Time Management Tips for Online Students
6 MINUTE READ • SELF-HELP
Time management is one of those difficult skills to build but can set you up for a lifetime of success. For online students, both things are doubly true. Time management can become your greatest nemesis without the support of a traditional classroom or someone standing over you telling you when to complete your work. But if you can unlock the key to your own productivity and truly manage your time successfully, you’ll find yourself flying through your classes and graduating faster than your peers. We’ve collected some of the best time management tips that will help you find success in online learning.
Discover Your Productivity Peak
When you first start out with online learning, your motivation will be at an all-time high. You’ll most likely be hungry to complete lessons whenever and wherever you can. Use this time to learn more about yourself. You’re no longer confined to the typical school day, so pay attention to when you are able to complete the most work in the shortest amount of time. Are you most productive and focused first thing in the morning? Or do you power through lessons at the speed of light during twilight?
You can easily find out the answers to these questions by tracking the time you start studying, the length of time you spend completing lessons, and how many lessons you complete in a sitting. After a week or two (or 10-15 study sessions), you should have some reliable data to look at. You might be surprised by what you find out!
Work in Sprints
Working in sprints means dedicating a certain amount of dedicated, focused time to your work. Various studies have shown different optimal working times, but discovering your productivity peak may lead you to understand better what your ideal sprint looks like. Typically, these sprints are somewhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours in length, depending on your attention span, ability to sit still, and how focused you are. Setting a timer can be hugely helpful, as it will reduce your willingness to be distracted and signify when the sprint is over, so you don’t burn yourself out.
The most important element of working in sprints is taking a break after. This is a time for your brain to rest and recharge, for you to respond to your physical needs (bathroom break, anyone?), and to allow the time and space for those distractions you’ve been itching for. As a word of caution, though - your breaks shouldn’t totally derail you.
Write Everything Down
Our brains are miraculous things, but they are not fail-safe memory banks. And by treating them as such, we actually reduce our efficacy. Like a browser with too many tabs open can slow your computer down, trying to keep everything in your head slows you down just trying to keep up with it all. That’s why it’s so important to write everything down.
Feeling stressed by all the things on your to-do list? Write it down. Learning a lot of new material in a difficult class? Write down notes! These are skills that will set you up for success and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
Stop Multitasking!
Got a million things to do at once? Ignore the temptation to try to do multiple things at once. Splitting your attention makes you less effective, slows you down, and oftentimes means you will need to duplicate your efforts to be successful.
Don’t believe us? Try this simple exercise: divide a piece of paper into three columns. In the first column, write a number 1; in the second column, write the letter “A”; in the third column, write the roman numeral 1. Going from left to right, write the subsequent numbers and letters and time yourself to see how long it takes to complete 15 rows of each. Once you’re done, take out another sheet of paper and divide it up the same way, except this time, complete it top to bottom (completing 15 rows of the numbers, then the letters, then the roman numerals), and time yourself again. Which did you complete faster? Most people will complete the second task much quicker because they are dedicating themselves to a single thing at a time.
Following these simple rules won’t magically make you a better student, but they will help you to be more efficient and reduce the amount of time you need to spend reviewing content. At Grad Solutions, we are all about working smarter, not harder, and practicing good time management is one of the smartest things you can do as a student!