Making Time in Your Schedule for Study
Sometimes the busy student finds it hard to find time to study for his classes. Oh, it’s not that you don’t want to study. But between family stuff and extracurricular activities and maybe even a part-time job–how do you find the time? By having a plan, that’s how. Here are some suggestions that will help you to find time :
1. Set your priorities, and put them in writing. If you don’t have a concrete reminder that studying takes precedent over things like going to the mall or the movies, then something will always crowd out study time. You should live your life off a “to do” list, with all of your important week’s tasks listed on it. And studying should always be one of the top items.
2. Delegate some chores to someone else. If you look at your schedule this week and think that there’s no time for studying, because you have laundry to do on Monday, grocery shopping on Tuesday, someone to take to the doctor on Wednesday, and so on, then see if you can find someone else to do one or two of those chores. Pay them if you have to. Remember, your “to do” list is the most important, and studying should be one of the most important items on that list.
3. Study with a classmate. Sometimes when you just have no motivation to study, you’ll find excuses why you can’t. However, when you have someone else who is scheduled to study with you, you’ll suddenly find that you’re able to squeeze studying into your schedule after all.
4. Take your material with you. You’ll be amazed at how many times you can study for a few minutes, if you’ll just look for the opportunity. For instance, riding on the bus, sitting in a waiting room, waiting in the car while someone finishes their shopping, etc.
5. Make an “audio book” of the materials that you’ve been studying. That is, perhaps you can just tape yourself reading the textbook or your class notes. Then, as you’re doing other things, listen to the tape in the background.
6. Pay attention in class! It’s amazing how much of the material for a test that you can grasp if you just pay attention, and take good notes. In some cases, this could literally cut your study time in half.
7. Finally, don’t forget to take time to relax. This is actually important for your school performance. People who constantly work are in danger of burning out. You need some free time to keep your mind refreshed and to ensure that you do your best on your school work.
There’s no way to completely eliminate the need to spend quality time studying. And there’s no denying that how much time you study often reflects in your grade. However, if you follow these suggestions, you can be more efficient with your study time–and hopefully find that you have time for your course work after all!
About the Author
Brian is a writer and web developer living in Victoria BC. He has a BA in Economics and an MA in Psychology. Brian has written and published widely on education, testing, psychology and popular culture. 