Planning

No matter how small the task, planning is important because you want to know how long you are going to be working on it. After all, there is usually a small reward waiting for you, right?

Where and when to start planning?

Planning can be done right after you got your assignment, or the date for your test. This is not something that needs to take up a lot of your study-time, but it does need to be done and done properly. When you know what to do, it is important to determine how much time you have or need to reach your goals. They key is to divide and conquer.

Example:

In class it is simple; your teacher will tell you when you should be done, right? But let’s say you have five tasks or exercises to do in half an hour. Does that mean you have six minutes for each one? No it does not. On average it does, but not every exercise will take exactly the same amount of time. Therefore you need to look at the complexity of the exercises and think about what you know about them, how to do them, and how much time you think you need to do it well. If you allocate yourself a specific amount of time to do an exercise, be sure to stick to that time, even if you are done or not. This is important because it will allow you to focus on the other exercises as well.

If there is still time—in class that is—to do the exercises, you can get back to them. At home this may be different, but we’ll get to that. There is also the matter of not completely understanding something. That’s okay, simply keep reading and you will find an answer for that as well.

Reward

The core ingredient of a good work schedule is time to relax and enjoy yourself. Really? Yes, absolutely. If you have something to look forward to, other than reaping the rewards of your hard work, you will be more inclined to focus on your work. You know there is going to be a moment where you can listen to some music, get some food or just stretch your legs a bit, so no worries.