Mentor Letter: Time Management

A continuously developing skill and challenge for most people is ‘Time Management’. We often wish that a day had more than 24 hours. Managing time allows you to complete everything you need to get done, within a set amount of time.

Earlier this year, Tanya van de Water, a clinic psychologist, shared some time management tips with the Brainline students during an online session. Sleep is important for all aspects of life – we all need sleep to function optimally. We should generally aim for 8 hours of sleep every day, although this can differ between individuals. During different stages of life, we might sleep more or sleep less. If we put aside 8 hours for sleep, we have 16 hours left.

Attending school, homeschooling or work take up the majority of one’s day. This usually fills about 8 hours a day and these hours can be split into shorter time slots. By scheduling your time, you will be able to see if you are overworking or perhaps, not spending enough time on your schoolwork.

This means you now have 8 hours left in the day and, remember, you have not yet spent any time on your basic needs. Basic needs include cleaning, eating, travelling between activities, chores, shopping etc. One can easily see that one can spend about 4 hours a day for basic needs. 

Now you only have 4 hours left in the day and these are for fun and relaxation! This could include exercise, socializing, hobbies, extra mural activities etc. 

Some further tips to improve your time management:

• Have a schedule – know when you need to do what. Write down deadlines and important dates.
• Prioritise your to-do-list
• Write down your long-term and short-term goals
• Use reminders – if you need to remember important dates – for example task/test dates – put reminders on your phone calendar 

As we all know, there is never enough time when working on tasks or preparing for tests or exams. To use your time most effectively while studying, try to implement the following:

• Switch off your phone for tasks that take longer than 30 minutes
• If you are working on a computer, do not open more than one tab
• Study on a full stomach and have water close by

Hopefully, these tips will improve your time management – and remember a little bit of progress each day will build up to great results.