Striking the right balance between home, school and student life is the key to being proficient in managing time. This is particularly true for the students leading their lives far away from their families in a boarding school. When you are studying in one of the best residential schools in India, you are required to get accustomed to new routines, school work and homework and give time to extra-curricular activities as well. The entire process might leave you stressed. You first need to write down your priorities so that you can stay on track. This can help in reducing stress levels and take you on the path of success.

To keep you attuned to this path, we have detailed some tips for your time management that can help you tide through this phase easily.

1. List Everything Down

The first step that goes into making the time management strategy effective is to note down everything a week before. This may seem pretty obvious, but what we do is that we leave the important tasks for the last minute. This impacts the overall quality of the work done and consequently, the result comes out terrible. Your plan should include deadlines and the time needed to do each task.

2. Prioritizing is the Mantra

Your time management hierarchy should be somewhat like this –

• Academic
• Extra-curricular activities
• Social life

Since you have already entered the deadlines in the first phase, you know when to complete your assignments and homework. Sort, out your extra-curricular activities and pursue them once the academic work is finished. Finally, treat yourself to a computer game or spend time with friends.

3. Be Realistic and Flexible While Setting your Goals

Allow yourself typically around 7-10 hours per day for studying and socializing. Being a full-time student, you should dedicate a minimum of 35 hours per week. Spend the remaining hours for leisure and independent study. It is important to take note of the fact that many times, the tasks take longer than expected. Therefore, have some extra time in hand so that you can manage the schedule accordingly.

4. Get a Minimum of 6-9 Hours of Sleep

It is mandatory that you take a minimum of 6 hours of sleep. Less than this might make you lazy and you may have the urge to sleep after passing a considerable period of time.

5. Avoid Distraction

Each one of us has faced this – as we sit down to study, our mind wanders hither thither and thus, gets distracted. Think about the subjects where you felt most distracted and the subjects where you found yourself to be most focused. If you feel comfortable, organize group study sessions because some can enhance their productivity levels in group studies while others cannot. It varies with each student.

6. Eat Healthy & Exercise Regularly

Just because you are short on time, don’t at all mean that you should skip meals and eat unhealthy food. Incorporate green veggies and fruits each day in your meal plan. Exercise for a minimum of half an hour daily. You may not realize it, but it surely supports physical, mental and emotional function.