Time Management

Papers, projects, finals, part time jobs, and extracurricular activities, so many things to do and not enough hours in a day. Time management is the procedure one takes to organize and divide time between specific activities. An important part of high school is how one’s time is divided.

According to Jennifer Hatfield, a helpful way to reduce the stress of many demands is to figure out a time and a place when you, the student, are most productive. Another key remedy in reducing poor time management is to set a goal on what is important and what ultimately is not.

“I manage my time by getting home and doing my chores and homework first before I do anything else. It has been helpful because then the rest of the night I don’t have to worry about it,” says Julia Armstrong, freshman.

Beneficial ways to reduce the anxiety over poor time management consist of getting as much work done in class as possible and setting a goal to complete all homework before going to sleep. Having a quiet place to work and study on homework is a vital necessity to avoid delaying or putting it off until the last minute, thus leading into procrastination.

The things that help create procrastination are bad habits of studying, distractions, and being flat out overwhelmed. Bad habits of studying include of putting the hardest and longest assignments off until the very end. By the very end of all of this hard work, the student has the least amount of energy and isn’t going to put forth their best effort. This will lead into having a restless night and freaking out about there not being enough time in a day.  

“I wish that I would have managed all of the work that I have done better,” says Zach Miller, junior.

Smartphones are a main cause for a distraction for both an adult and a high school student. Some students are able to switch their attention between their phone as an entertainment device and as a learning tool, but for the vast majority, a phone’s academic potential is completely ignored. Using a device for learning purposes requires that they synthesize information and stay focused on the lesson being explained. A goal when using a smartphone is to set up a time when the phone can and cannot be used. So a helpful tip is when doing homework, if internet is not needed, put the phone in a different room and encourage yourself to not get it until the assignments are completed.

“Personally I would say logging out of social media or even having a friend hide your phone could help. Maybe even just shut down your phone until you have studied for however long,” said Taylor Clary, sophomore.