Study Skills for Higher Education: Time Management Strategies

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Study Skills for Higher Education
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Assignment 1...................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
Nowadays, time management has become the biggest issue in an individual’s life. It is the
process of managing time and completing works within scheduled or given time. It is important
for students who are attending their school or college and performing part time jobs as well. In
this study, it will be analysed how an individual will manage their time in order to maintain their
balance in study and work. Further discussions will be made based on important of time
management in helping students to design plans for their study. Some obstacles will be identified
to understand how time management cannot be maintained.
Assignment 1
Discuss the benefits of effective time management and how it can help in the design of an
appropriate plan of study?
The process by which the organising and planning of time division for performing specific
activities is termed as Time Management (Kirillov et al., 2015). In order to work smarter rather
than work harder, time management is the key to perform that. It enables to get more outcomes
within less amount of time even when there is shortage of time or high pressure. However,
failing in time management often leads to damage in effectiveness and will eventually cause
stress.
The major benefit of time management is it makes an individual disciplined and punctual. In
order to be punctual and disciplined, one must perform their tasks when it is to be done. They
must build a “TASK PLAN” or a “TO DO LIST” during the start of a day. It will help them to
keep focus on their tasks and the time to complete these. The Task Plan shows a way to
individual about how to complete their work within time, which eventually leads to maximum
output. Another benefit of time management is that an individual can finish their work within a
particular period. Performing this, one can make themselves popular among the crowd. They
became the inspiration for the others and centre of attraction everywhere. Performing effective
time management helps an individual to finish their work within specific time, which eventually
leads to maximise an individual’s output. It also leads to make their time for other activities,
which will reduce stress and keep them fit physically and mentally.
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Setting a short-term goal will help the students to focus on the current hurdles and how to
overcome them. For students, the main aim is to score high marks. They have to gather their
results of previous tests and identify their problems, set solutions of those problems and work on
them. Students have to manage their time effectively for performing assignments because they
found very difficult to complete their studies including assignments. Consulting with the mentors
or counsellors will help them to do it. They must create a term calendar consists of the
assignments given and their submission date, time of the tests, all types of school and extra-
curricular activities. Students must find a suitable place for their study, where nothing should
distract them. Individuals must schedule all their activities after their school works.
For long-term goals, the individuals have to cross the hurdles, which will come in the way of
meeting the goal, set by students about what they want to become in the future. Without having a
long-term goal, a person could not find a way about what to do in their life. Thus, it is important
for everyone to have a long-term goal.
Evaluate the obstacles pertaining to effective time management
Managing time for all works is not an easy task. Dedication, habits principles and skills are
required for managing and utilising time (Heller and Cassady, 2017). However, there are some
barriers that create problems to maintain effective time management, which are discussed below.
Sometimes, students cannot understand how much time they should give to a particular task.
Interruptions are the biggest enemy of time management (Macan et al., 1990). There are many
things for interruptions such as unscheduled visits, phone calls and so on. These things easily
distract students. Another barrier student face for effective time management is their lack of
giving priority and importance to tasks. If students will not understand the priority of different
tasks, they may miss deadlines..
The common glitch face by students for effective time management is delaying of their tasks.
They do not understand that by delaying tasks they are also delaying their next task. Students are
unable to make plan for compensating the previous task. Another common problem student face
is fear of completing their tasks within time. Excessive thinking leads to loss of time, which
creates fear within them and it also, consume a lot of energy of brain. Students could not say no
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to all tasks, which often lead to bunch of incomplete task. Having too many works at a time will
have less allotted time of every work. Therefore, they could not complete tasks in time.
Lack of proper task distribution also affects the effective time management. It is based on the
urgency of the task, which student cannot maintain properly. Therefore, they are unable to focus
on the particular work; thus hampering the time. Another common mistake, which comes from
the overconfidence of a student, is multitasking. Students think that they can do many tasks at a
time. It leads consuming more time for completion for which quality of the task also goes down.
Working continuously and not taking breaks is also a common mistake that student perform.
They forget to take breaks, which hamper their brains to work properly. Thus, students take more
time on a particular task.
Conclusion
From the study, we can conclude that time management is the key factor for getting a work done
within time. It makes an individual disciplined and organised. Students should maintain “Task
Plan” or “To Do List” for keeping their focus. Due to effective time management, an individual
can complete their tasks within time. Thus, becoming an inspiration for the others and centre of
attraction. It also keeps them physically and mentally fit. Setting short-term and long-term goals
will help students to focus on the steps for achieving their goal. Barriers such as lack of giving
priority and importance to a task, interruption, not taking any breaks and so on hamper the
effective time management. Students must solve those barriers for ensure effective time
management.
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Bibliography
Cottrell, S., 2019. The study skills handbook. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Heller, M.L. and Cassady, J.C., 2017. The impact of perceived barriers, academic anxiety, and
resource management strategies on achievement in first-year community college
students. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 29(1), pp.9-32.
Hochanadel, A. and Finamore, D., 2015. Fixed and growth mindset in education and how grit
helps students persist in the face of adversity. Journal of International Education
Research, 11(1), pp.47-50.
Huda, M., Sabani, N., Shahrill, M., Jasmi, K.A., Basiron, B. and Mustari, M.I., 2017.
Empowering learning culture as student identity construction in higher education. In Student
Culture and Identity in Higher Education (pp. 160-179). IGI Global.
Kirillov, A.V., Tanatova, D.K., Vinichenko, M.V. and Makushkin, S.A., 2015. Theory and
practice of time-management in education. Asian Social Science, 11(19), p.193.
Macan, T.H., Shahani, C., Dipboye, R.L. and Phillips, A.P., 1990. College students' time
management: Correlations with academic performance and stress. Journal of educational
psychology, 82(4), p.760.
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