5 answers
Irene
Student
Paterson, New Jersey
2
Questions
Asked
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What are some tips to manage time in highschool
I have trouble multi-tasking so I'm wondering what is the best way to manage my time in high school.
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5 answers
Chirayu Rupani
Data Analyst
295
Answers
Frisco, Texas
Updated
Chirayu’s Answer
Make a schedule and plan out your day, including classes, homework, extracurricular activities, and free time. Prioritize tasks and focus on the most important tasks first and tackle them during your most productive hours. Take breaks and schedule short breaks between tasks to rest your mind and avoid burnout. Eliminate distractions and find a quiet study space, turn off your phone, and avoid social media during study time. Stay organized and use a planner or calendar to keep track of deadlines and upcoming assignments.
Maria Salazar
Business Administration
5
Answers
Far Hills, New Jersey
Updated
Maria’s Answer
I would suggest you look back at what are the responsibilities you have at school, home, work and extracurricular activities. Some tips that can help you include:
- Review your class work deliverables, if known add them to a calendar on the specific due date
- Review when you have work due and allocate time in advance, block your calendar to allocate time to study, complete homework or projects
- Block times needed for extracurricular activities as well so that you see the impact those can have in your school work. Determine if there will be challenges on certain weeks and prioritize the tasks you need to complete ahead of your extracurricular activities
- Delegate if possible, if you are encountering challenges with doing certain tasks at home ask for help. If you are responsible for doing certain home tasks, discuss with your family your work load and see where they can help you (it is important they see you are being proactive in planning and communicate ahead of time so that it is not seen as not wanting to do home related tasks
- If you are into sports or other extracurricular activities, reach out to your coaches or leads to let them know in advance if there will be challenges with your schedule and if you need to prioritize school work
- Review your class work deliverables, if known add them to a calendar on the specific due date
- Review when you have work due and allocate time in advance, block your calendar to allocate time to study, complete homework or projects
- Block times needed for extracurricular activities as well so that you see the impact those can have in your school work. Determine if there will be challenges on certain weeks and prioritize the tasks you need to complete ahead of your extracurricular activities
- Delegate if possible, if you are encountering challenges with doing certain tasks at home ask for help. If you are responsible for doing certain home tasks, discuss with your family your work load and see where they can help you (it is important they see you are being proactive in planning and communicate ahead of time so that it is not seen as not wanting to do home related tasks
- If you are into sports or other extracurricular activities, reach out to your coaches or leads to let them know in advance if there will be challenges with your schedule and if you need to prioritize school work
Elliott Star
Data Science and Machine Learning
6
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Elliott’s Answer
Hey Irene,
One of the best ways to manage time in high school is actually embedded in your question; if multi-tasking is something you don't feel super comfortable with, don't try to do it! It's been a few years since I was in HS (ok, maybe a bit more than a few), but from what I remember there's not actually an unfathomable amount of work in an individual area, it's really the build up of work and time commitments across many areas that makes it feel infinite. In situations like this, one of the best approaches from my experience was to try to time box my various activities so that during that block of time I only had to focus on one thing, and nothing else mattered. You'll likely find that when your attention isn't being pulled in a ton of directions, and you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, you'll discover it's actually not 'that' insurmountable a set of work to get done. And, like Atul answered earlier, trying to avoid as many distractions as you can during those "focus" blocks is especially key!
For example, here's what an entry from my planner could've looked like on a random day (wouldn't recommend copying this, just as an example)
8-3 Classes
3-4:30 Sports Practice
4:30-5:30 Shower/Clean-up/take bus home
5:30 - 6:15 Math homework
6:15-7 Dinner
7 - 7:15 Text with Friends (on a flip phone!!!)
7:15 - 8 History reading
8 - 8:15 Ice Cream snack
8:15 - 9 Write part of english essay
9 - 9:30 Foreign Language study
9:30-1030 Relax
10:30 Go to sleep
Looks like it's pretty crazy, but it really only is 3.5 hours of school-stuff after the school day ends, with a whole bunch of time built in for sports (or other activities), texting/talking with friends, eating, and other relaxation.
The only other thing I'd add is that while high school is indeed a great time to get better at time management, don't expect to become an expert at it! People spent decades of their life after high school trying to get good at time management, so it's crazy to think you'd master the practice while you're also trying to still be a kid and learn. Give yourself the freedom to try and fail (I once tried to study for a foreign language exam only by playing tapes of it as I slept, would not recommend!) and don't get too hung up on being amazing off the bat. Even a little bit of discipline and focus will go a really long way to helping you while you're in HS, and is a great foundation to build on going forward for the rest of your life!
