to get it all done can be a real struggle. Try these time management strategies and techniques, plus find helpful tools for staying on track.

General Time Management Strategies

Time management techniques, time management tools.

These time management strategies work for everyone, helping you set goals and prioritize, then set a schedule to get things done.

Visualize the big picture

Use a calendar of some type to lay out all your big-picture goals for a year, month, or week. Include major projects and assignments, as well as school and personal events. This is your place to get an overview of everything that’s on your plate. Keep items to broad descriptions: “History Project” or “Spring Play Opening Night.” You’ll get into the details next.

Break it down

The next step is to take major projects and assignments and break them down into smaller, more manageable parts. This is an incredibly effective way to overcome that feeling of “I’ll never get this all done!” It also prevents procrastinating on an entire project until the very last minute. Set smaller, more manageable goals with their own due dates in advance of a complete project or event.

For example, imagine your big-picture calendar says “History Project Due Feb. 23.” Breaking that down could look like this:

• Choose topic and presentation method: Jan. 9
• Initial research: Jan. 10-30
• Presentation outline: Jan. 31
• Write presentation script: Feb. 1-5
• Create visual aids: Feb. 6-12
• Rehearse presentation: Feb. 13
• Fine-tune presentation: Feb 14-16
• Final rehearsals: Feb. 17
• Give history presentation: Feb. 23

At first, this method might feel a little overwhelming, because it may make you feel like there’s too much to get done. But as you use it, you’ll see how it can actually make you feel more prepared and in control, and make your time easier to manage.

Determine priorities

Sometimes it’s simply true: You don’t have enough time in a day to get all the things done that you’d like to. That’s where setting priorities becomes vital. In the “Time Management Techniques” section below, you’ll find several different ideas for determining the priority of different items on your lists.

Once you’ve figured out which items are the most important, try a color-coding system to indicate which items get a higher priority. This will help you identify at a glance what you need to do now and what can wait until another day.

Make daily to-do lists

Make it a habit to start each day by creating a to-do list. (Not a morning person? You can do this the night before too.) Include high-priority items, as well as things you’d like to do but may not have to complete. Throughout the day, as you complete an item, revisit your list and check it off. It’s incredibly satisfying to cross things off, and checking in with your list a few times a day ensures you don’t forget important things.

Limit multitasking

Today’s world places a lot of value on multitasking (doing several things at once). But when you’re doing multiple things at the same time, you’re probably not doing any of them well. So keep your multitasking to a minimum. When it’s time to work on something, set your focus to that particular thing. Other stuff can wait.

But some multitasking is OK. For instance, you might throw your clothes in the washing machine, then work on your math homework while waiting for them to be ready for the dryer. Later on, you could fold and put away the laundry while practicing conjugating Spanish verbs out loud. This type of multitasking works because the physical tasks are ones that don’t require much concentration, leaving your brain free for academic subjects.

On the other hand, avoid something like trying to listen to a podcast for your history class while also doing your math homework. Your attention won’t be fully on each, and your learning will suffer.

Remove distractions

Some people are capable of deep focus no matter what’s going on around them. Most of us, though, need to find ways to remove distractions when it’s time to get down to work. Here are some examples to try:

• Turn off your phone, or set it to alert you only in case of emergencies.
• Wear noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs to block out distracting sounds. A white-noise machine or app can help with this too.
• Close miscellaneous tabs in your web browser (like social media or news sites), and use only the tabs you need for your work.
• Go into a quiet room and shut the door. Ask friends and family not to disturb you.
• Check your to-do list before you start to make sure you’re on track. Then, clear your mind of other projects or tasks, and focus on what’s at hand.

Do an end-of-day review

At the end of each day, sit down with your to-do list. Was there anything you didn’t get to? Move it to another day. Did you feel too rushed today? Think about how you might make tomorrow run a bit more smoothly. Where do you stand in terms of your big-picture goals? Take a few minutes to adjust any plans accordingly.

Try a time audit

It’s OK if you don’t get to everything on your list every day. But if you find that there’s never enough time to get things done, you might benefit from a time audit. Over the period of a week or two, write down exactly how you spend your time, hour by hour. Then, look it over and see if you can identify problem areas. You might need to cut down on some optional activities and give that time to high-priority items instead. Learn how to do a time audit here.

The time management strategies we’ve talked about so far are general ways to stay on track and get stuff done. But there are multiple ways to approach some of these strategies, especially when it comes to actually settling down to work. Check out these popular time management techniques and choose one or more that seem right for you.

Eisenhower Decision Matrix

President Eisenhower developed this matrix and used it to help him prioritize his tasks. He looked at each item to evaluate it by importance and urgency, then broke them into four categories:

• Do First: These are urgent, important tasks with high priority.
• Schedule: These are important tasks that aren’t quite as urgent.
• Delegate: You may be able to delegate less important but still urgent tasks to someone else.
• Don’t Do: These non-urgent, unimportant items can be eliminated entirely or postponed indefinitely.

Here are some possible student examples for each category:

• Do First: Homework that’s due tomorrow takes top priority, as might doing laundry if you’re out of clean clothes.
• Schedule: Set aside time (see Time Blocking) for smaller parts of long-term projects, such as research time or writing an outline. That could be today or one day in the near future.
• Delegate: Students aren’t always able to delegate their tasks, but they can ask for help. For example, if your schedule is incredibly tight, you could ask your dad if he’d be willing to throw your clothes in the dryer when the washer is done.
• Don’t Do: These are often bad habits you need to break, like surfing the web aimlessly instead of working, or texting your friends for hours instead of doing your chores.

Find out much more about the Eisenhower Matrix and how to use it for time management strategies here.

ABCDE Method

This is another time management strategy for prioritizing the tasks at hand. Assign each item a letter:

• A: Highest priority
• B: Should do soon, if not today
• C: Could do, but no serious consequences if not done
• D: Delegate or ask for help
• E: Eliminate from your list

This is very similar to the Eisenhower Matrix, with a little more flexibility around should-dos and could-dos. Learn more about the ABCDE method here.

Most Difficult First (Eat That Frog)

This method is based on a quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

In other words, don’t put off the biggest, hardest tasks. Get them out of the way first. Then, everything else you have to do will seem easy in comparison.

For some people, though, this concept can be counterproductive. If you’re already feeling overwhelmed, tackling something extremely difficult can be too much and cause you to shut down entirely. In that case, it’s just fine to choose smaller, simpler items. The key is to make progress, one step at a time.

Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a simple time management method: You work for 25 minutes at a time, then take a 5-minute break to rest and recharge. Simply set a timer for 25 minutes, and focus on one single task until it goes off. Then, you can spend 5 minutes stretching, resting your eyes, or checking your social media feeds. When the 5 minutes are up, set the timer for another 25 minutes, and get back to work. If you do four 25-minute sessions in a row, take a longer break afterwards. Learn more about the Pomodoro Technique here.

If 25 minutes seems too short and you’d like a little more uninterrupted time, try Flowtime instead. This stretches out both the work and break time proportionally. If you work for 25-50 minutes, take an 8-minute break. For 50-90 minutes, you get a 10-minute break. And if you’ve been at it for more than 90 minutes, take 15 minutes to recharge. Learn about Flowtime here.

Parkinson’s Law says that work will always expand to fill the amount of time available. Timeboxing seeks to shrink tasks back to the size they truly need to be. When you timebox, you set a specific amount of time for a task and complete it within that time.

In other words, you might look over your study planner and decide that you need one hour for tonight’s geometry and chemistry assignments, plus you’d like to spend another hour working on your English essay.

Set a timer and work on your geometry and chemistry for an hour, with no other distractions. When the timer goes off, reassess and adjust your goals as needed. Since you have to finish that homework tonight, you’ll probably need to add more time if you’re not finished.

Your English essay isn’t due for two weeks, though, so if you’ve boxed out one hour for working on it today, that’s all you need to do. Set a timer, determine your goals for day, and get to work. When the timer goes off, you’re done for today.

Here’s more on timeboxing.

Time Blocking

This method is similar to timeboxing, but it involves setting blocks of time aside on your calendar for specific tasks. For example, you might block out 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day for daily homework, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. for working on your biology research paper, and 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for piano practice. Some people like to start each day by blocking time out on their calendar, figuring out how they’ll make the most of their time. Find out more about time blocking here.

Once you’ve selected some time management strategies to try, you’ll find plenty of tools to help make them work. Check out these top time management tools for students, from planners to timers and beyond.

Student Planners

Traditional paper planners come in a variety of styles, with some made especially for students. The most important thing is to choose one you’ll actually use, and keep it on hand at all times. See our selection of the top student planners here.

Planner Apps

Planner apps and online calendars are nice because you have access to them everywhere you go. For students, we really like:

• My Study Life

See more details on each of these here, plus more options.

Study Planners

Study planners are specific to academics, and they are a simple way to keep track of both short-term and long-term assignments, projects, and more. Check out these free printable options:

• Develop Good Habits: Study Planner
• Alex Marie: Weekly Assignments Due
• Sophia Lee: Homework Planner Pack

Time Management Apps

Planner apps are a good start, but other time management apps can help you stay on track by eliminating distractions or setting time limits. Here are a few to try:

• Pomofocus : A free online 25–5 timer with the ability to add a task list for each work segment
• Rize : An AI productivity coach that uses time tracking to improve your focus and build better work habits
• Forest : Eliminate distractions, stay on task, and grow a digital forest to celebrate your achievements

Bullet Journal

Bullet journaling has a lot of benefits, and some page setups are especially good for time management:

• Daily Schedule
• Project Planner
• Study Tracker

Check out our big roundup of bullet journal ideas here.

What time management strategies do your students find most effective? Come share your thoughts and ask for advice in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, ultimate study skills guide: tips, tricks, and strategies for every grade ..

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11 Ways to Deal With Homework Overload

Last Updated: May 22, 2024 Fact Checked

Making a Plan

Staying motivated, starting good homework habits, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jennifer Kaifesh . Jennifer Kaifesh is the Founder of Great Expectations College Prep, a tutoring and counseling service based in Southern California. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience managing and facilitating academic tutoring and standardized test prep as it relates to the college application process. She takes a personal approach to her tutoring, and focuses on working with students to find their specific mix of pursuits that they both enjoy and excel at. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 254,004 times.

A pile of homework can seem daunting, but it’s doable if you make a plan. Make a list of everything you need to do, and work your way through, starting with the most difficult assignments. Focus on your homework and tune out distractions, and you’ll get through things more efficiently. Giving yourself breaks and other rewards will help you stay motivated along the way. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck! Hang in there, and you’ll knock the homework out before you know it.

Things You Should Know

• Create a checklist of everything you have to do, making sure to include deadlines and which assignments are a top priority.
• Take a 15-minute break for every 2 hours of studying. This can give your mind a break and help you feel more focused.
• Make a schedule of when you plan on doing your homework and try to stick to it. This way, you won’t feel too overwhelmed as the assignments roll in.

• Make a plan to go through your work bit by bit, saving the easiest tasks for last.

• Put phones and any other distractions away. If you have to do your homework on a computer, avoid checking your email or social media while you are trying to work.
• Consider letting your family (or at least your parents) know where and when you plan to do homework, so they'll know to be considerate and only interrupt if necessary.

• If you have the option to do your homework in a study hall, library, or other place where there might be tutors, go for it. That way, there will be help around if you need it. You'll also likely wind up with more free time if you can get work done in school.

• To take a break, get up and move away from your workspace. Walk around a bit, and get a drink or snack.
• Moving around will recharge you mentally, physically, and spiritually, so you’re ready to tackle the next part of your homework.

• For instance, you might write “I need to do this chemistry homework because I want a good average in the class. That will raise my GPA and help me stay eligible for the basketball team and get my diploma.”
• Your goals might also look something like “I’m going to write this history paper because I want to get better as a writer. Knowing how to write well and make a good argument will help me when I’m trying to enter law school, and then down the road when I hope to become a successful attorney.”

• Try doing your homework as soon as possible after it is assigned. Say you have one set of classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and another on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do the Monday homework on Monday, instead of putting it off until Tuesday.
• That way, the class will still be fresh in your mind, making the homework easier.
• This also gives you time to ask for help if there’s something you don’t understand.

• If you want to keep everyone accountable, write a pact for everyone in your study group to sign, like “I agree to spend 2 hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons with my study group. I will use that time just for working, and won’t give in to distractions or playing around.”
• Once everyone’s gotten through the homework, there’s no problem with hanging out.

• Most teachers are willing to listen if you’re trying and legitimately have trouble keeping up. They might even adjust the homework assignments to make them more manageable.

Reader Videos

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• ↑ https://www.understood.org/en/articles/homework-strategies
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids/tips/dealing-with-homework
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/focused.html
• ↑ http://www.aiuniv.edu/blog/august-2014/tips-for-fighting-homework-fatigue
• ↑ http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/homework.html
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/study-partners/

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The Ultimate Guide to Time Management: 10 Strategies for Better Productivity

Rosie Landry

Are you feeling overwhelmed with too many tasks and not enough time ? I’ve been there, which is why I put together this guide to time management.

