Effective Time Management: Maximising Study Time for Each Subject
- Divine
- May 20, 2024
- 3 min read
It's time to study for that exam, but it may seem like you don't have enough time and you're starting to panic. Here's how to effectively manage your time to maximise studying for each subject.
First things first, break the studying process into three steps: learning the content, testing yourself and practicing. How you decide to do this for each subject may vary. Instead of keeping these processes explicitly on separate days, you could choose to test yourself everyday before revising the content or make it an entirely separate process. The key is finding what works for you even if that happens to be revising, then testing yourself then practising each on separate days. Remember that the time for each process will vary with the subject.
For example, essay-based subjects often require more revision of the content while mathematics-based content often require much more practice. Do not try to work at each subject at the same pace because that will often lead to burnout. Now that you have decided how much to revise per subject, test yourself and practise for each subject, here are some tips to manage time effectively.
Revising The Content:
This step usually takes the most time although it varies with the subject. The content might seem scary, at first, so try dividing it either by its sections or by the papers you will have to write.
Tip 1: Divide all your subjects into two or three batches.
Take your time while doing this, avoiding putting your favourite or similar subjects into one batch. For example, avoid putting essay-based subjects like English and History in one batch (you'll get bored), or if necessary, do not put them right next to each other. After picking your batches, decide what day you'll study each. Pick two days out of the week for each batch if you divided it into three batches (three days if you made two batches) and then have a rest day. You could decide to learn the content on one day and test yourself and practice on the following day. Choose time intervals to study each subject and have active breaks in-between either to take a walk, watch an episode of your favourite show, have a snack or read a book.
Tip 2: Make notes as the first part of your revision.
Try to make handwritten notes, not just because it prepares you for writing in an exam, but because writing aids better retention and understanding compared to typing. You may already have notes from school, but you may decide to make new ones. Using a textbook or a website, try to summarise the key ideas into a couple of sentences, only adding examples where necessary. With this, you can refer back to key ideas easily.
Testing Yourself:
This is where you check the knowledge that you've begun to revise.
Tip 1: Try blurting.
Without any aid or looking back at the content, try writing out on a blank page all that you remember from a particular topic. You may choose to do this under time pressure but that is not necessary. You could do this before revision, then after blurting, use your notes to double-check and add things that you may have missed.
Tip 2: Make and use flashcards.
This could be done alongside revising to save time. Making and using flashcards helps to solidify knowledge that you already know. It also saves time scouring the Internet for flashcards closer to the exams.
Practising:
This is where the past papers or specimen papers finally come out. Towards the end of your study leave, I would suggest doing this the most. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Tip: Do these under timed conditions.
As nerve-wracking as it may seem, try to do this. If this seems impossible at first, give yourself a limit, perhaps 15 mins over the time and then try to reduce it with each past paper that you do. In essay-based subjects, try to minimise your planning time by using acronyms and brainstorm while reading the question or extract.
