Module 5: Time Management | CyberLearningGurus

Module 5:

time

management

Author: Catherine Aves, Cyber Learning Guru Contributor.

Date: August 11, 2020

time management tips

TIME MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS

Time management for online students is especially challenging since we are surrounded by so many distractions at our homes. There is your television where you can watch movies or TV series, your phone where you can browse through your social media, and even your bed that feels like it’s pulling you to sleep.

But hey, you can still succeed at online learning and enjoy leisure time with these tips on how to manage your time!

Make a list of your tasks

Listing down your tasks is important so that you won’t miss any important things you need to do. Of course, this isn’t limited to your school tasks. Include in this list your other responsibilities such as house chores.

You can do this by writing it down in your planner or typing it in your gadget’s memo.

Create your plan

Creating a plan means you have to set deadlines for your tasks, but also, it can show you if you have free time to spend for leisure activities. This will help you visualize how to complete your tasks, and at the same time, balance out your workload with rest.

Keeping a daily to-do list will help you create plans for each day. Check off each item you accomplish so you could monitor which tasks you have already accomplished. This will help lessen the stress you feel every time you check off an item off your list.

Set a reward system for yourself

Setting a reward for after you accomplish your tasks will motivate you to finish these on or even before your deadline. Seeing all the workload you have can just build up stress and anxiety. That’s why having a reward to look forward to will help you look beyond your tasks.

This reward can be of any form, may it be that delicious food you’ve been craving to eat, that next episode of the series you’ve been watching, or a time to bond and catch-up with your friends and family.

List the things that you do during your free time

Leisure time or free time is definitely fun and relaxing, and it’s something to look forward to. But it’s called free time for a reason. Free time means the spare time you have after accomplishing your important tasks.

Making a list of the activities you do in your free time will help you evaluate how much time you spend on it. If you notice that it takes up too much of your time, try reducing it then add it up for your important tasks.

Follow your plaN

There might be some distractions that may block you from finishing your tasks. But don’t be fooled! This will only lead to cramming and more stress if you keep on delaying your tasks.

It’s best to follow through your plan of accomplishing your tasks and enjoy your leisure time without any worry!

TIME MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS

Our phones are almost inseparable from us nowadays. This is usually the greatest source of distraction that delays us from accomplishing our tasks. However, with the right applications, it could help us to stay focused with our tasks.

Take advantage of these helpful applications for your time management!

forest

Forest is a productivity application that helps you focus on your work and avoid being distracted by other applications on your gadget.

The concept of this application is that you will plant a tree that will grow for a time that you set. The time you will set will be the time you spend on your task. Leaving the application during the plant’s growth will cause it to die. It has personally helped me to stay focused and feel rewarded once the tree has grown fully!

(Android: Free, IOS: P99)

This application is a combination of the Pomodoro Technique, a time management technique that uses a timer to break down work into intervals (25 minutes each) and separate it with short breaks, and a To-Do list feature for task management.

It’s an effective application that will help you stay focused on your work but still remind you to take breaks to avoid burnout and regain energy.

(Android & IOS: Free)

focus-to-do:

pomodoro timer & to-do list

Rescue Time

Rescue Time is an application that helps you monitor where and how you spend your time. It sends weekly reports to your notifications which indicate how you spent your time. This will make it easier for you to improve your time usage so that you could accomplish your tasks more efficiently.

(Android & IOS: Free)

Evernote

Evernote is a productivity tool wherein you can store information in many ways such as notes, voice recordings, lists, ideas, and meetings. The information stored can also be shared with others. This application will help you become more organized, an important skill that contributes to time management. Using this will allow you to access the information you need easier.

(Android & IOS: Free)

REMEMBER TO TAKE BREAKS!

The thing you should avoid experiencing is burnout, the chronic exhaustion that is caused by stress and work overload that leads to unproductivity and health deterioration. This is why taking breaks is crucially important while accomplishing tasks. Remember that it’s more important to take care of yourself and your mental health.

A Pioneering Sleep Researcher, Nathan Kleitman, discovered the “Basic Rest-Activity Cycle” wherein he observed that our bodies operate in a 90-minute rhythm, not only when we are asleep, but also when we’re awake. Other researchers call this the “Ultradian Rhythm”. This means that after a 90-minute operation of our body, our alertness moves to a lower level, and our body will send clear signals such as loss of focus, drowsiness, and hunger when it needs rest.

