By Mary Segers
Finding time to study is critical to success in college. But you didn't need me to tell you that did you? I think that's probably the number one complaint of students... especially nontraditional students who have a family and job vying for the same time slots.
This article is going to help you find more time to study with better home time management.
First, it's important that you understand 3 things:
- Activities can be classified as unnecessary or necessary
- Stop wasting time on the unnecessary ones
- Save time doing the necessary ones
1.) Unnecessary or necessary
A big problem that keeps students from studying as much as they need to is that they don't separate unnecessary activities from the necessary ones. Or, even if they are somewhat conscious that they need to, the balance of activities is way off, i.e., they do 1 necessary to 3 unnecessary activities.
Necessary activities include spending time with your spouse and kids, cooking meals, cleaning, and studying.
Unnecessary ones include watching TV, checking email, chatting with friends, and surfing the net.
2.) Stop wasting time on the unnecessary ones
It's absolutely amazing how much time we can just piddle away. When I was a smoker I smoked a pack and a half per day. One day, just out of the blue, I decided to figure out how much time I spent just on the act of smoking. Now, I didn't smoke in the house so I'd just take a quick smoke break out on one of the porches with a book so it was an actual break from whatever I was doing.
I did the calculations, did them again, asked someone to double-check me, and then finally accepted the numbers.
Are you ready for this? I wasted 5 hours per day on smoke breaks (a 10 minute break for each one).
Yeah, I'd call that a vast amount of time.
I began making flash cards or creating study sheets and when I'd take a cigarette break I'd study that for the 10 minutes. It gave me a break from whatever else I was studying and gave me plenty of extra time studying that.
You could also use those flash cards or study sheet when you're stuck in traffic, waiting at the doctor's office, in line at the grocery store, waiting for the pasta water to boil... you get the idea.
Even someone who smokes the average one pack a day could get back 3.3 hours of study time. (Or, better yet quit... like I eventually did.)
Not that I ever really cared for TV but, as far as that huge time-waster is concerned, I pretty much quit watching any show not recorded. For those that were recorded I could then watch them when I made the time available.
3.) Save time doing the necessary ones
For those things you can't quit doing, in order to find more time to study, you simply must use better home time management in order to save time doing them.
Plan the week ahead and include your spouse and kids in those plans. Create menus based on your family's tastes and time available, and create a cleaning routine that fits your family, your time available, and your tolerance level.
Follow these suggestions and you'll find you have lots more time to study.
If you're desperate to find more time to study then check out my program guaranteed to save you hours of time on those necessary activities of Time Management in the Home. You'll be able to get better meals... ones your family will love... a better kept home, and STILL more time for studying. Also, visit my website... Mary Segers for a brief synopsis of my available programs ranging from single mp3's covering a specific topic such as menus, cooking, or housecleaning, to bundled programs focusing on different aspects such as home or relationships, to group coaching programs. A ton of help is available there.
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