Table of Contents

After extensive research and trial of various techniques, I’ve pulled together ten strategies that will help you take control of your days. Prepare yourself for a compelling journey toward better productivity and less stress !

Key Takeaways

• Conduct a time audit to understand how you spend your time and identify areas where you can cut back on wasted moments.
• Set priorities based on your goals, deadlines, and overall productivity impact.
• Use planning tools like calendars or task managers to stay organized and create clear roadmaps for accomplishing tasks.
• Get organized by keeping track of commitments, establishing prioritization systems, and creating structured schedules.
• Schedule tasks appropriately by allocating specific time slots for different activities based on energy levels and natural rhythms.
• Delegate tasks to others to free up your time for high-priority responsibilities and leverage the strengths of others.
• Stop procrastinating by breaking projects into smaller steps and using techniques like the Pomodoro Technique.
• Manage time-wasters by identifying them, setting boundaries, utilizing technology wisely, and taking regular breaks.
• Avoid multitasking to increase focus and efficiency in completing tasks one at a time.
• Staying healthy through adequate sleep, nutritious meals, exercise, and stress management enhances productivity.

10 Strategies for Better Productivity List

These strategies can help you improve productivity and maximize your time and resources. Remember to experiment and find the best strategies for your unique needs and work style.

Key Strategies for Better Time Management

Know how you spend your time, set priorities, use a planning tool, get organized, and schedule appropriately.

Know How You Spend Your Time

Keeping track of your time is crucial for effective management. Many of us are oblivious to how we typically spend our hours and minutes daily. Surprisingly, even minor activities can become significant time consumers when accumulated.

Conducting a simple time audit helps unveil these hidden black holes in your schedule, which might be draining precious moments away from more critical tasks. You need to jot down what you’re doing at regular intervals in the day for about a week or two.

The process isn’t tedious as it sounds; numerous apps and tools make the job easier today! This transparency lets you spot patterns and identify potential areas where you can cut back wasted time, thereby allowing you to redesign your daily routines with improved focus on priorities!

Set Priorities

Setting priorities is a crucial step in effective time management . Determining what tasks are most important and need to be done first ensures that your time and energy are focused on the right things.

To set priorities, start by identifying your goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve? Once you have a clear vision of what you’re aiming for , it becomes easier to determine which tasks align with those goals.

It’s also important to consider deadlines and the impact each task will have on your overall productivity. By setting priorities, you can make sure that you’re spending your precious time on tasks that truly matter and will bring you closer to reaching your objectives.

Use a Planning Tool

Using a planning tool is crucial for effective time management. It helps you stay organized and prioritize tasks , ensuring that you make the most of your day. By using a task manager or planner, you can easily track your goals, set deadlines, and break down tasks into smaller steps.

This allows you to create a clear roadmap for what needs to be accomplished and helps prevent overwhelm . With a planning tool at hand, you can confidently manage your time and achieve greater productivity in both your personal and professional life .

Get Organized

To maximize your productivity and make the most of your time, it’s essential to get organized . Organizing your tasks and responsibilities effectively ensures that nothing falls through the cracks and everything gets done efficiently.

Start by using a task manager or a planning tool to keep track of all your commitments and deadlines. This will give you a clear overview of what must be done and when. Additionally, establish a system for prioritizing tasks based on their importance and urgency.

This will help you stay focused on what truly matters. Lastly, create daily schedules or time blocks for specific activities or projects. By having a structured plan, you’ll feel more in control of your time and increase your chances of achieving your goals efficiently.

Schedule Appropriately

Scheduling your time appropriately is crucial for effective time management. You can ensure that everything gets done efficiently and on time by allocating specific time slots for different tasks and activities.

Using a planning tool like a calendar or task manager can help you stay organized and prioritize your responsibilities. It’s also important to consider your energy levels and natural rhythms when scheduling tasks – tackle the most challenging or important ones during times when you’re at peak productivity .

By scheduling appropriately, you’ll be able to make the most of your day and achieve your goals more effectively.

Delegate: Get Help from Others

Delegating tasks to others is a valuable strategy for improving time management and boosting productivity. By sharing responsibilities with capable individuals, you can free up your own time to focus on high-priority tasks.

Delegation also allows you to leverage the strengths and expertise of others, leading to more efficient outcomes. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to do everything yourself – by involving others in the process, you can achieve more while also building trust and collaboration within your team or organization.

So don’t be afraid to delegate when it makes sense, as it can significantly enhance your ability to manage time effectively and accomplish your goals.

Overcoming Time Management Challenges

Stop procrastinating, manage time-wasters, avoid multitasking, and stay healthy to overcome time management challenges.

Stop Procrastinating

One important step is to stop procrastinating to be more productive and make the most of your time. Procrastination can lead to wasted hours and missed opportunities. Take action now instead of putting off tasks or waiting for the “perfect” moment.

Break larger projects into smaller, manageable steps and tackle them individually. Use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique , where you work in focused bursts with short breaks in between.

Starting immediately and staying disciplined can overcome procrastination and accomplish more each day.

Manage Time-Wasters

We all know that time-wasters can be a major productivity roadblock. To overcome this challenge, here are some effective strategies to manage time-wasters:

• Identify your biggest time – wasting activities and commit to reducing or eliminating them.
• Set clear boundaries with colleagues, friends, and family to minimize interruptions during work hours.
• Use technology wisely by turning off notifications and silencing distracting apps on your phone or computer.
• Prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency to avoid getting caught up in less significant activities.
• Break large projects into smaller, manageable tasks to prevent feeling overwhelmed and wasting time on unnecessary details.
• Take regular breaks to refresh your mind and prevent burnout, but make sure you stick to a set time limit for each break.
• Practice saying “no” when necessary to avoid taking on additional commitments that will only consume your valuable time.
• Stay organized by keeping your workspace clutter – free and using tools like calendars, planners, or digital task managers to stay on top of deadlines and appointments.
• Delegate tasks whenever possible to free up more time for the things that truly require your attention.
• Finally, learn to say goodbye to perfectionism – striving for perfection can waste precious time that could be better spent on completing important tasks.

Avoid Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking may seem like the key to getting more done in less time, but it can hinder your productivity . Trying to do multiple things simultaneously divides your attention and makes it harder for you to focus on each task.

Instead of juggling multiple tasks simultaneously, try focusing on one thing at a time. This will allow you to give your full attention and energy to each task, increasing your efficiency. and reducing mistakes.

So, next time you find yourself tempted to multi-task, remember that focusing on one task at a time is the path to better productivity.

Stay Healthy

Maintaining good health is crucial for effective time management. We are better equipped to handle our tasks and responsibilities when we prioritize our physical and mental well-being.

Taking care of ourselves includes getting enough sleep , eating nutritious meals , and exercising regularly . It’s also essential to manage stress levels by practicing relaxation techniques or finding activities that bring joy and promote balance.

By prioritizing our health, we can optimize productivity and achieve a more fulfilling life.

The Importance of Productivity and Efficiency

Productivity and efficiency are crucial for individuals as they enable us to accomplish more tasks in less time, leading to a sense of accomplishment and increased job satisfaction.

In addition, teams and organizations benefit from productivity and efficiency by increasing overall output, meeting deadlines more effectively, and achieving higher quality results.

Benefits for Individuals

Mastering time management brings a multitude of benefits for individuals. By effectively managing your time, you can experience reduced stress levels , increased productivity , and improved work-life balance .

You’ll have a better sense of control over your day and be able to prioritize tasks based on their importance. With proper time management strategies in place, you can achieve your goals and feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day.

Efficiently utilizing your time allows you to make the most out of every opportunity that comes your way, ultimately leading to a happier and more fulfilling life.

Benefits for Teams and Organizations

Effective time management is not only beneficial for individuals, but also for teams and organizations. When a team or organization implements strong time management strategies, it can lead to increased productivity , improved efficiency , and better overall performance .

By prioritizing tasks and setting realistic goals, teams can ensure that they work on the most important projects and meet deadlines effectively. This helps in maximizing output and achieving desired results.

Additionally, effective time management allows teams to streamline workflows , avoid bottlenecks, and eliminate unnecessary tasks or activities. It also promotes collaboration by ensuring that team members have clear expectations of their roles and responsibilities within the organization.

How to Improve Attention Management and Focus

You can try several techniques to improve attention management and focus. Eliminate distractions by creating a quiet work environment and turning off notifications on your devices.

Practice mindfulness and meditation to enhance your ability to stay present and focused. Break tasks into smaller, manageable chunks to prevent overwhelm and maintain concentration.

Prioritize your most important tasks first to ensure you give them your full attention. Finally, take regular breaks throughout the day to recharge your brain and maintain productivity levels.

Techniques for Enhancing Focus

Enhancing focus is crucial for better time management and productivity. Here are some techniques to help improve your ability to concentrate:

• Eliminate distractions : Minimize interruptions by turning off notifications, closing unnecessary tabs, and finding a quiet workspace.
• Practice deep work : Set aside time for focused, uninterrupted work on important tasks.
• Break tasks into smaller steps : Breaking down larger tasks into manageable chunks can make them less overwhelming and easier to focus on.
• Use the Pomodoro Technique: Work in short bursts of focused activity (usually 25 minutes) followed by short breaks to maintain concentration.
• Prioritize single-tasking : Instead of trying to juggle multiple tasks at once, give your full attention to one task at a time for increased efficiency.
• Create a conducive environment : Set up a clean, organized workspace that promotes concentration and minimizes distractions.
• Take regular breaks : Incorporate breaks into your work routine to recharge and prevent mental fatigue.
• Practice mindfulness or meditation : These practices can help improve focus by training the mind to stay present and reduce distractions.
• Use visualization techniques : Visualize the successful completion of your tasks to enhance motivation and maintain focus.
• Manage stress levels : High-stress levels can hinder concentration, so find healthy ways to manage stress, such as exercise or relaxation techniques.

Avoiding Distractions

Avoiding distractions is crucial for maintaining focus and maximizing productivity. Here are some strategies to help you stay on track:

• Designate a distraction-free workspace : Create a dedicated area where you can work without interruptions or temptations.
• Turn off notifications : Silence your phone and computer notifications to minimize distractions from incoming messages and social media updates.
• Set specific time blocks : Allocate specific periods for focused work and avoid engaging in unrelated activities during those times.
• Use website blockers : Install browser extensions that block access to distracting websites or limit your time spent on them.
• Practice the Pomodoro Technique: Break your work into 25-minute intervals, known as “pomodoros,” followed by short breaks to refresh your mind.
• Prioritize tasks : Identify and tackle the most important tasks first, minimizing the chances of getting sidetracked by less significant ones.
• Communicate boundaries : Let others know when you need uninterrupted time, whether it’s closing the door or setting specific office hours.

Conclusion on Guide to Time Management 💭

M astering time management is crucial for maximizing productivity and efficiency . Individuals can stay organized and focused on their goals by employing strategies such as setting priorities, using planning tools, and delegating tasks.

With these techniques in hand, you’ll be well-equipped to take control of your time and achieve success in both your personal and professional life.

FAQs on Guide to Time Management

1. how can i improve my time management skills.

You can improve your time management skills by prioritizing tasks, setting realistic goals, creating a schedule or to-do list, minimizing distractions, and practicing effective time allocation.

2. Is it possible to manage my time better without feeling overwhelmed?

Yes, it is possible to manage your time better without feeling overwhelmed by breaking tasks into smaller, manageable chunks, taking breaks when needed, and delegating or seeking help when necessary.

3. What are some strategies for avoiding procrastination?

To avoid procrastination, you can use strategies such as setting deadlines for yourself, breaking tasks into small steps with clear timelines, eliminating distractions from your workspace, and rewarding yourself after completing tasks.

4. Can technology help with time management?

Yes, technology can be helpful in managing your time more effectively. There are various apps and tools available that can assist with task tracking, reminders/alerts for important deadlines or appointments,

and organizing schedules efficiently

About the author

I’m Rosie Landry, your friendly guide through the exciting world of practical management here on this blog. Here, I delve into everything from practical tips to complex theories of time management, combining scientific research with real-life applications. When I’m not writing about time management, you can find me with my nose in a gripping mystery novel, creating culinary delights, or out exploring nature with my faithful golden retriever, Marley. Join me as we discover how to take control of our time and enhance our lives together. If you need to reach out, do so here.

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8 Time Management Tips for Students

Don't let a hectic schedule get the better of you with these time management tips.

Lian Parsons

College can be a stressful time for many students and time management can be one of the most crucial — but tricky — skills to master.

Attending classes, studying for exams, making friends, and taking time to relax and decompress can quickly fill up your schedule. If you often find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day, this guide will offer time management tips for students so you can accomplish what you need to get done, have fun with your friends, and gain back some valuable time for yourself. 

1. Create a Calendar

Don’t be caught by surprise by an important paper due two days from now or a dinner with your family the same night you planned for a group study session. Create a calendar for yourself with all your upcoming deadlines, exams, social events, and other time commitments well in advance so you can see what’s coming up. 

