السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
ربي اشرح لي صدري و يسر لي أمري واحلل عقدة من لساني يفقه قولي
ربي زدني علما وارزقني فهما
Everyone and anyone who made history had the same 24-hour period we do today. What made them different from us? Effective Time Management!
As students, our daily schedules are crammed with school, part-time jobs, household chores, catching up with our favorite TV shows or games, being swamped with home works and assignments, and almost always, we feel like we’re constantly struggling to catch hold of time.
The following list of tips can help you prioritize and organize your time better!
- Manage study time to 25 minutes or 40-50 minutes. Research shows that our brain needs decent 20 minute breaks to rejuvenate itself and boost creativity. If sitting 40-50 minutes is too much, you can always go for the Pomodoro technique, i.e., 25 minutes of learning with short ten minute intervals of break time!
- If you feel unmotivated, set yourself a 2 minute timer and tell yourself to focus for just that time. It is highly likely that you will continue working/studying once the 2 minutes are up.
- If you have a concept you haven’t understood, speak to your teacher right away! You need those doubts clarified or they’ll drag you down in the long run!
- Turn off notifications! Your mobile, pc, tablet, etc etc any electronic gadget that goes ‘ping’ needs to be turned off during study time! Or you will be focusing on that instead of your notes! Electronic gadgets need to be put away or turned off until you finish studying.
- Monitor social media time. Keep a track of how long you spend on social media platforms and slowly cut it back to perhaps 10-15 minutes a day.
- Use a long password. A password that is 20 characters long will help you be more conscious about the time you spend on your gadget, and hopefully the 20-character password should also help you reconsider using the phone out of the sheer laziness of inputting 20 characters! XD
- Create schedules for each day. Organize according to priority what you can get done for the day. Set realistic goals and meet them.
- Give yourself a 10-minute reflection time in the weekends! Think about the week gone and what went well and what didn’t. Organize accordingly.
- Finish assignments and homework before their due!
- Saying no is ok! Learn to say no to things that aren’t aligned to your priorities.
- Find out when you’re most productive and do the most difficult task then! Some people are better suited to study in the early hours of the morning! While others find it better to study at night!
- De-clutter your study table! Any magazines, souvenirs, toys, etc need to go!
- Sleep at least 8-hours every night! Lack of sleep affects memory, concentration, mood, and basically overall health. One might argue that 8-hours are impossible (what with being a student and all) but if you have followed everything listed here, you won’t have a problem.
- Prepare for class everyday! Get a head-start about the class you’re going to attend the next day, take a 15-minute revision to study your notes from the previous class.
- Make notes in your calendars to remind yourself of upcoming tests or exams! This way you’ll be able to plan your way and study effectively!
- Don’t skip classes! Sure the teacher or the material may be boring but resist the temptation to skip! You do not want to pile up more work for you! The teacher will highlight the key concepts so you can always know what to prepare for!
- Still unmotivated? Change your study environment! Visit your local library or a café and see if you can boost your creativity.
- Put a clock on your study table! That’s right! A proper clock! You need to monitor and be aware of the time! And no, do not use your phone as an excuse to look at the time!
- Multitasking much? Its gotta go! People who are multitasking tend to procrastinate the most. Ironic, isn’t it? If you are a multitasker though, tell yourself to focus on one task at a time and then move to the next one!
- Eat healthy and exercise! No doubt a healthy diet and daily exercise will keep your body and mind healthy and going.
- Set a fixed time to stop ALL work! If you fix 9 p.m. as your stop time, make sure to have completed all your activities before that! If you give yourself deadlines, you’ll be able to manage your time more effectively.
- Spend quality time with family and motivated people! Chances are you will become more like them!
- Review information you have learned within 24-hours! This is a simple trick to keep information stored in your long-term memory! This will also help you identify concepts that you haven’t understood, and therefore enable to focus on them more!
- Last but not the least; remember you are accountable for the time you spend here! Our beloved Prophet (SAW) said about time in Hadith: “There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) health and free time for doing good” (Bukhari). Allah swears by time in Surah Asr! As Muslims, we are aware that anything Allah swears by is of great significance!
So my dear readers manage your time effectively!
REFERENCES
https://productivemuslim.com/concept-of-time-in-quran-part1/
http://www.quranreading.com/blog/importance-of-time-in-islam-from-quran-and-sunnah/#
https://www.fastcompany.com/3035605/the-exact-amount-of-time-you-should-work-every-day
https://www.daniel-wong.com/2017/07/17/time-management-tips-for-students/
بارك الله فيكم
وجزاكم الله خيرا
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت استغفرك و أتوب إليك
والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Written by: Shafia Jameel
TEAM IR
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