It is therefore recommended to take 10-15-minute breaks after a 90-minute working period. This will allow your body to renew your energy, which will prevent you from experiencing Burnout. So don’t forget to take a break, listen to your what your body is telling you, and allow yourself to rest for a while. By doing this, your body will thank you for taking care of it, and also, it will definitely improve your productivity!

Here's a video that explains the importance of Ultradian Rhythms in productivity

A crash course that discusses Burnout and how to avoid it.

BEAT PROCRASTINATION

Just thinking about how much assignments we are about to do can cause demotivation in us, so you might think of delaying your task and waiting for the mood to do it, and then you end up procrastinating everything a few hours or minutes before your deadline. Sounds familiar right? Well, most, if not all, students face the challenge of battling procrastination. You want to finish your tasks, but you just can’t seem to find the motivation to do so. So how can we successfully defeat the urge to procrastinate?

Well, let’s discuss some tips that could help you beat procrastination!

Identify the reason why you are procrastinating

Knowing why you are procrastinating will allow you to understand what steps to take to get yourself moving. Maybe it’s because you are overwhelmed by how much tasks you need to do? Or is it because you don’t have enough motivation to do it? Or maybe, you’re just too busy with other responsibilities as well?

Once you have identified the reason of your procrastination, try to think of what will help you shift your focus towards the positive and motivating thoughts. Try applying the next tips and see if it might get you to start working.

Break down your tasks into segments

It’s easy to lose motivation when we are overwhelmed with the number of tasks. However, there’s nothing you can do to reduce this number. So, let’s try another way to solve the problem, that is, by breaking down your tasks. Plan out how much of your tasks you will do each day, but make sure it’s an amount of tasks you can manage. By doing this, you will feel less overwhelmed by your tasks. Plus, you can create better outputs of your work, and not submit something that is obviously rushed, as you will have more time to think about its quality.

Move the due date closer in your mind

This is an effective technique to avoid cramming near the deadline. Plan out your tasks with a deadline earlier than what was set. This will lessen your stress knowing that you will finish your task before the actual deadline. It will also allot more time for you to recheck your task before submitting it to check if any changes are needed to be done and ensure that it’s error-free.

Create your personalized study ambiance that is distraction-free

Each one of us has our own preference on where and how we can comfortably but effectively study. Maybe you can set the mood by having a study music playlist or cleaning your study table and make it organized. Whichever ambiance makes you feel motivated, you do you! Just make sure the ambiance isn’t too comfortable that you might slack off and sleep. Remember, the goal is to motivate you to study, so avoid putting anything that might cause distraction near you.

Begin immediately

The more time you spend thinking about how you will finish that mountainous workload, the more precious time you are wasting doing nothing. So why not start it immediately? Even if it’s just writing down your ideas, or finding inspirations for your task, what’s important is you start your work. The earlier you start, the earlier you will finish, which means more time will be added for your leisure time!

YOU CAN SUCCEED IN ONLINE LEARNING

Adjusting to online learning will definitely have a few bumps. You may find that the way you manage your time before doesn’t fit your current situation. That’s why you need to evaluate your routine and make changes as needed. But don’t worry, with proper planning, organization, focus, patience, and self-discipline, you’ll get the hang of it as you get used to online learning.

Time management is a skill that will be useful, not only to your student life, but also in your future careers. It’s an important life skill for the bigger and heavier tasks and challenges that await us in adulthood. Your future self will thank you for acquiring this skill during your academic years.

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references:

image references:

O´Donovan, K. (2020, August 06). 18 Best Time Management Apps and Tools (2020 Updated). Retrieved August 10, 2020, from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/top-15-time-management-apps-and-tools.html

Thibodeaux, W. (2017, January 27). Why Working in 90-Minute Intervals Is Powerful for Your Body and Job, According to Science. Retrieved August 10, 2020, from https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/why-working-in-90-minute-intervals-is-powerful-for-your-body-and-job-according-t.html

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. (n.d.). How Can I Manage My Time? Retrieved August 10, 2020, from jw.org: https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/teenagers/ask/manage-my-time-how/

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. (n.d.). How Can I Stop Procrastinating? Retrieved August 10, 2020, from jw.org: https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/teenagers/ask/stop-procrastinating/

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. (n.d.). How Can I Succeed at Distance Learning? Retrieved August 10, 2020, from jw.org: https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/teenagers/ask/distance-learning/