Keep your calendar in a place where you can see it every day, such as in your planner or on your wall above your desk. If you prefer a digital calendar, check it first thing every day to keep those important events fresh and top-of-mind. For greater efficiency, make sure you can integrate it with your other tools, such as your email.

Digital calendar options include: 

• Google Calendar 
• Outlook Calendar
• Fantastical

2. Set Reminders

After you’ve created your calendar, give yourself periodic reminders to stay on track such as to complete a study guide in advance or schedule a meeting for a group project. Knowing deadlines is important; however, staying on top of the micro tasks involved in meeting those deadlines is just as important. You can set an alarm on your phone, write it down in a physical planner, or add an alert to your digital calendar. The reminders will help to prevent things from slipping through the cracks during particularly hectic days.

Make sure you’ve allotted enough time to study for that big test or write that final paper. Time management is all about setting yourself up for success in advance and giving yourself the tools to accomplish tasks with confidence. 

Read our blogs, Your Guide to Conquering College Coursework and Top 10 Study Tips to Study Like a Harvard Student , for more suggestions.

3. Build a Personalized Schedule

Each person’s day-to-day is different and unique to them, so make sure your schedule works for you. Once you’ve accounted for consistent commitments such as classes or your shifts at work, add in study sessions, extracurriculars, chores and errands, and social engagements.

Consider your personal rhythm. If you typically start your day energized, plan to study or accomplish chores then. If you fall into an afternoon slump, give yourself that time to take a guilt-free TV break or see friends.

Having a schedule that works for you will help maximize your time. Plus, knowing exactly when your laundry day is or when your intramural volleyball practice is every week will help you avoid trying to cram everything in one day (or running out of clean socks!)

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4. Use Tools That Work For You

Just like your calendar and schedule, the tools you use to keep you organized should be the right fit for you. Some students prefer physical planners and paper, while some prefer going totally digital. Your calendar can help you with long-term planning, but most of these tools are best for prioritizing from day to day.

Explore what best suits your needs with some of the following suggestions:

Planners can help you keep track of long-term deadlines, such as important essay deadlines, upcoming exams, and appointments and meetings. They often provide a monthly overview each month, as well as day-to-day planning sections, so you can stay ahead. 

• Papier – Offers a 20% student discount 

If your schedule is jam-packed and you have trouble figuring out what to do and when, scheduling day by day—and sometimes even hour by hour—can help you slot in everything you need to do with less stress.

• Structured app

Note Taking

From class to study sessions to errands, keeping track of everything can feel overwhelming. Keeping everything in one place, whether on the go or at your desk, can help keep you organized.

• Bullet journals

5. Prioritize

Sometimes there really is too much to do with too little time. In these instances, take just a few minutes to evaluate your priorities. Consider which deadlines are most urgent, as well as how much energy you have. 

If you are able to complete simple tasks first, try getting them out of the way before moving on to tasks that require a lot of focus. This can help to alleviate some of the pressure by checking a couple things off your to-do list without getting bogged down too early.

If you are struggling to fit everything in your schedule, consider what you can postpone or what you can simply say no to. Your friends will likely understand if you have to meet them for coffee another time in order to get in a final library session before a challenging exam. 

6. Make Time to Have Fun — And For Yourself

Time management isn’t just about getting work done. It’s also about ensuring that you can put yourself and your mental wellbeing first. Consistently including time for yourself in your schedule helps to keep your mental health and your life in balance. It can also be helpful to have things to look forward to when going through stressful periods.  

Whether it’s going for a bike ride along the river, spending time with your friends and family, or simply sleeping in on a Sunday, knowing you have space to relax and do things you enjoy can provide better peace of mind. 

7. Find Support 

Preparation and organization can sometimes only get you so far. Luckily, you have plenty of people rooting for your success. Keep yourself and your classmates on task by finding an accountability partner or study buddies. Remind your roommates when you need extra space to work on a paper. 

Your school’s academic resource center is also there to support you and point you in the right direction if you need additional help. Getting—and staying—organized is a collaborative effort and no one can do it on their own. 

8. Be Realistic and Flexible 

Sometimes unforeseen circumstances will come up or you simply may not be able to get to everything you set out to do in a given day. Be patient with yourself when things don’t go exactly to plan. When building your calendar, schedule, and priorities list, be realistic about what you can accomplish and include buffer time if you’re unsure. This can help to reduce obstacles and potential friction.

Time management isn’t just about sticking to a rigid schedule—it’s also about giving yourself space for change.

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About the Author

Lian Parsons is a Boston-based writer and journalist. She is currently a digital content producer at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education. Her bylines can be found at the Harvard Gazette, Boston Art Review, Radcliffe Magazine, Experience Magazine, and iPondr.

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Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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How to better manage your homework time | Ask Kelly

Dear Kelly,

Last week I began classes, but I already feel like I’m overwhelmed with homework. I spent the bulk of the weekend doing the work, and I still have more to do. I know I need to work on managing my time better. Do you have any advice for me? What do you do?

This is an excellent question and one that I am so happy you are asking at the beginning of the semester. Juggling different classes and all of the coursework that comes with them can be very daunting, especially if you don’t plan ahead. This is something I learned the first week of my freshman year, when I spent that entire first weekend drinking pots of coffee while sitting for countless hours in front of my computer answering multiple discussion posts, taking three quizzes, writing a reflection paper, and reviewing an assigned article. I’ll never forget that weekend. I cried. I literally broke down and cried! I wondered why in the world I would have signed up to subject myself to that much stress. I kept saying, “What was I thinking?” No, I take that back. I kept yelling, “WHAT WAS I THINKING WHEN I DECIDED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL?”

That weekend taught me something: To make sure I made the most of the time I had available. I remember sitting and talking with my husband, Garrick, and saying, “I wish I would’ve started on this work earlier. I could have even done some of the homework on days that I had class.” I had to be honest with myself. There was plenty of time during the week that I could have focused on homework, but since it was just blocks of time, I kept seeing the weekend as a more viable option. I didn’t realize how that would lead to an enormous amount of stress because I had so much to complete in just those two days.

I made the conscious decision to never paint myself into that corner again. I decided I had to get organized, and the very first thing that needed to happen was I needed to buy a calendar. I went to the store and purchased a large, wall-mounted, dry erase calendar, and I hung it in my office. Before I began, I decided on my “homework time.” This was the time each day that I knew I could devote to homework. Immediately, I began recording my class schedule on the calendar, along with some assignments and their due dates, but something didn’t seem right. It still looked jumbled to me. You see, I was writing everything down with the same colored pen, nothing stood out.

I went back to the store and bought a pack of different colored dry erase markers. When I came home, I assigned each class a different color, and then I began writing things down. I chose the color blue for the first class. I wrote down all of the nights I had class and underlined those to show that those were class nights, not assignments. Then, using the syllabus from that class, I began to place my assignments onto the calendar on their due dates.  

That’s when I stopped and reflected on the past weekend.

The problem I had wasn’t making sure assignments were turned in on time. It was giving myself plenty of time to get the assignments completed, without causing unneeded stress. So I began to plot the assignments not based on due dates but based on the time it took to complete them. I also made sure I had flex time to make any edits or adjustments to the assignments before I turned them in. I added study time onto the calendar to prepare for quizzes. For large assignments, like research papers, I wrote down the date that I wanted to have my research collected by, the date I wanted to have the outline written, the date that I wanted to write my rough draft, and so on. I broke things apart, so I would have time to complete each assignment or quiz and still have time for myself and my family.

I repeated this process for recording my other classes and coursework onto the calendar, as well, using different colors for each class. As assignments were completed, I would cross through them with a black marker. When I turned in the assignment, I would erase it off the board. Each and every day was scheduled, and I knew what I was working on each day. Yes, there were times when I had to make adjustments, but with the calendar and the way I had scheduled everything, it was easy to do.

This one simple task of writing everything down on the calendar completely changed the ballgame. My stress lifted. I knew what I had to do and when. I could plan events with friends and family and still have time for me. I knew my availability each and every day, and that was wonderful! If, for some reason, I finished an assignment early, I would use the extra time to get a jumpstart on a different assignment. I was always ahead of the game, and it felt amazing!

Now, I am in my senior year. The calendar has gone digital, since I did eventually wear out the one on the wall. I still color-code each of my classes, even going so far as to change the color-coding of the course in Canvas (do this by clicking on the three dots at the top of the course box on your dashboard).

Getting organized is one of the reasons why I believe I have been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA, even when I was juggling three jobs and a full load of classes.

I promise, if you make the conscious effort to organize your time, you will reap the benefits of not only completing all of your assignments before they are due but also doing so while maintaining your sanity.

As always, I wish you health, happiness and continued success throughout your journey.

Do you have a question about Mercer or coping with school in these challenging times? Each week Kelly Browning, an early childhood education/special education major and student ambassador at the Henry County Regional Academic Center, answers questions from the Mercer community. Email her at  [email protected]  or  fill out our online form  to submit your question anonymously.

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Table of Contents

Why is time management important for students, 10 time management skills and techniques for students, working smarter to enhance productivity, the benefits of good time management, how well do you manage your time, general time-management tools, time management in practice, implications of poor time management, how to better manage your time at work, choose the right program.

Effective time management is all about achieving the right balance between your homework, university/college life, and your free time. As a student, organizing your days will eliminate stress and ensure that you are productive. The general time management tips for students, such as sleeping well, scheduling, and prioritizing, are some important tips that can help students in the long run. A more strategic approach is required to optimize the time a student has in a day.

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Time management for students (and everyone else) is about making your day purposeful. It is about taking control of the time you have and optimizing it for focus, productivity , and above all, balance. Before we list out the time management tips for students, it is crucial for students to understand why time management is important.

All of us should make the most of the limited amount of time we have in a day. It is very easy to get wrapped up in a fury of various activities and accomplish less. Managing time effectively enables students to become more confident, and organized, and learn more efficiently. Effective time management skills are particularly essential for high school students, as they have to deal with more subjects, tests, assignments, and extracurriculars. Time management techniques can help students be on track and cope with the stress of added responsibilities. 

Following are a few more reasons why time management is important for students:

Enables You to Accomplish Your Goals Faster

Appropriate time management makes one more effective and encourages you to give your best to what you are doing and what you can, thus helping you achieve your goals much faster.

Enables You to Prioritize Your Work

When creating a timetable, you prioritize and arrange essential tasks that need immediate attention. For example, students have to complete assignments before attending a session. A student can fit in time to work on the assignments before attending a study group with correct time management.

Enables You to Get More Done in Less Time

Dedicating a specified amount of time to a particular task helps you focus on it. Instead of working on a given task with no predefined time assigned, you can complete the same task by sticking to a time plan. Without a time plan, you might completely forget to finish a task.

Reduces Stress Levels 

Time management skills can help you prioritize the time required for essential tasks; prioritizing tasks and having enough time to accomplish those tasks means reduced stress levels.

Helps You Become More Efficient

Effective time management helps you to be more focused at school/college/university, thus increasing your efficiency and enabling you to accomplish more within less time.

So, how can students learn to manage time more effectively? We have collated a list of the best time management tips for students to beat procrastination, stay focused, and be more productive.

Efficient time management is one of the primary keys to success, and thus, it is worth learning. Following are time management strategies for students to help them manage their time in the best possible manner.

1. Make Use of a Daily Schedule Template to Plan Your Day

Seminars, classes, and workshops may take up a chunk of your day, but how one schedules their own time makes all the difference. It is essential to master your schedule.

A daily schedule template helps you manage and control your time each day. It will enable you to stay organized and focus on what matters most and even help you overcome procrastination. The method that most successful people from Elon Musk to Bill Gates use is “time blocking”. Time blocking is creating a template for how you intend to spend every minute of your day. Students should therefore follow this method to manage their time more fruitfully.

2. Understand How You are Currently Spending Your Time (And Where You Are Losing It)

Your schedule will offer you an ideal version of your day, but you need to analyze how you spend your time to develop better time management habits. Without understanding how you are spending your time each day, it is impossible to build better time management strategies for students to stay focused.

3. Set Proper Goals to Measure Your Progress

Goals are an excellent way to get you motivated to do school work. However, the problem is that goals are just the result, with you not knowing how to achieve them. So, focus on what needs to be done to achieve that goal by focusing on constant progress and developing better habits. For example, if you need to write a 5,000-word essay in a month, set a daily goal of writing 500 words. If you continue this, you can complete your essay in a week.

4. Break Large Projects Into Smaller, Actionable Tasks

A part of proper goal-setting is to segregate large goals from smaller daily tasks. Doing this will help you stay focused and stop you from procrastinating. It is easy to procrastinate when a project feels like a huge task. However, taking that first step is all you need to build momentum.

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5. Be Realistic About the Time You Need to Complete a Task

Once you begin to schedule your tasks for the day, you may get overly optimistic about how much you can achieve. Psychologists also have a name for this – The Planning Fallacy. One of the most effective time management tips for students is to counter the planning fallacy. Students should add a buffer to their schedule depending on how familiar they are with the task. If it is something that has been done before, then 1-1.5X time must be allocated to the time they think it may take to complete the project.

