Time Flies ... Out the Window, If You're Not Careful!

Time management strategies for students
As your student gets in the "school groove," learning to work smartly and efficiently is a key to her success. Consider discussing time management strategies with her, such as the following ...

Beware That Stuff Steals Time
It's so true. When you have too much stuff in your living space, you spend more time looking for things. By doing a "stuff purge," your student will be better able to get to things quickly while staying more organized.

Decompress Your Mind
A stressed, overactive mind is not as time efficient as a calm, collected one is. So, whether your student uses breathing techniques, exercise or other stress management tools, it's important to make them a natural part of her everyday life. Not only will her time usage be more efficient, her body and mind will also be healthier!

Don't Over Schedule
There comes a time in some students' schedules where they just can't fit anything else in. So, learning to say "no" is important. It's much better to be realistic than trying to be all things to all people. The latter is bound to disappoint someone and to overwhelm your student.

Use the In-between Times
That 45-minute chunk of time between a class and a meeting can be used wisely instead of wasted. That's several pages of reading for a class, studying for a quiz or buying a birthday card at the bookstore, writing it and mailing it out (or finding an e-card that'll serve the same purpose). Those in-between times add up quickly!

Avoid Weekend Reliance
During the busy weekday it's easy to say, "I'll get to that over the weekend." However, weekends often get full, plus it's important for students to give themselves some down time, too. So, encourage your student to not rely on weekends as his time to get most things done. Instead, he can dose it out over the weekdays, for maximum efficiency.

Time Stealers
Random texting, chatting endlessly due to unlimited cell phone minutes, spending hours on video games or Facebook ... all are Time Stealers. Ask your student if this is how he wants to be spending his precious free time.