By Raisa Chowdhury
For high school kids, learning to manage their time in a practical way can be really difficult. At this age, we all feel like doing extra activities other than just school work. But the amount of homework school gives us sometimes stops us from doing other things that we love. Trust me, I go through this problem too. Sometimes, I like to play sports with my friends after school. Sometimes I want to go shopping or somewhere else with my family. But then I think about the possibility of my grades slowly getting worse and just give up these plans.
I sometimes wonder how other students manage it. I know some students who come to school at 7 am, then don’t return home until almost 8 pm, yet still get the best grades! Maybe they know something that we don’t know! Nevertheless, every high school student has to figure out how to prioritize their daily obligations. With only 24 hours in each day, and half of that needed for sleeping, eating meals, and travelling to various destinations, making time to do everything we need and want to do can seem almost impossible. This article may not solve all your time-management issues, but there is no time like the present to start thinking about the most efficient way to organize and accomplish the important tasks in your life.
There are a lot of areas where people need more efficient ways to organize their time. Doing housework for parents or caring for other family members is one of them. In my case, no matter how busy you are, you should never forget your family. I know sometimes it’s hard to manage, but think about the things your parents did for you even when they were busy. If they can set aside time for you, I am pretty sure you can make time for them. If I know that I have any plans with my family, I try to finish all my work the day before no matter how tired I am, because I know if I save work until the last minute, I will never have free time to enjoy the family moments.
Arranging to participate in extracurricular activities (lessons or sports) is another area where people need more special ways to manage their time. I know we all love sports. We love it so much that we want to play it every day. But everything we want is not always possible to get. However, it doesn’t mean we should give up on extracurricular activities. What I would do in this case is play sports on those days where I don’t have to worry about anything else. Friday is the only day that really works for me, because that’s the only day when I don’t have to worry about going home early to do other chores. I believe all of us have at least one day in each week where you don’t have to worry about lots of other stuff.
Lastly, I would say that time flies or drags depending on what you’re doing. Everything really depends on you. The best thing you can do is make a schedule. For example, since I like to play sports after school, I decided to do it every Friday since that’s the only day when I don’t have to worry about going home early. Going on different websites and searching for “time management tips” won’t help everyone. All of our lives are different. We have to come up with our own solutions after examining the amount of work we have. The best thing I can say is, you should never put too much pressure on yourself, because the bottom line is that all that extra worry can cause you so much stress that you mess up your schedule and make your life even more complicated than ever.
Well, I hope these suggestions have given you some ideas. If you are a RamPage reader and have your own unique strategy for time management that I did not mention, send a letter to our editor and maybe your suggestion will appear in next month’s issue!