6. Pay Attention to Your Body’s Natural Energy Highs and Lows

We all have moments in the day when we are more energetic and alert. And if you want to exploit the time you have each day to its maximum, you cannot fight against your body’s natural state. What does this mean in terms of time management tips for students ? Simply put, students should do their most essential work when they feel most energetic. This means scheduling intense projects during energy highs and scheduling passive activities when the body is at its natural low.

7. Take Breaks at the Right Time

Take more breaks to manage your productivity over time. But when exactly is the right time to take a break? Sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman states, “our minds naturally crave breaks after every 90 minutes of intense work. Even if you do not have a timer going, your body will let you know that you need a break by turning sleepy, fidgeting, hungry, or losing focus”. When you begin to feel this way, you know it is time to take a break.

8. Remove Distractions

Between social media, cell phones, and friends, there are so many activities that can distract students from their school work. When it is time to get down to doing school work, students need to turn off their cell phones and sign out of social media accounts. Any amount of time that is devoted to school work must be television and cell phone free!

9. Avoid Multitasking

It may be tempting for students to feel that they can multitask when their schedule is jam-packed. But the more one tries to do it at once, the longer each thing takes. Instead, studies have found that deeply focusing on one task at a time can be around 500% more productive.

10. Build Better Routines and Habits for Long-Term Success

We are what we repetitively do. One of the best time management strategies for students and everyone else is to develop routines and habits that endorse the kind of actions you would like to do more of, for example, following a morning routine that concentrates on getting an early win and prepping yourself for a productive day. Or, ensure your evening routine preps you for an effective next day by setting your goals and schedules the night before.

When planning, prioritize the more extensive, more complex, and time-consuming chores at the beginning of the week (or day), so you may complete them first and relax more as the week progresses. Front-load your week to maximize your chances of success. This is similar to Eat That Frog, a productivity strategy that recommends performing the most important or influential activity first every day to ensure it gets done.

Constant meetings, social media, and an endless stream of emails may make it challenging to create a productive day. Developing effective habits at work will enable you to accomplish your best job regularly. You have two options for increasing your productivity. You may work longer hours if you bring your job home with you. You may also work smarter by boosting efficiency without sacrificing quality. Let's look at some significant benefits of good time management are: 

Stress Relief

One of the primary causes of increased stress is poor time management. When you have a lot to accomplish and are unsure how to do it, you usually perform a rush job under pressure. However, with proper time management, you can schedule your daily chores so that you work smarter rather than harder. For example, you may prepare critical tasks for when you're most productive or set aside additional time for things you suspect will take longer than expected. So, even if you work longer, you will have enough time to complete everything while being calm.

By identifying task completion time, you can use less energy and worry less about whether you can achieve everything you need to do today. Instead, make time to take a break from your typical routine. You may preserve energy for your spare time since time management helps you to plan when your task will be completed before you begin it. Having more free time can help you achieve a better work-life balance and ensure you make time for yourself.

More Opportunities

Effective time management may help you achieve more success by improving the quality of your work. When you manage your time well, you not only provide excellent work on schedule, but you also work without stress. This displays improved decision-making abilities and potential for leadership . In other words, you exhibit traits that are necessary for job advancement. This will provide you with greater and more chances.

Ability to Realize Goals

You may simplify your day and spend less time selecting what to do or how to accomplish it if you use time management to arrange what you need to complete each day. For example, deciding what to do for each step before commencing the project may be beneficial if you have a complex project with an outline that requires several yet unclear phases. The project is then reduced to a short set of activities that give guidance. You save time by preparing your objectives rather than finding them out as you go. This might mean spending less time pondering what you should be doing and more time doing it.

There are several approaches you may use based on your time management abilities and experience, but the goal is to explain a system that works for you and makes sense in the position you're going for. In other words, if you're working in a team atmosphere, discuss an efficient time management approach for teamwork, such as getting everyone acquainted with project management software. Then, discuss the advantages of employing this method for time management. Going into depth about how this technique has worked for you demonstrates to the interviewer that you have real-world experience adopting this way to manage your time and aren't simply making it up.

Time management is critical to your success. You may achieve any goal you set your mind to by using an excellent time planner and master list. These are common time management tools and practices that you should employ to maximize productivity and personal organization. Each of these takes some effort to learn and perfect, but they will pay you back in increased efficiency and effectiveness for the rest of your life.

Prioritization

The 80/20 rule was developed by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. It's believed that 20% of activities are accountable for 80% of results. The purpose of Pareto analysis is to assist you in prioritizing tasks that are most successful at issue resolution. List some of the difficulties you are experiencing. Determine the fundamental source of each issue. Assign a score to each problem and arrange them by cause. Add the scores from each group: The topic should be addressed first in the group with the highest score. Take some action.

Scheduling is the art of preparing your activities so that you may accomplish your goals and prioritize your priorities in the time you have available. When done correctly, it can assist you in realizing what you can do with your time. Ensure you leave adequate time for import duties and only take on what you can do.

Goal Setting

Smart goals enable people to plan and attain their objectives in a reasonable amount of time. It can also aid in improving time management in professional contexts such as school and the workplace. Smart goal planning may give direction for your aims and help you build practical measures to attain those goals if you want to manage your time wisely.

Concentration and Focus

Distractions are a major impediment to personal time management. Close the door to avoid as many distractions as possible. Only pay attention to what you're doing right now.

In terms of significance, describe your top two distractions over the next two weeks. Remember that staying focused during the day necessitates proper sleep habits and enough fluids.

Effective time management entails completing more vital tasks in a single day. Effective time management is more important than efficient time management. The most successful time managers are also the most efficient. Try some time management software. The first time management tool you require is a time planner, which provides all the information you need to plan and arrange your life. The most excellent time planners, whether looseleaf or electronic, allow you to prepare for the whole year, the month, the week, and each day.

We all know that there never seems to be enough time in the day, and as a result, things slip by the wayside. While this occurs to the best of us from time to time, students who battle with time management regularly are doing themselves no favors.

Poor Workflow

Poor efficiency results from a failure to plan and keep to goals. For example, completing related chores concurrently or sequentially is an intelligent approach if many significant tasks need to be accomplished. However, if you plan, you may be able to bounce back and forth, or backtrack, in your job. This equates to decreased efficiency and output.

Wasted Time

Wasted time arises from poor time management. For example, chatting with pals on social media while working on an assignment is a distraction and a waste of time.

Loss of Control

You will lose control of your professional life if you do not know the next assignment. This might lead to increased tension and worry.

Poor Quality of Work

The quality of your work could be better when you manage your time well. Quality is often degraded when things are rushed at the last minute.

Poor Reputation

When clients or your company cannot rely on you to finish things on time, their expectations and impressions of you suffer. A client who needs to trust you to complete a task on schedule will likely look for another service provider.

Your ability to manage your time affects how productive you are each day. You can accomplish more in less time with effective time management, which also helps you feel less stressed and advance in your profession. Instead of just using the following tools as a timetable to complete more tasks, make them represent your values—what is most important to you. When you arrange and calendar your time and make the split-second decisions essential to efficient time management for balance and well-being, remember these principles.

1. Know How You’re Spending Your Time

You need to keep track of what you do with your time to identify any activities or routines preventing you from achieving your desired objectives. You must start and end each day with a purpose to make the most of your time.

You have two choices for keeping track of your time:

• Spend a day or two manually recording your activities in a "time log."
• To automatically log your time, use a free program like RescueTime.

2. Stick to a Daily Schedule

While making a to-do list is a common theme in time and productivity management advice for students, mastering your daily schedule is even more crucial. 

Time blocking is the strategy of choice for many of the most successful people in the world, including Bill Gates and Elon Musk. But time blocking is planning how to spend each minute of your day.

• Create Realistic Timelines: A schedule must be practical to be effective. Plan your study time wisely to increase your study skills. The study techniques of the students vary from one another. This entails scheduling time for breaks, meals, exercise, social interaction, phone calls to loved ones, and all other "non-school" activities that keep you content and motivated.
• Give your undivided Attention: Your best friend in this situation is "self-discipline" and "self-control." If you must take a break, do so, but try to avoid sneaking away to other websites while working. Turn off your phone or put it away until it's time for a scheduled break.

3. Prioritize

1440 minutes make up one day. Within these hours, you must set practical priorities. Setting suitable priorities for your study goals is one of the sage study advice. If you have a lot of material to learn, start breaking it down into manageable chunks and choose what is most crucial. One of the best study strategies is making the most of your morning hours when nobody is awake to disturb you since they are asleep.

• Do immediately: Tasks that are crucial and have clear deadlines, or ones you've put off so long they're past due.
• Schedule for later: Crucial assignments with no set deadlines.
• Delegate: Those tasks that others can execute.
• Delete: Activities you can skip since they are optional to achieving your objectives or carrying out your mission.

4. Tackle the Most Difficult Task First

You should complete your most crucial tasks when you're most energetic. This entails arranging writing or other demanding tasks for when your energy levels are at their highest and reading or other passive pursuits for when they are at their lowest.

Brian Tracy's renowned Eat That Frog productivity technique is quite effective for those who delay or find themselves procrastinating frequently or who may have difficulty avoiding distractions. It suggests starting with the task that is the hardest, most complicated, and most critical, i.e., the one you're most inclined to put off for later. Once you've "devoured that frog," only then should you move on; that too without much stress.

5. Batch-Process Similar Tasks

Task batching is when you organize related jobs or tasks into groups and finish them all at once. Using this method, you can easily cut down on multitasking and extend your time to give all your projects your full attention.

For instance: At around 10 to 11 a.m. daily, organize and respond to emails and organize your digital study materials simultaneously.

6. Set Reasonable Time Limits

Focus on what has to be done to reach and surpass the objective instead of starting at the end and moving backward. You might take a full day to finish two different tasks that could be completed in only three hours if you had a full day to do so. There's a good possibility you'll still reach the earlier deadline if you give yourself a shorter window.

What can you do every day to further your ultimate aim? This entails putting an emphasis on steady improvement and forming improved routines. Even better, seeing daily progress will spur you to do more. Work "expands to occupy the time given to do it," according to Parkinson's law.

7. Learn When to Say No

Our energy levels are limited each day and tend to decrease with time. It is wise to know your limits and be prepared to say no to prevent doing subpar work. Understand your advantages and disadvantages. It is ideal for concentrating on one's strengths and delegating tasks that others can complete more quickly and effectively.

8. Avoid Multitasking

Concentrate on one item at a time to manage your time and commit it to study effectively. Nothing gets accomplished when you attempt to perform too many tasks at once. So, starting with one activity, finishing it, and moving on to another is one of the greatest study- focus- ideas .

When your schedule is packed, believing you can multitask is tempting. But everything takes longer the more you try to complete it at once. Instead, studies show that concentrating intently on a single activity can increase productivity by up to 500% . The American Psychological Association claims that mental juggling comes with "switching costs" that reduce your output. Changing tasks may take a few seconds each, but it adds up if you multitask regularly. Your potential for error also increases.

9. Keep Things Organized

Efficiency will rise if your workspace is tidy and organized because you won't have time to look for paper. Learning how to be organized is a talent that can be known. Start with these fundamentals.

• Maintain a clean work desk: The office's physical surroundings greatly impact how you operate. When your environment is chaotic, you are too. You can also be affected by clutter in less direct ways. Research has demonstrated that your physical settings substantially impact your cognition, emotions, and behavior, affecting how you make decisions and interact with others.
• Coordinate your computer files and shared drives: Loss of files and decreased productivity might result from improperly arranging shared files. Nothing is more confusing than spending most of your working hours searching your system for files. Create distinct folders for your files according to their categories to save yourself the hassle.
• Use a calendar: Using a well-organized calendar, you can manage your time to keep on top of your to-do lists and maintain focus throughout the workday. Although many executives have secretaries who work their calendars, anyone may utilize the same procedures to become more productive.

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Time management for students is highly intimidating, especially when you have multiple things on your to-do list. It is one of the most challenging tasks for students as they are expected to fare well and produce good results while handling the pressures of school assignments, homework, projects, and maintaining a social life. However, with our list of time management tips for students, we are confident that students will be able to come up with an arrangement to ensure that every day is as productive as possible. 

As you know, there is never an end to learning. To make your day more effective, you can always take up courses as a student to boost your career. A PMP® Certification Training  from Simplilearn will help you master core project management tools as a strategic tool for business transformation.

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How to Balance Homework and Chores

Last Updated: December 15, 2022 References

This article was co-authored by Ashley Pritchard, MA . Ashley Pritchard is an Academic and School Counselor at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Ashley has over 3 years of high school, college, and career counseling experience. She has an MA in School Counseling with a specialization in Mental Health from Caldwell University and is certified as an Independent Education Consultant through the University of California, Irvine. This article has been viewed 97,465 times.

Sometimes you are so busy with things like doing the dishes, cleaning your room, mowing the lawn, and doing your homework that there’s not enough time for the fun things in life. While homework and chores are important, it doesn’t mean that they need to occupy all of your time. Balancing your homework and your chores will give you the extra time you need to socialize and enjoy your favorite hobbies.