Good luck!
Try writing out a time-boxed schedule even for just 1 or 2 days a week, and try to stick to it as best you can.
One of the best ways to manage time in high school is actually embedded in your question; if multi-tasking is something you don't feel super comfortable with, don't try to do it! It's been a few years since I was in HS (ok, maybe a bit more than a few), but from what I remember there's not actually an unfathomable amount of work in an individual area, it's really the build up of work and time commitments across many areas that makes it feel infinite. In situations like this, one of the best approaches from my experience was to try to time box my various activities so that during that block of time I only had to focus on one thing, and nothing else mattered. You'll likely find that when your attention isn't being pulled in a ton of directions, and you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, you'll discover it's actually not 'that' insurmountable a set of work to get done. And, like Atul answered earlier, trying to avoid as many distractions as you can during those "focus" blocks is especially key!
For example, here's what an entry from my planner could've looked like on a random day (wouldn't recommend copying this, just as an example)
8-3 Classes
3-4:30 Sports Practice
4:30-5:30 Shower/Clean-up/take bus home
5:30 - 6:15 Math homework
6:15-7 Dinner
7 - 7:15 Text with Friends (on a flip phone!!!)
7:15 - 8 History reading
8 - 8:15 Ice Cream snack
8:15 - 9 Write part of english essay
9 - 9:30 Foreign Language study
9:30-1030 Relax
10:30 Go to sleep
Looks like it's pretty crazy, but it really only is 3.5 hours of school-stuff after the school day ends, with a whole bunch of time built in for sports (or other activities), texting/talking with friends, eating, and other relaxation.
The only other thing I'd add is that while high school is indeed a great time to get better at time management, don't expect to become an expert at it! People spent decades of their life after high school trying to get good at time management, so it's crazy to think you'd master the practice while you're also trying to still be a kid and learn. Give yourself the freedom to try and fail (I once tried to study for a foreign language exam only by playing tapes of it as I slept, would not recommend!) and don't get too hung up on being amazing off the bat. Even a little bit of discipline and focus will go a really long way to helping you while you're in HS, and is a great foundation to build on going forward for the rest of your life!
Good luck!
Elliott recommends the following next steps:
Atul Bhankharia
Sales
456
Answers
Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Updated
Atul’s Answer
Prioritize your work. Put them in 3 buckets:
1) must be done asap
2) need to get it done and
3) finish 1) and 2) before theses tasks.
Remained focus on completing 1) before doing any other task.
Avoid distractions of social media, emails, phones to complete 1) and 2).
Finally, only you can defines theses tasks in the priority order. If you fail do not blame anyone(teachers, parents, friends) else but yourself.
1) must be done asap
2) need to get it done and
3) finish 1) and 2) before theses tasks.
Remained focus on completing 1) before doing any other task.
Avoid distractions of social media, emails, phones to complete 1) and 2).
Finally, only you can defines theses tasks in the priority order. If you fail do not blame anyone(teachers, parents, friends) else but yourself.
Scott Dunne
Consulting
21
Answers
Syracuse, New York
Updated
Scott’s Answer
Learn to backwards plan. This is as much of a time management hack as it is a life skill. Instead of just estimating how much time you will need for a project, break it down into steps from end to beginning and assign times. For example, lets say you need to be at school at 9AM. Most people would say 'just get up at 8, that gives you time', but thats not backwards planning.
To be at school at 9 you need to:
Walk 15 minutes to school (Leave by 845)
Eat breakfast (15 minutes, that takes you back to 830)
Get dressed (20 minutes) (That takes you back to 8:10)
Shower, brush teeth (20 minutes) (that takes you back to 7:50)
This is a really basic example, but you can see how it really can help when scheduling out things such as how long you need to write a paper or how much time a project will really take.
To be at school at 9 you need to:
Walk 15 minutes to school (Leave by 845)
Eat breakfast (15 minutes, that takes you back to 830)
Get dressed (20 minutes) (That takes you back to 8:10)
Shower, brush teeth (20 minutes) (that takes you back to 7:50)
This is a really basic example, but you can see how it really can help when scheduling out things such as how long you need to write a paper or how much time a project will really take.