Have you ever panicked on a weekend night because you forgot to finish the project due the following day? Or did you miscalculate the time required to finish homework, resulting in late-night homework sessions? While these experiences can seem exclusive to you, they are far more common than you can imagine. We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, positioned among the best schools in Gurgaon, routinely hold discussions with students to identify areas where they need help and guidance. After many such discussions, we found that, except for a few, almost every student struggles with time management.
It leaves them feeling anxious, exhausted, and clueless. While there are various reasons why students fail to manage their time effectively, we’ve found that procrastination, distraction, time miscalculation, and inability to prioritize tasks are the biggest roadblocks. If you feel your child also struggles to manage time, this blog post is for you and your kid. We’ve handpicked here the best time management tips to help get the work done. The tips shared herein will help your child juggle their homework, projects, and test preparations with immense ease and efficiency. So, let’s explore the tips shared below.
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The ‘Energy Mapping’ Method
Every child has different energy patterns. Hence, we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok would like to recommend keeping track of one’s own energy patterns before getting started with this technique. For instance, we have noticed that while some children are super productive right after lunch, some have the tendency to begin feeling sleepy after finishing their lunch. Likewise, while some are more active and focused during the early morning, some get more work done during the evenings.
It all depends on the person’s energy levels at different times of the day. The ‘energy mapping’ task is about matching your tasks to your natural energy levels throughout the day. For instance, if you feel your child is the most active during a particular time, reserve it for the most complex or challenging projects and test preparations.
Low effort or simple tasks can be assigned to periods when the energy is medium to low. By scheduling the work based on one’s body’s natural rhythm, it becomes easier to finish all the tasks efficiently without feeling exhausted.
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The ‘Time Blocking Tetris’ Technique
Remember Tetris, the puzzle-based video game where you had to move different-shaped tiles to form complete lines? If you have played this game, you’ll have fun following this technique. To get started, teach your child to visualize their entire day’s schedule as a Tetris game, where each block represents a task. Now, the key idea is to arrange these blocks in a way that fits their schedule for the day.
You can help your kids use a digital planner with colorful block elements or get them a scrapbook with colorful sticky notes to manually create the Tetris. Once the tool is chosen for this technique, you can help your kids start planning their day by placing these blocks into specific time slots. The aim should be to create a solid, gap-free schedule. This simple time management technique will prevent overscheduling for the day, allowing your kids to finish all the assigned tasks as per the schedule.
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The ‘5-Minute Rule’ to Beat Procrastination
We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok believe that this is one of the best techniques to beat procrastination and get work done, even when you don’t feel like working. So, whether your kids dislike doing math homework or creating elaborative history projects, you can always ask them to tune into the 5-minute rule. This technique tricks the brain into action mode by getting one started.
To follow this technique, notice the tasks that your kids resist or delay doing for any reason. Whenever they sit to do a challenging task, ask them to convince themselves to do it for only five minutes. Since the hardest part is getting started, this trick eventually pushes the mind into the flow state, and the person no longer resists working.
For instance, when you start tidying your room, you typically don’t stop before the work gets done. The same rule applies while doing homework, projects, and test preparations as well.
Ask your child to set a timer for five minutes before sitting for their homework or any other task and start working. Once the timer stops, ask them to choose whether to continue working or stop. Most of the time, you’ll find them in the ‘flow’ state and would want to continue. We recommend this technique for tackling subjects they usually put off. You’ll be surprised by the results.
Conclusion
Knowing how to manage time and get things done fast is the best way to cruise the entire academic journey. While we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, one of the top schools in Gurgaon, firmly believe all kids are hardworking, most just don’t know how to approach busy schedules. It not only hampers their academic progress but also tames their self-confidence. Hence, if you feel your child often faces challenges while handling multiple project deadlines, homework, test preparations, etc., we recommend sharpening their time management skills.
You can start by implementing the tips and techniques discussed in this blog post for visible improvements. However, start with only ‘one’ technique at a time and follow it for a week to decide whether it is working for your kids. If the technique doesn’t align well, switch to the other mentioned techniques. However, regardless of the time management technique you choose, remember to remain patient for lasting results.