Getting Yourself Organized

• As you complete each task, cross it off on the list so that you remember that you don’t have to do it anymore.
• Create your list on a piece of paper or your cellphone. Storing lists mentally leaves room for you to forget what you need to do.
• During the day you may get additional chores or homework assignments. When you do, make sure to add them to your list.

• Your schedule doesn’t need to be as specific as an hour-by-hour schedule, but the more specific you are the better. A day-to-day schedule will allow you to plot out important chores per day so that by the end of the week you’ll have completed all of them.
• 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Homework
• 5:45 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. - Vacuum Dining Room
• 6:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Clean Room
• 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Socialize!

• Throw things away like empty bottles of water or loose pieces of paper as soon as you don’t need them anymore.
• The more you stay on top of your clutter, the less work you have to do all at once.

• Keeping a binder or trapper keeper with separate compartments can help you keep any important homework.
• Make sure to keep things you don’t need anymore in a separate place. You don’t want your folders to become cluttered and unorganized.
• Be careful when you throw away things you get in class. You may need it for a quiz or test in the future.

• Reading assignments can take a long time if you wait to read the material. By using your free time to read, you can start working on the essay portion of the assignment quickly.

Staying on Task

• If you like playing video or computer games, save it for after your homework. You want to keep your mind sharp so you can get good grades and still get it done as fast as possible.
• Social texting is pretty normal, but every time you break your concentration and do something else you’re making the time you have to spend on homework longer. Text the person back and let them know that you’ll get back to them when you’re done.

• The more you procrastinate the more that you’ll be stressed about not having enough time to finish all of your chores and your homework. Do it early so you can sit back, relax, and have a good time with your friends.

• Even though chores are important, education comes first. Do your homework before you do your chores when you get home.

• Don’t be rude. Explain to the person that you need to get your homework done or else it will affect your grades. You aren’t trying to be mean, you just want to stay on task.
• If you’re not used to telling people “no,” the only way to get used to it is to practice. Your friends will understand.

• Offer something in return for fewer chores, like better grades or A’s on your report card.
• If you have siblings try to trade chores with them.
• Don’t get mad at your parents if you realize that you have too many chores to get everything done. Simply explain to them first and then negotiate the alternatives.

Maintaining a Healthy Body and Mind

• Exercising can also be a hobby, like a sport that you enjoy. As long as you are getting out there and moving, it’s better than sitting around!
• Gym isn’t enough exercise for most people. Make sure that you take up another physical hobby like basketball, hockey, martial arts, tennis, dance, or something else that’s challenging. Try out different things to see what you like best. [5] X Research source

• Going outside and taking a 10-minute walk to get fresh air is a great thing to do when you take a break.

• If you are between the ages of 14 to 17 you'll need around 8 to 10 hours of sleep to feel fully rested. If you are over 17 you'll need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep to feel good.

Expert Q&A

• Doing all three methods together will give you the most time to be social and practice your hobbies. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• Try taking on an active or physical hobby so that you can stay active while still doing something you love. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• On Friday you can relax since you have the entire weekend to do what you need! Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Ashley Pritchard, MA. Academic & School Counselor. Expert Interview. 4 November 2019.
• ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21228167
• ↑ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/lack-of-physical-education-in-schools-concerns-parents/
• ↑ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mental-downtime/
• ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21075236

About this article

To balance your homework and chores, start by creating a schedule of the work you have to do and the time you have available. Then, clear your study space of any games or electronics that might distract you, and try to focus on finishing your work as efficiently as possible. However, everyone needs breaks, so give yourself 5 minutes off every 30 minutes. Try to prioritize your homework over your chores, but talk to your parents if you feel overwhelmed by it all. Keep in mind that they may ask you to prove you’re doing your homework to justify getting out of chores! For more tips, including how to stay healthy during school term, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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9 Strategies to better manage your time

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What is time management?

Why is effective time management important, benefits of effective time management.

Time management strategies and tactics

Time management skills

How to strengthen your time management skills.

We want to complete everything important to us in a timely fashion. But sometimes, it doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in the day. Especially in this new normal , people feel the strain on time and seek effective time management strategies as they’re pulled in more directions than ever before.

Thankfully, good time management can help to make your days more efficient and effective. Essentially, it can help you feel like you have more hours in a day.

But for many of us, time management is an aspiration –– it’s something we’re all working to improve. And there’s no ideal solution for every person. So we provided a list of some actionable time management tips to boost your productivity as you find the right strategies that work for you.

Let’s explore effective time management and the skills necessary to use your time constructively in the long term.

Time management is the deliberate process of deciding how to use your time and allocating it across tasks and activities. With planning and control, effective time management enables you to do more of what is important to you while meeting your responsibilities and commitments.

Time management is certainly not a new concept.

From Henry Ford’s introduction of the assembly line to the current rainbow of organizational tools and apps, the modern age revolves around time. 

As individuals, our time is a limited resource. We treat it like currency. We spend it, guard it, waste it, and trade it for value. Yet we struggle to control it. 

We don’t have an easy solution to poor time management. And many factors cause it. 

Let’s look at what we do know and dive into some new ways of viewing how we (and our teams ) use time.

Doing more with less is a strategy that many companies encourage. Be it a smaller workforce, fewer resources, or leaner budgets. Many workers have experienced some type of “belt-tightening” in the last few years.

But doing more with less can also be a shorthand for understanding and executing priorities.

Time management is how you demonstrate your priorities and your ability to act on them.

Showing practical time management skills can be a way of demonstrating your worth to a company — worth that just might save your job or earn you a promotion .

Managing your time well comes with a long list of benefits. Let’s take a look at four of them.

1. More time to spend where you need (or want) it

Not to belabor the obvious, but if you’re using your time more effectively, you’ll free up time in the day or week. And here’s something that might not be so obvious: you don’t have to use that extra time to work. Time management lets you do more of what matters to you .

Try to create a better work-life balance for yourself . Head out for a walk, schedule a coffee with a friend or colleague, or take a class you’ve been curious to try. The choice is yours!

2. Ability to realize goals

Simply put, setting and realizing goals feels terrific.

Once you’re managing your time better, you can make goal-setting a part of your routine. Then you’ll get to experience the satisfaction that comes with accomplishing them regularly. 

Plus, sharing the goals you’ve set and your achievement of them is a great way to earn kudos from your manager and the whole team. 

If you aren’t sure where to start when building out your goals, try creating a personal vision statement . This declaration can act as a compass to help guide you in the right direction.

3. More growth opportunities 

Do you want to gain a new skill at work ? Are you ready to expand your reach into a new territory or be considered for a promotion? 

Becoming a great leader and learning a new skill require time.

You’re more likely to be afforded these opportunities if you’re consistently seen as a good manager of your time.

4. Reduced stress 

Perhaps the most significant benefit to using your time more efficiently is the potential to lower your stress . This could be finishing a project before it becomes a crisis, keeping your work hours at a reasonable amount, or even being able to carve out time for fulfilling activities. 

These are all ways that an effective time management technique can help with stress and overall mental health .

Time management strategies and tips

Here are  elements that can assist you in improving how you manage time:

• Create the right environment
• Prioritize again
• Set some goals
• Build good habits
• Perform a time audit
• Create a stop-doing list
• Stop multitasking

1. Create the right environment.

Have a physical space that is organized, uncluttered, and convenient.

It can save you undue time searching for files or papers, shuffling unneeded materials out of the way, or even tracking down a paperclip. Taking some time to master your organizational skills will save you more time in the long run.

Be particularly aware of additional challenges that you might face when working remotely .

2. Prioritize

Deciding where to spend your time can be a task in itself. But by prioritizing upfront, you can get the urgent tasks out on time and the essential tasks completed as well.

3. Prioritize again

On the flip side of tackling the critical things is that you may also need to identify tasks or distractions that are neither urgent nor important.

Ask yourself: Does it need to be done by you? Can you delegate the task ? Does it need to be done at all? 

If the answer is no, take action to clear the decks (and your mind) to tackle the most important, pressing items first.

4. Set some goals

Charging ahead on a project — or a workweek — without setting goals is like zooming out of your driveway without knowing where you’re headed. 

It may seem counterintuitive, but spending time on goal setting will likely save you time in the long run. It’s a concept known as “go slow to go fast.”

Try stepping up your organization skills so you clearly understand where you’re going and what will be most vital to help you get there. This consideration enables you to focus on what truly matters.

5. Build good habits

Some people prefer to plan the next day before they leave work, while others prefer to plan within the first 30 minutes of the day.

Some find it productive to block large chunks of time to think/write/design, while others work best in short sprints . The primary takeaway is to spend 5 minutes at the end of each day reflecting on what worked and what didn’t . This will help you understand what works best for you and your situation.

Once you figure out how you work best, stick with it. Build your habits into your workday to get the most out of your self-management skills .

6. Perform a time audit

Do you know where your workday goes? Are you confident in your perception of how you spend your time each day and week?

A time audit can be an illuminating activity to show you just how you are spending your time. You’ll learn what is consuming your days and where you might be able to claim some time back.

Does this feel like a risky activity? No one other than you needs to know that you’re auditing your own productivity .

7. Create a stop-doing list

If a to-do list hasn’t been effective for you, maybe you’ll benefit from flipping it on its side. A stop-doing list is an intentional look at the time wasters that you want to stop.

These could be in the form of a digital detox including social media scrolling and video watching, or even meetings that don’t pertain to your work. Being more intentional about the “don’ts” could help you concentrate more on the “dos.”

Block your time differently. With so much to accomplish, it might be tempting to separate your daily schedule into tightly structured blocks of time.

But it might be more effective if you round up your time estimates for each important task.

Add additional time (10–25%) to how long you think each task will take. Then, when the inevitable delay or glitch happens, you’re not automatically running behind.

This time management technique could be particularly useful for people who chronically overestimate how quickly they work or those who underestimate potential delays.

You can also create a weekly schedule to get a high-level overview of what you need to complete.

8. Stop multitasking

It’s a fallacy that highly effective people constantly juggle multiple minor tasks. Research has shown that multitasking hurts our performance and our well-being.

Ineffective multitasking could be keeping on top of emails while creating a slide deck. Or taking work calls during a commute . You will be much more effective, move through your projects more quickly, and do far better work if you concentrate on one thing at a time. Turn off your email and text notifications, mute your phone, and dig into the task at hand. It will pay off in both the short and the long run.

According to Erich C. Dierdorff , professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Richard H. Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, it takes more than these activities to gain ownership of our time. There are three primary skills needed to implement the strategies listed above and gain long-lasting benefits from them:

• Awareness : how you see and value time and its limitations
• Arrangement : the tactile part of time management, including planning and scheduling activities and goals
• Adaptation : how you pivot as time runs out or priorities shift 

Though these skills are often overlooked, Dierdorff states that they’re crucial to effective time management.

Strengthening these skills isn’t as straightforward as opening an app. But by investing your time in developing self-awareness , understanding your habits, and building new ones, you can increase your chances of managing time more effectively.

Develop self-awareness of your time management abilities

To improve your time management skills, you must first understand how you currently function. Building self-awareness around how you manage your time will set a baseline for you to improve upon. 

Try the activities below to grow your awareness of how you manage your time:

• Garner feedback from coworkers, a boss, or your peers
• Use a time-tracking tool to measure the activities you spend your time on and use this as a baseline
• Get to know yourself with a few questions:
• What time of day do you work best?
• Do you tend to over or underestimate how long tasks will take?
• Do you stay busy but less productive?
• Are you more effective or efficient?
• What kinds of projects do you tackle head-on, and which cause you to procrastinate ?

Get to know yourself and your relationship to time

Without getting too meta, ask yourself how your personality relates to time. Do you consider yourself more of a go-getter who likes to get a jump on things early? Or do you prefer to divide your time between multiple tasks?

Understanding how your personality and habits relate to time will help you identify the time management skills you should invest in first.

To get a better idea of how your personality relates to time, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I tend to complete a task before moving on to the next one?
• Do I work better under pressure and leave projects until the last minute?
• How do I prioritize?
• How do I delegate?
• How do I approach a new task?

This is not a finite list, but questions like these can help you identify your areas of focus.

Identify the time management skills you want to work on

Deciding which area requires the most improvement first could jump right out at you, or you might need to do a little digging. But knowing whether you should address your prioritization skills, or your ability to adapt to change, is vital to improving your overall time management.

You may discover that you want to improve more than one area. If that is the case, try starting with one area first and then progress once you’ve gotten the hang of the first skill.

Signs of poor time management

Just as there are benefits to effective time management, drawbacks come with poor time management skills. Let’s take a look at six of them.

1. Wasted time

If good time management skills can score you more time, it should be no surprise that the opposite is also true. If you’re off-task — jumping from one project to another or otherwise using your time inefficiently — your work is going to take longer to complete. Less time will be available for other work projects or time away from the job

2. Lack of delegation

There’s often going to be more on your plate than you can do. And if you’re not managing your time well, you probably aren’t staying very organized either. Because of this, you may struggle to use the readily available help.

It isn’t easy to delegate if you aren’t clear about the task at hand and exactly how others can help. So it’s inevitable that the work will keep piling up.

3. Loss of control

Simply put, if you aren’t in control of your time, it is in control of you.

