If you have ever thought to yourself ‘I don’t have enough time’ or that your workload is taking over your free time?
Here we discuss how to increase the efficiency of your work and how to find a balance between social life and work life.
We also have a free timetable template that is available to download so you can manage your own time.
Why a timetable is essential for time management:
When you get home in the evening after a long hard day, the least you want to be worrying about is the workload that’s due tomorrow.
By setting a timetable, it takes away the stress and worry of ‘When will it get done?’ and allows you to relax without panicking about due dates. It can ensure you that the work will get done, with no chance to forget about it and miss important deadlines.
Setting a timetable also ensures you have a balanced and consistent workload so you don’t spend 5 hours working one evening and 15 minutes on the next.
A timetable can also help prevent some peoples worst habit, procrastination. I find myself guilty of this and even some of the most successful people fall guilty of this.
Though a timetable will not stop procrastination, by planning exact times to do your tasks and having hourly sections you are more likely to complete the task now instead of tomorrow and can decrease the amount of time being wasted.
A timetable can allow you to incorporate time for work, but also time for breaks. It is a bad idea to set a large workload but give yourself no breaks when doing the work. This can be very inefficient and is generally not a good work or revision method.
Therefore, having a timetable will allow you to plan when a break within the workload will suit you best. It could be used to watch your favourite show, to walk your pet, to meet a friend or to listen to some music.
Setting realistic goals:
It is easy to set large goals and unrealistic expectations for yourself. However, what can be a lot more efficient is setting small achievable targets instead of looking at the end goal.
This can be a lot more encouraging and motivating by completing small targets instead of slowly making progress to one big goal and becoming demotivated or bored.
For example: On Monday ‘I will write an
introduction’ and then on Tuesday ‘I will draft section 1’. This works better instead of setting the goal ‘I will write my essay within one week’.
Not only does this make the task more manageable, but it sets detailed structure to your tasks so you maintain direction and focus.
Just remember, we aren’t robots. We are not capable of pushing ourselves 100% for long periods of time. Working is done best in short burst with breaks in between.
How to balance social life and work life:
Managing your personal life and work can be a really hard mix and often results in neglecting one or the other. To stop work getting on top of your personal life and causing stress, you can create a simple timetable which allows you to have a good balance between work and fun.
Though we are constantly expressed with the importance of completing your workload, it is equally important to find time each day to socialise and spend time with your family or friends.
It is also important to have your own time to
do the things that you enjoy! Hobbies and interests are great and can bring lots of happiness and reduce stress levels, especially those hobbies that are physical.
Self-care and love are also important to everyone and with increasing awareness of mental health, we must focus on what makes us happy. Discovering new hobbies such as: reading, a weekly-cycle ride, walking your dog or learning a new instrument are great ways to improve your mental health.
Timetables would be a good way to schedule these hobbies in without over-focusing on work and neglecting yourself.
The importance of breaks:
Having frequent short breaks is seriously underestimated, they are essential for completing work efficiently. Though it may seem ironic for a time management blog to emphasise the importance of breaks, it can actually save a lot of time in the long run.
By having no breaks at all, you will originally save time. However, your productivity will decrease and it may take you longer to do the task than if you were to have small breaks.
We strongly advise for every 30 minutes
working, to have a 5-minute break and to work in no more than 1-hour sections. This way you have maximum productivity when working and you will feel more motivated and ready to do the task.
Imagine the breaks like a recharge period: Your brain and body are recharging while you are resting, then once that ‘recharge period’ is over you can carry on with your work and give it 100% again.
Having a break is scientifically proven to reduce any emotional exhaustion which can occur. Therefore, it increases the likelihood of you being able to work more productively, efficiently and happily when achieving your goals.
How to make your timetable:
Down below is a link you can download for your own timetable that we have designed. You can print it out and have a fully customisable timetable that can suit your needs when revising/working.
The first things to fill in would be any scheduled events that are definite such as: any clubs, jobs, meal times. The grey area on the template are times when you are at either school or work.
Afterwards, you can set an hour every day for any homework that is due, and if you have already completed all your work you can use that hour to review notes you have written that day or revise any other knowledge.
Then set time in for your work and revision for specific subjects. Depending what stage you are at will depend how much revision you will do weekly, you could do the amount that your school recommends or the amount that feels right.
Make sure to leave time each day for ‘relax sessions’ and hobbies where you can do whatever you feel like for that hour and have your own time.
Here is an example of a structured timetable and a fully planned week.
Click the link below to download the timetable template:
https://studentslifeblog.wixsite.com/blog/timetable