The Great Impacts of Time Management by Isaac
Isaac's entry into Varsity Tutor's February 2023 scholarship contest
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The Great Impacts of Time Management by Isaac - February 2023 Scholarship Essay
An incredible number of students fail to meet their educational goals every year because they lack the ability to manage their time effectively. A student who cannot complete deadlines, or procrastinates incessantly, is doomed to fail in all of their academic endeavors as they choose to wait until it is convenient to complete their tasks. On the other hand, a student who prioritizes effectively and plans their study sessions and homework time is setting themselves up for success. This kind of effective time management creates the largest impact on a student’s education.
The ability to create an effective schedule for a student is somewhat complicated, but it has massive benefits. The student must understand how they learn most efficiently and how their work ethic will influence their amount of free time. Strong time management skills require deep self awareness and a strong sense of responsibility in order to use them to their full extent. However, if a student is able to manage a schedule effectively, they will accomplish their goals with greater ease, retain information on a deeper level, and have more time to do what they enjoy, giving them a more fulfilling experience.
Time management drastically increases the ease with which a student is able to complete assignments and study. Constructing a schedule for oneself allows a student to choose from their empty time when to work, when to study, when to practice, and when to relax. The convenience of choosing when to work ahead of time gives a student the ability to dedicate the necessary time to their assignments, account for mistakes or sudden deadline changes, and space out studying ahead of time. The predetermined schedule that effective time management lets students create is what lets them accomplish goals with greater ease.
Effective time management also gives students the ability to learn their material on a deeper level. As mentioned before, time management allows students to space out their studying by staggering their study time with their work and relaxation. This employs the use of a common psychology tactic called the Spacing Effect, which states that studying is deeper and more effective when done multiple times in smaller sessions. Because effective time management allows for this spaced studying instead of midnight cram sessions, it allows students to retain information on a deeper level.
The final and arguably most important reason why time management is the most impactful on a student’s education is that it lets students plan their sleep and relaxation ahead of time, protecting their mental health. When a student doesn’t manage their time well, they inevitably procrastinate on their work and ignore it until the last possible moment, resulting in shoddy work, late submissions, and often, hours of missed sleep. The stress of impending deadlines(and the knowledge that one is ignoring said deadlines) have awful effects on students’ mental health. This stress, when combined with sleep loss, prevents students from paying attention in class or focusing on the work that they’re already behind on, which snowballs into even more severe issues as they fall further and further behind. The simplest fix is to create a schedule and adhere to it so that one doesn’t lag behind in the first place, preventing an infinite number of future headaches.
The importance of time management is something that too many students ignore, causing unnecessary stress and ruining an otherwise strong academic career. It only takes a bit of dedication and accountability to construct and follow a schedule, and all of the extra time left on their hands will far outweigh the few minutes that it took to plan their day out.