Poor time management skills can make it difficult for you to predict when you will complete a project or be available to take on something else. Then, you aren’t in control of your time or your work .

What usually happens when we don’t feel in control? We can become stressed , frustrated, unhappy, and dissatisfied with our lives. When you don’t have control, you also don’t have time and attention to give yourself entirely to other parts of your life: relationships , health , goals.

4. Poor quality of work

If poor time management leads you to complete projects in a rushed manner, likely, the quality of your work will also suffer.

Effective collaboration and communication are required to deliver the best final product. So, while it may feel like you do your best work when up against a deadline, here’s the reality: without the opportunity to give your work a final edit or run it past the eyes of a colleague, chances are errors will slip by you. 

5. Poor reputation

If you look at this list so far, you can see that the employee it describes isn’t going to be highly regarded in the company. Have you become an employee that can’t be counted on during a rush? Is your project management ineffective? Do you want your coworkers to view you this way? 

As your reputation suffers, so will your chances for advancement and growth.

6. Failure to achieve goals

How you spend your hours is how you spend your days. Ultimately, it’s how you spend your life.

Sure, we all have days that are chaotic or consumed by endless tasks that we don’t love and would prefer not to do. But if this is the norm, rather than the exception, looking at how you spend your time can offer a helpful check. 

The next question is: is the way you are spending your time within your control or outside of it? 

If it is within your control, developing your time management skills can get you closer to living the life you want to be living.

3 steps to managing your time better

Managing your time is possible with proactive reflection and by developing fundamental skills. Here are the first three steps we recommend taking to jumpstart your journey and improve your time management:

• Start by building self-awareness and understanding how you view your time and which skills need improvement
• Perform a time audit to see where and how you’re spending your time
• Experiment with the strategies above to develop your time management skills

Start managing your time better today

Now you know how important time management is and what some of its many benefits are.

It’s time to start making minor changes to your time management strategies.

Try to catch yourself when you’re multitasking and choose to focus on one task. Perform a time audit to see where all of your time is going. Or attempt one of the other strategies that we discussed.

Are you struggling with getting your time management under control? Reach out to BetterUp for personalized coaching that will help you save time in no time.

Boost your productivity

Maximize your time and productivity with strategies from our expert coaches.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

8 time management skills to help reclaim your work-life balance

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How to Focus on Homework to Get It Done on Time

By Dr. Robert Gordon, CPC   |  05/16/2023

For many students, one of the most difficult parts of their academic journey is figuring out how to manage their time and stay focused. It isn't just a challenge for school students in modern education – many working professionals also struggle with successful time management!

Therefore, mastering time management skills as a student can not only benefit you during your academic pursuits, but also throughout your professional career. It's important for students to learn how to focus on homework so they're completing assignments on time and not rushing through the learning process.

Yet despite your best efforts and planning, there will likely come a time when you find yourself running out of time to complete homework assignments.

How to Focus on Homework When You're Almost Out of Time

Is your homework deadline fast approaching? Are you unsure how you're going to complete an assignment in time? If you find yourself in this situation, the first recommended action is to assess the remaining time before the homework is due.

Depending on how many hours you have before the deadline, you might still be able to focus on homework to complete it on time. I would recommend at least doing some work on your assignment to get it going.

If you decide to ask the instructor for an extension, there's no guarantee they'll grant it to you. If you don't receive an extension, you should try to submit something, even if it's incomplete. Any score is better than a zero or incomplete.

5 Steps to Help You Focus on Homework That's Due Soon

Here is some advice about how to complete homework when your time is limited.

Tip #1: Eliminate Distractions and Find a Creative Environment

Start by eliminating any distractions that might prevent you from being able to focus on homework. Turn off your phone or other media devices and do not visit distracting websites, like social media platforms or online gaming sites. These harmful distractions will only prevent you from being able to maintain your focus on homework.

Also, gather your study supplies and find a quiet study space where you can focus on homework without a lot of background noise. If you can't find a quiet place, consider playing white noise or calm music such as classical music from classical composers – whatever you prefer listening to that helps you maintain focus!

Such music or other calming sounds can help drown out loud conversations or other distractions. That elimination of distractions is particularly beneficial if you're working in public places like coffee shops or libraries.

As you prepare to focus for a long period of time, remember that you'll need to still take care of yourself and you likely won't be able to complete your homework in one sitting. The human brain needs sustenance and breaks, especially if you're staring at a computer screen for several hours.

Be sure to pack healthy snacks and a water bottle. If you start to feel tired, start to fall asleep, or find your mind wandering, take a short break to get fresh air and get your blood flowing. Eating healthy snacks can help keep you awake and allow your brain to focus on homework.

I recommend scheduling a break ahead of time so you have something to look forward to and maintain focus during allotted work times. Giving your brain and body a break periodically will help you feel awake and stay motivated in the long run so you can continue to focus on completing your homework.

Also, be sure to communicate your homework study plan to a family member or others around you. They are more likely to give you space and limit distractions if they know you are busy and need some quiet time to stay focused on getting your homework assignments done.

Tip #2: Divide a Homework Assignment into Manageable Tasks

Break your school assignment down into smaller tasks. Make a list of what needs to be done for that particular assignment, set priorities to focus on, and start at the top of your list.

Many times, a written project will require some library research. Preparing for a test might mean reviewing notes, flashcards, and course materials. A list of necessary tasks will help you stay organized, stay focused, and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Tip #3: Seek Out Assistance

When it comes to homework, you don't have to go it alone. Many universities provide online resources to help out. Online libraries may provide resource material or special learning tools that can help you expedite your research efforts and help you through the educational process.

Perhaps you can find a study buddy from your class to help you do your homework quicker or share study notes. Meeting in a group study room, for example, may help you stay accountable, minimize distractions, and, ultimately, stay focused on completing your schoolwork.

Most universities also provide tutoring services. Reaching out to a tutor assumes you have at least a day or two before turning in your assignment, so if you've got limited time it will likely be hard to schedule time with a tutor. However, if your instructor approves an extension for the assignment, working with a tutor can be an excellent part of your plan to complete your homework.

Leveraging these school resources and support can help you understand your assigned material better, maintain focus, and often complete work faster.

Tip #4: If You Are Granted an Extended Deadline, Stick with It

If your instructor agrees to extend your deadline and submit work late, adhere to that deadline. Set time aside to complete all the tasks for that one assignment and hold yourself accountable.

If you run behind on one task, you must work even harder to stay on track. Keeping to a task list, establishing a study routine, and having progressive deadlines will help you maintain focus and stay motivated.

Tip #5: Review and Edit Your Work Thoroughly

Be sure to carefully proofread and edit any written school assignments, especially if you’re running late. Checking over your work before submitting it makes you more likely to catch any errors or mistakes.

Many times, the best way to find errors is to read your paper aloud. Once you hear what you’ve written, your mistakes will be evident.

In addition, consider using a tool like Grammarly to help edit your work. You can also have someone else read the paper and offer comments. If there is enough time, a tutor can also be used to edit your class assignments.

Uh-Oh, Homework Is Due Soon: How to Ask for an Extension

If a homework assignment is due in mere hours, contact your instructor immediately to explain your situation and request more time.

But before you email, text, or call your instructor, take some time to do research and make a reasonable proposal. You should review your class syllabus or course materials regarding class assignment deadlines and late penalties.

Some universities have a policy not to accept homework turned in three to seven days after a deadline, so knowing the parameters of being late is critical for your request to the instructor. For example, if school policy does not allow an instructor to accept late work after three days, then it is not a good idea to propose turning in your work a week after the deadline.

When you contact your instructor, offer the instructor a new deadline for your work and ask about late penalties. Those late penalties are usually in the syllabus or course materials, but instructors often have some leeway in enforcing them. Getting an instructor’s agreement in writing will be helpful if anything goes wrong or if the instructor forgets the deal regarding the late schoolwork.

Be Sure to Tell Your Instructor Why Class Assignments Will Be Late

You should also explain the reason for your inability to complete the assignment. Always tell the truth, as karma has a way of catching up with people. There could be unusual circumstances or disruptions in your life, such as:

• Changes in work
• New military orders or work assignments
• Family problems
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Other life events

I would not recommend claiming that you do not understand the assignment as your excuse for being late. If you did not understand your class assignment, why are you waiting until hours before it is due to ask questions?

If you are in a situation where the deadline is very close, read the assignment a couple of times to ensure you understand it. If you have a question about your class assignment, you can ask your professor when you request an extension.

However, there's a good chance you may not get a response from them until after the assignment is due. In the future, read the assignment at the start of the week and ask a question about it then.

Granting Extensions Depend on the Instructor, But It's Worth Asking

As an instructor, I typically stick to what is stated in the syllabus or course materials when I’m choosing to impose penalties for late work. However, there are some cases where I am flexible. Getting an agreement in writing ensures you get what you expect, rather than having your instructor forget about the reason you’re late with your class assignments.  

The process of asking for an extension will be difficult, and there is no guarantee that your teacher will accept late work. Some classes and instructors are adamant about not accepting late work. I would still recommend asking before the deadline, as you might be successful.

By following the advice I have recommended, you can hopefully complete your schoolwork on time and avoid late submission penalties on homework assignments.

If you do need to ask your instructor for an extension, remember that they are not obligated to grant it to you. Be ready to accept the lost points and work harder on your remaining school assignments.

By making a few easy changes in your homework preparation and planning, you can hopefully avoid needing to rush through homework assignments or asking for an extension. Learning how to focus on homework assignments in advance may help you enjoy the learning process more and complete coursework on time.

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18 time management tips, strategies, and quick wins to get your best work done

Today, we’re constantly interrupted by tools, notifications, emails, social media—you name it. In our distraction economy, chaos has become the norm.

Time management templates can help you take back your time and bring more mindfulness into your daily routine. Instead of letting your to-do list dictate how you spend your time, you can use time management strategies to intentionally set your daily priorities and focus on the most relevant work.

There isn’t one right way to manage your time. In this article, we’ll cover 18 different tips, strategies, and quick wins to help you take back control of your tasks—and your time.

What is time management?

Time management is the practice of managing your work in order to ensure you’re spending your time as intentionally as possible. Time management can  increase productivity —but the biggest advantage of effective time management is the ability to better prioritize your day so you can make space for rest and self care.

The benefits of time management

Good time management strategies can help you organize and prioritize tasks so you can:

Feel like you have more time in your day.  When you’re intentional about where your time is going, you may find that you reduce unnecessary tasks, de-prioritize work that doesn’t need to get done today, and accomplish things in less time. You won’t literally have more time in your day—but you may find that you accomplish more in the same amount of time.

Establish boundaries between work and personal time.  Improving your time management isn’t about squeezing out every second of productivity you have at work. Rather, these strategies can help you get your most important work done—and identify what work can wait until tomorrow. By prioritizing the work that needs to get done today and clarifying what work you can defer to a later date, you’re also establishing boundaries between your work time and your personal time.

Reduce stress.  Without effective time management, it can feel like you never have enough time at work. You might feel like you’re running around and putting out fires—which can lead to increased stress and, ultimately, burnout. In fact, according to the  Anatomy of Work Index , 71% of knowledge workers reported feeling burnout at least once in 2020.

Improve productivity.  There are a variety of time management tips to help reduce procrastination and increase productivity. By identifying your main priorities for the day, you won’t just be more productive—you can also feel confident that you’re working on the right things each day.

Break bad habits.  No one wants to procrastinate. But over time, bad habits can pile up and get in the way of high-impact work. (Trust us, we’ve been there too.) Time management strategies can help you identify and break out of bad habits.

6 time management strategies to increase productivity

One of the easiest ways to build your time management skills is to incorporate a tried-and-true time management strategy into your daily routine. Time management strategies help you set time limits on work, tackle one task at a time, and schedule your day with more intention.

1. Timeboxing

Timeboxing  is a goal-oriented time management strategy where you complete work within “timeboxes.” This strategy is particularly effective if you aren’t sure how much time you’re spending on each task and want to approach your  to-do list  more intentionally.

Timeboxing helps you break down large tasks into smaller pieces, and then complete those pieces in a reasonable amount of time. Each task should have its own unique timebox that lasts no more than three hours. For example, if you need to write a blog post, you might create a two-hour timebox to write an outline. Then after taking a break, you can create another three hour timebox to begin the first draft. By breaking the work into smaller pieces, you can make steady progress towards your goal over the course of days or weeks.

2. Time blocking

Time blocking  is similar to timeboxing, but instead of scheduling specific time for each individual task, you’ll practice blocking off set periods of your calendar for related work. When you use time blocking to schedule your work, you’re effectively breaking the work week into discrete time slots where you can work on projects, communicate with coworkers, take a break, or even exercise. Time blocking can help you dedicate more time to flow and  deep work  by allowing you to focus without being interrupted.

To create a time block, start by figuring out your daily or weekly priorities. Then, group similar tasks so you can work on them in one time block. Finally, practice scheduling blocks of focus time on your calendar to help you stick to your time blocked schedule.

3. Pomodoro method

Similar to timeboxing and time blocking, the  Pomodoro method  helps you tackle work within short time frames and then take breaks between working sessions. The Pomodoro time management strategy is particularly helpful because it actively encourages regular breaks, which are good for intrinsic motivation —and good for your brain. In fact, research suggests that taking breaks makes people  more creative .

To use the Pomodoro method, you need a timer, a prioritized to-do list, and a “snooze” feature on your notifications. Start by setting your timer for 25 minutes, and try to spend that time exclusively working on a task—avoid checking your text messages or social media if possible. Then, once time is up, take a five minute break. Ideally, aim to do something physical during your break, like grabbing a snack or getting up to stretch—but it’s ok to check your devices or see if you got an important ping while you were focused on your task.

Repeat the process of working for 25 minutes and then taking a five minute break four times. Then, after the fourth working session, take a longer 20-30 minute break.

4. Eat the Frog

Mark Twain famously said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” The  Eat the Frog  time management strategy takes inspiration from this quote and encourages you to tackle big or complex tasks first before working on your less important or less urgent work. This strategy is particularly helpful if you split your days between regular, daily work and high-priority tasks.

With the Eat the Frog method, you can ensure you’re getting to your most important work every day. To get started with this time management strategy, make sure you’re tracking your work and priorities in a centralized tool. Look for a way to connect your  daily tasks to company goals . That way, you can better identify which tasks to prioritize every day, and make sure you get those to-dos done first. Then, once you’ve eaten your frog for the day, you can move on to the rest of your work.

5. Pareto principle

If eating a frog first thing in the morning doesn’t sound appetizing, you might prefer the Pareto time management strategy. The  Pareto principle  is the opposite of the Eat the Frog method—this strategy encourages you to get quick tasks out of the way, so you can feel more accomplished and motivated as you head into your day.

Often called the “80/20 rule,” the Pareto principle has one fundamental rule: you spend 20% of your time on 80% of your work. If you can get those 80% of your tasks out of the way in relatively quick order, you free up your workday to tackle the 20% of your work that will take 80% of your time.

6. Getting Things Done (GTD)

The  Getting Things Done  method was invented by David Allen in the early 2000s. According to Allen, the first step to getting things done is to write down everything you need to do. By freeing up brain power and instead relying on  task management tools , you can focus on taking action—and not remembering what you need to do.

To use the GTD method, capture all of your upcoming work in one place. Then once you’ve written down everything you need to do, sort and prioritize your work. For example, you might have work you no longer need to do (that goes in the “trash”), work you want to do eventually but not right now (that goes into a “later” project or folder), work that is dependent on other tasks, and so on. The tool should capture all the details—it’s your job to take action on them.

6 time management tips to get more done

You may or may not like using an established time management strategy to organize your work. Not every time management strategy is effective for every person—that’s why there are so many of them in the first place. Instead, try these six tips to build your time management skills.

1. Connect daily work to goals

Time management isn’t always about getting all of your work done—rather, it’s about identifying and prioritizing your most important work. In order to do that, you need to connect your day-to-day work to team or company goals so you can identify the most important tasks to tackle daily. But, according to a recent  survey of over 6,000 global knowledge workers , only 26% of employees say they have a very clear understanding of how their individual work relates to company goals.

The best way to coordinate work and priorities across all levels of your organization is with a  work management tool . With work management, you can connect daily work and team projects to company objectives, so your team members always understand how their work impacts company priorities.

To ensure we’re prioritizing the right work, we use OKRs to set quarterly goals that ladder up to bi-annual goals. On a weekly cadence, our team leads make sure that the work the team is doing ladders up to these goals.”

2. Prioritize and organize your work

Whether you like the Eat the Frog method or prefer the Getting Things Done approach, it’s critical to know which tasks are important. Inevitably, you’ll have a task that shifts in priority or a deadline that gets moved up or down. If you don’t have clarity on which work is more important, you won’t be able to adapt and prioritize the right work.

Why does prioritizing work matter? You might be familiar with burnout, which impacts a growing number of global employees every year. But what’s less documented is how unclear priorities contribute to burnout. According to the  Anatomy of Work Index , 29% of the knowledge workers who reported feeling burnout cited feeling overworked from a lack of clarity on tasks and roles as a contributing factor. Knowing which tasks to prioritiz

e can help reduce that feeling and increase confidence that you’re working on the right tasks every day.

3. Plan ahead at the end of each day

The workday often feels like a scramble because we’re already behind by the time we get started. If you’re the type of person who goes through emails every morning trying to figure out what to prioritize for the day, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there’s a better way.

Instead of trying to figure out what you should be doing in the morning, spend the last five minutes of each day preparing for the next one. This can increase motivation because you know exactly what you’re doing every day before you even log on. It’s also a valuable way to make sure you’re going to get your most important work done every day. Instead of reacting to an email or request at 4:30 in the afternoon, you can make sure to incorporate that important work into the next day’s schedule.

4. Say “no” or delegate

One advantage of clarifying your priorities is that you gain an understanding of what’s less of a priority as well. It’s not always easy to say “no” to work—but it helps when you can explain that you’re saying “no” because the work doesn’t align with your current priorities. Defining priorities for yourself—and sharing those priorities with your team members—can give everyone more clarity.

If the work has to get done, but still isn’t a priority for you, see if you can delegate it to another team member . Keep in mind—delegating doesn’t mean the task isn’t important, it just means the work isn’t in line with your current priorities. It could be that this work is more relevant for someone else’s expertise—and when you reassign it to them, you’re ensuring the work is done by the best person for the job.

A strategy we have put in place to make sure our team is efficient is to be clear around what you will and won't do as a team... Having clear visibility of your work makes decisions easier around what you will focus on and what you won't focus on. If you can be very clear around that it helps drive efficiency and clarity around what our teams need to be focusing on.”

5. Audit your tasks

Similar to saying “no” to work, take some time to look through tasks you committed to a while back and are still working on. Is there anything that’s currently on your plate that no longer aligns with your team’s goals?

When you find these tasks, ask yourself if this work needs to be done at all. If it’s no longer important to your team, consider putting the work on hold. If the task still needs to be done, ask yourself if you’re the best person for the job—and if not, go through the same delegation exercise to figure out who is.

6. Ditch handwritten to-dos—use a tool

If you’re still tracking your work by hand, it’s time to upgrade to an online tool. As satisfying as it can be to take notes manually, written  to-do lists  are disorganized, prone to mistakes, easy to lose, and ineffective.

Instead, make sure the majority of your project management is happening in a dedicated tool.  Project management tools  offer a variety of features that make it easier to get the most out of your time. With a project management tool you can:

Coordinate cross-functional work and track exactly who’s doing what by when.

Communicate about work, share feedback, and  report on project status  in one place.

Track progress in real time to accurately see where work stands.

See due dates and  dependencies so you can hit your goals without scrambling.

Plus, if you think there’s nothing quite like crossing a task off your written to-do list, wait until you see a herd of  celebration creatures  fly across your computer screen.

6 time management quick wins

The time management strategies and tips we outlined above are helpful—but they take some time to implement. Looking to get started in the next five minutes? Try these six quick wins to improve your time management right now.

1. Snooze notifications

We’re constantly bouncing between apps, notifications, and tasks. In fact, the average knowledge worker  switches between 10 apps  up to 25 times per day. That’s why it’s harder to focus on the task at hand and get into a good flow—which means work takes longer.

When you can, turn off your notifications or use “Do not Disturb” features to temporarily disable notifications. That way, you can dive into deep work—while also letting your team know you’ll be getting back to them later. Most tools show that you’re temporarily snoozed, so team members know not to expect a reply from you right away. If necessary, they can usually choose to override the feature, so you’re never too far out of reach.

To be most productive, I find it helpful to block off time between meetings when I intend to work on different projects, making sure to leave time for short breaks. I also find it helpful when I (and folks around me) update Slack statuses to “Heads down” so nobody expects an immediate response.”

2. Organize your physical space

Think back to how clean your desk was when you first set it up. You likely had a computer monitor and a keyboard, maybe a notepad, but probably not much else. If you’re anything like us, that clean desk didn’t last long. Over time, you’ve inevitably accumulated papers, boxes, books, sticky notes, and stray wires.

A messy desk might not seem like much, but visual clutter can influence mental clutter, and make it hard to focus. Take a quick five minute break to organize your desk. Throw away any papers that are no longer necessary, stack your books in a neat row, and coil any stray wires that might be lying around. Then, when you get back to work, you may find that it's easier to focus.

3. Group like tasks

Every time you switch between tasks, your brain has to find the relevant context and information for that new task and bring that knowledge to the forefront of your mind. Sure, it takes mere seconds for your brain to do that—but if you’re constantly switching between tasks and projects, that means you’re forcing your brain to work overtime.

This can lead to reduced productivity—not to mention increased exhaustion at the end of the day. So instead, try to group like tasks. See if you can work on all of your tasks for one project, or all tasks for the same deliverable, in the same time block. When you do, you’ll spend less time context-switching and more time focused on getting high-impact work done.

Working in batches, especially with planning, really helps you prioritize the work while still giving you the ability to be dynamic to what's happening or what may be coming.”

4. Work on quick tasks in between meetings or focus time

You likely have a few tasks every day that take five or 10 minutes to complete. These can be quick responses to a team member, fixing a typo on a document, or submitting a work request form to another coworker.

If you have this type of work, store it somewhere that’s front and center—like a project management tool—but don’t immediately work on it. Instead, save these tasks for those five minutes between meetings or 10 minutes immediately after lunch as you get back into the swing of things. Not only will you be able to quickly tackle this work—and feel good for doing it—they also won’t take up valuable mental energy that could be spent on more complex work.

5. Stop trying to multitask

Simply put, multitasking is a myth . While it might feel like you’re doing more than one thing at the same time, when you attempt to multitask you’re actually forcing your brain to quickly switch between tasks. Every time you switch between work, your brain needs to find the information and context for that task. Not only does this take more effort than simply focusing on one to-do, it also exhausts your brain.

Instead of multitasking, aim to work on one task at a time, so you can get into flow while working.  Flow state  happens when you’re so focused that you feel like you’re “in the zone.” When you get into flow, you’re able to get more work done more efficiently, since your brain is only focusing on one task at a time.

6. Take breaks

It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do to improve your time management is to take a break. We tend to react to feeling behind on work by just doing more of it, but your brain needs time to rest and recharge. If you’re overworked and burnt out—you won’t be able to get anything done, much less tackle your most important work.

If taking a break feels hard to do, you’re not alone. According to our research,  32% of knowledge workers  who feel burnout report not being able to switch off or disconnect as something that fuels their burnout. Because they can’t switch off, they get burnt out, and when they’re burnt out, they can’t switch off—it’s a never-ending cycle.

If you struggle to remember to take breaks, consider scheduling them into your calendar. Then when the break pops up on your calendar, force yourself to take it—even if you just stand up to stretch. Even though it might feel stressful to take that break, you’ll feel better once you do.

To help ensure you don't burn out while working remotely, find new ways in this digital world to separate yourself from your screen and to take the time that you need. Also, I highly recommend the one-minute dance party–just get up and move around.”

Take control of your time

Ultimately, time management is more of a state of mind than anything else. To effectively manage your time, prioritize your work so you know to work on each day. Instead of letting your to-do list dictate your priorities, focus your attention on your intention to really drive impact.

To get started, make sure you’re tracking work in a centralized tool. Ready to get started? Learn how Asana can help you  organize your tasks and hit your deliverables .

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., how to manage homework stress.

Feeling overwhelmed by your nightly homework grind? You’re not alone. Our Student Life in America survey results show that teens spend a third of their study time feeling worried, stressed, or stuck. If you’re spending close to four hours a night on your homework (the national average), that’s over an hour spent spent feeling panicky and still not getting your work done. Homework anxiety can become a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you’re already convinced that calculus is unconquerable, that anxiety can actually block your ability to learn the material.

Whether your anxiety is related to handling your workload (we know you’re getting more homework than ever!), mastering a particular subject like statistics, or getting great grades for your college application, stress doesn’t have to go hand-in-hand with studying .

In fact, a study by Stanford University School of Medicine and published in The Journal of Neuroscience shows that a student’s fear of math (and, yes, this fear is completely real and can be detectable in scans of the brain) can be eased by a one-on-one math tutoring program. At The Princeton Review this wasn’t news to us! Our online tutors are on-call 24/7 for students working on everything from AP Chemistry to Pre-Calc. Here’s a roundup of what our students have to say about managing homework stress by working one-one-one with our expert tutors .

1. Work the Best Way for YOU

From the way you decorate your room to the way you like to study, you have a style all your own:

"I cannot thank Christopher enough! I felt so anxious and stressed trying to work on my personal statement, and he made every effort to help me realize my strengths and focus on writing in a way that honored my personality. I wanted to give up, but he was patient with me and it made the difference."

"[My] tutor was 1000000000000% great . . . He made me feel important and fixed all of my mistakes and adapted to my learning style . . . I have so much confidence for my midterms that I was so stressed out about."

"I liked how the tutor asked me how was I starting the problem and allowed me to share what I was doing and what I had. The tutor was able to guide me from there and break down the steps and I got the answer all on my own and the tutor double checked it... saved me from tears and stress."

2. Study Smarter, Not Harder

If you’ve read the chapter in your history textbook twice and aren’t retaining the material, don’t assume the third time will be the charm. Our tutors will help you break the pattern, and learn ways to study more efficiently:

"[My] tutor has given me an easier, less stressful way of seeing math problems. It is like my eyes have opened up."

"I was so lost in this part of math but within minutes the tutor had me at ease and I get it now. I wasn't even with her maybe 30 minutes or so, and she helped me figure out what I have been stressing over for the past almost two days."

"I can not stress how helpful it is to have a live tutor available. Math was never and still isn't my favorite subject, but I know I need to take it. Being able to talk to someone and have them walk you through the steps on how to solve a problem is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulder."

3. Get Help in a Pinch

Because sometimes you need a hand RIGHT NOW:

"I was lost and stressed because I have a test tomorrow and did not understand the problems. I fully get it now!"

"My tutor was great. I was freaking out and stressed out about the entire assignment, but she really helped me to pull it together. I am excited to turn my paper in tomorrow."

"This was so helpful to have a live person to validate my understanding of the formulas I need to use before actually submitting my homework and getting it incorrect. My stress level reduced greatly with a project deadline due date."

4. Benefit from a Calming Presence

From PhDs and Ivy Leaguers to doctors and teachers, our tutors are experts in their fields, and they know how to keep your anxiety at bay:

"I really like that the tutors are real people and some of them help lighten the stress by making jokes or having quirky/witty things to say. That helps when you think you're messing up! Gives you a reprieve from your brain jumbling everything together!"

"He seemed understanding and empathetic to my situation. That means a lot to a new student who is under stress."

"She was very thorough in explaining her suggestions as well as asking questions and leaving the changes up to me, which I really appreciated. She was very encouraging and motivating which helped with keeping me positive about my paper and knowing that I am not alone in my struggles. She definitely eased my worries and stress. She was wonderful!"

5. Practice Makes Perfect

The Stanford study shows that repeated exposure to math problems through one-on-one tutoring helped students relieve their math anxiety (the authors’ analogy was how a fear of spiders can be treated with repeated exposure to spiders in a safe environment). Find a tutor you love, and come back to keep practicing:

"Love this site once again. It’s so helpful and this is the first time in years when I don’t stress about my frustration with HW because I know this site will always be here to help me."

"I've been using this service since I was in seventh grade and now I am a Freshman in High School. School has just started and I am already using this site again! :) This site is so dependable. I love it so much and it’s a lot easier than having an actual teacher sitting there hovering over you, waiting for you to finish the problem."

"I can always rely on this site to help me when I'm confused, and it always makes me feel more confident in the work I'm doing in school."

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Homework: Helping Students Manage their Time

Two simple strategies for guiding students to improve a crucial skill.

This is the second of two parts. Part one can be found here: Is Homework Helpful?: The 5 Questions Every Teacher Should Ask .

Teachers assign work each and every day, either in class or for homework. That is the easy part. Put it on the board, tell students to copy it down, and move on to the next item on the day’s agenda. But why don’t teachers help students figure out how much time to allot to assignments? How do students know if an assignment should take 10 minutes or 40?

It is a blind spot in my own teaching. I never realized until lately that I wasn’t supporting students with time management skills. I wasn’t developing their ability to assess an assignment and correctly evaluate how much time it should take. 

Why is this important? With good time management, students know how much time they have, how long it will take to get assignments done, and what they can accomplish in the time they have. This gives them more breathing room, which reduces the feeling of being rushed, which in turn leads to less frustration and stress.

Here are two ways to support students in understanding time management.

Do the assignment yourself.  See how long it takes you to complete the work. Then remember, you are the expert with this material. Ask yourself, how long would it take for a proficient student to complete it? What about students with disabilities, what might hinder their progress? Then provide students with a range of times. If you believe an assignment should take 15-25 minutes, let them know. The benefit of this is that it allows students to plan better. They can situate homework in the context of their entire day. A student may get home from school at 3:30 and has soccer practice at 5pm. He now knows that he can complete your homework in any 25-minute window between the end of the school day and the start of practice. The downside to this is that some students may lose confidence and doubt themselves if an assignment takes much longer than you suggested. 

Rate the assignment.  Classify assignments into three categories with time frames for each so that students know what type it is and how long it should take to complete. Here are three ways that I categorize assignments:

Quick checks:  These assignments are measuring sticks of understanding and they are short and sweet. I expect students to spend 20-50 seconds on each question on these types of assignments. A 20-question quick check should take 6-10 minutes.  

Thorough Responses:  When you want answer with more substance and more development, I look for thorough responses. These types of assignments are different than quick checks because I expect students to spend 2-4 minutes per question. Thorough responses typically have fewer questions consequently.Thorough response assignments take my students 20-35 minutes.

Sustained Thought:  When students must access new material, when there is challenging reading, or when they must chew on ideas before they formulate responses,  students can expect to spend 30-40 minutes to complete an assignment. 

This piece was originally submitted to our community forums by a reader. Due to audience interest, we’ve preserved it. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own.

How My Homework Helped Me With Time Management

Students often find themselves struggling with time management as they get older. This article will explore how homework can help students learn to be more responsible for their time, organize their workloads, and plan their days better.

Table of Contents

Introduction

As a student, you probably know the importance of time management. After all, there are only so many hours in a day, and you must use them wisely. Homework can help you to develop good time management skills.

When you have homework, you must plan your time carefully to complete it. This means you have to be very organized and efficient with your time. You can’t just start working on your homework whenever you feel like it; you need to sit down and figure out when and how long you will work on it. This can be tricky, especially if you have other commitments like sports or extracurricular activities.

However, managing your time and completing your homework efficiently will free up more time for other things. And, as a bonus, your grades will probably improve too! So, doing homework can be helpful if you’re struggling with time management.

What is Time Management?

Time management is the ability to use your time wisely to accomplish more daily. It involves setting priorities and ensuring you use your time wisely by first working on the most critical tasks.

Homework can help you with time management because it forces you to prioritize your work and use your time efficiently. If you have a lot of homework, you need to be able to figure out what is most important and work on that first. This can be an excellent skill to practice to learn how to manage your time better.

In addition, homework can help you learn how to budget your time. You may have limited time to complete your homework, so you must be careful about how you spend that time. This can teach you how to be more efficient with your time, which is a valuable skill.

How Homework Helps with Time Management

Homework can help students learn essential time management skills in academic and real-world settings. By teaching students how to budget their time and break down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, homework can help them develop the time management skills they need to succeed in school and their future careers.

In addition to learning essential time management skills, homework can help students develop other vital skills such as organization, prioritization, and task completion. These skills are often transferable to other areas of life, allowing students to better manage their time inside and outside the classroom.

While some students may find homework a burden, when used correctly, it can be an invaluable tool for helping them develop the time management skills they need to succeed.

Tips to Improve Your Time Management Skills

If you struggle to complete your homework on time, it may be time to start thinking about improving your time management skills. Here are a few tips that can help:

1. Make a list of all the tasks you must complete, including homework and other commitments. This will help you to see exactly what needs to be done and plan your time accordingly.

2. Try to set aside a specific time each day for homework. This will ensure you have enough time to focus on and complete the task correctly.

3. If possible, break up your homework into smaller tasks that can be completed over time. This can make the overall job seem less daunting and make it easier to stay on track.

4. Use any spare moments during the day to work on your homework. Even if it’s just for 5 minutes, every little bit helps!

5. Seek help from others if you find the task challenging. Sometimes another person’s perspective can help get the job done efficiently.

My Personal Experience

I remember when I was first assigned homework in school. I thought it was the most pointless thing ever. Why did I have to do more work when I was already doing it all day at school? But as I got older and my workload increased, I started to see the value in homework. It taught me how to manage my time better and get work done even when I didn’t feel like it.

Now that I’m in college, managing my time is more critical than ever. There’s a lot on my plate with classes, extracurriculars, and a part-time job. But I can juggle everything without feeling overwhelmed because of the skills I learned from doing homework.

Homework may not have been fun when I was younger, but it’s helped me in the long run. If you’re struggling with time management, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your parents or teachers. They’ve been through it before and can offer some valuable advice.

Overall, doing my homework helped me improve my time management. By juggling different assignments and deadlines, I was forced to learn how to prioritize and use my time more efficiently. This skill has been incredibly helpful in school and my personal life. If you’re struggling with time management, I recommend trying homework!

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Homework at BASIS Charter Schools: Why We Value Homework

Homework plays an important role at BASIS Charter Schools. Since our curriculum is more advanced than traditional public schools, homework is essential for making sure students are understanding key concepts and keeping up with the material taught in class.

Learn more about the positive effects of homework and what to expect when you enroll your child at BASIS Charter Schools.

Why do BASIS Charter Schools assign homework?

Reinforcement of key concepts.

BASIS Charter Schools follow a spiraled curriculum that revisits key concepts and ideas with greater depth and complexity as students get older. Homework is a great way to help students master these concepts and prepare for future lessons.

“Through practice and repetition, students will be able to better retain the information,”  says Timothy Blickenstaff, Director of BASIS Charter School Curriculum Company. “This lays a strong foundation for students as the class moves on to more complex concepts.”

Time management skills

Time management is an essential skill that will benefit students throughout their education. Homework strengthens time management skills by teaching students how to prioritize tasks, plan ahead for upcoming assignments and meet deadlines. If students master these skills from a young age, they will have an easier time with homework once they reach the more rigorous middle school and high school years.

BASIS provides all students with a daily planner called a Communication Journal to make it easier for students to stay on top of their assignments. “We keep track of all of our homework in our Communication Journal, so it’s really easy to make sure we don’t miss anything,” says Alex R., grade 4 student at BASIS Tucson Primary.

Responsibility and independence

Research published in the Journal of Advanced Academics shows that students’ self-regulation skills and motivation correlates positively with completing homework.

By tackling assignments without direct teacher supervision, students take ownership of their learning. This boosts their confidence and helps them become more engaged in the classroom.

Maya S., grade 6 student at BASIS Ahwatukee, says that independent practice helps her feel more prepared going into exams. “Homework gives us a chance to try things on our own before we have a test or quiz, which can be really helpful.”

Real-time feedback for teachers

At BASIS Charter Schools, teachers use insights from their students’ homework to adjust and improve their lesson plans. If a teacher notices that a significant number of students are struggling with a concept, they can revisit and clarify this topic together in class.

Starting in grade 4, we use a curriculum called SPORK Math to facilitate real-time feedback for teachers. SPORK Math is delivered through tablets. As students complete their homework, they can mark problems they are struggling with. Teachers receive this information in real time and can come to class the next day with a lesson prepared to address those concepts.

“Homework allows me to see exactly which areas students are struggling with,” says Lily Treptow, Math Teacher at BASIS Mesa. “I can immediately reteach those lessons and make sure students are ready for the next unit.”

Preparation for college

A study from IZA – Institute of Labor Economics found that the more time students spend on homework, the more likely they are to attend college. This may be because homework, particularly larger projects like essays or research assignments, prepares students for the demands of college.

At BASIS Charter Schools, we make sure our students are comfortable with independent study and research. Our high school seniors even spend an entire 10 weeks completing an off-campus research project ! We want to ensure that all our students have a smooth transition from high school to college.

How much homework do students receive at BASIS Charter Schools?

At every grade level, we use homework to reinforce key concepts taught during the school day, establish good time management, and hone organizational skills. The amount of homework assigned to your student gradually increases each grade level:

• Kindergarten: Approximately 15–30 minutes per night.
• Grades 1–2: Approximately 35–40 minutes per night.
• Grades 3–4: Approximately 45–55 minutes per night.
• Grades 5–7: Approximately 60–90 minutes per night.
• Grades 8–12: Approximately 2–3 hours per night.

We do our best to assign homework that is meaningful and purposeful. “Homework is used to reinforce concepts taught in the classroom,” says Dania Gold, Regional Director of BASIS Charter Schools. “Your student will never come home with something that wasn’t covered at school.”

How do BASIS Charter Schools support students who are not used to completing homework?

We understand that students who are new to BASIS may not have had the same homework expectations at their old school. Each of our schools has a Student Affairs team that provides comprehensive academic support to students. They work with students on organization, time management, note taking, and other skills that drive academic success. Additionally, our teachers hold regular Student Hours before and after school to meet with students who need extra support on an assignments.

Every BASIS Charter School campus offers an after-school program called Late Bird, which is designed to assist parents whose schedules do not align with the end of the school day. Late Bird is an excellent opportunity for students to get ahead on their homework. During Late Bird, we keep designated areas of the school quiet to maximize our students’ study time.

Unlock your child’s potential at BASIS Charter Schools

Are you ready for a school that challenges and inspires your child? At BASIS Charter Schools, we spark a love of learning through our accelerated, STEM-based curriculum.  Our students achieve excellent academic outcomes and gain entry into some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities.

Find a BASIS Charter School near you and schedule a tour for a first-hand look at what makes our schools so unique.

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