10 Time Management Tips to Complete Your Coursework

We are all busy- family, work, education, life, assignments, coursework……. Yet, among all these devoirs, how many times have you stared at your textbook around midnight (or later!)? And even when you started your coursework hours earlier, what stopped you from crawling to the last page? Guessing procrastination? It has to be.

No, do not.

Those lost hours could be better explained by Parkinson’s Law—‘Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Simply put, if you pull an all-nighter to memorize those geometry formulas for your exam tomorrow, you inevitably find that a thirty-minute task has somehow filled your evening.

We know that you have more homework than ever. But even with lots to do, some countable tweaks to your coursework completion could help you get much accomplished.

Here are ten steps to make Parkinson’s Law work in your favour:

• Make coursework a priority

Tell and train your brain- ‘coursework is my priority. For the course duration, make the related coursework your professional priority. All that your professor expected from you- to complete reading, assignments, discussions, and every school-based activity during the course will get worked out—making the coursework your priority will help you dedicate time and effort.

• Take the course with a colleague

Coursework writing makes you sail through some lonely hours. Make it less lonely- and increase your chances of completing coursework and managing time well. Check if a friend can align their writing time with yours and offer you some paper writer help. This may or may not be for credit, and their role may be more formal or informal. However, writing coursework will be fun when having an actual colleague with you. And it doesn’t hurt to have someone to help you manage your time. 

• Set aside an hour a day 

Think of the hour per day as your course time. Cannot spare a whole hour? How about fifteen minutes four times a day? How about the time after you have your lunch? Remember to make the coursework or reading or discussion the first thing you do when you open up your computer in the morning. Then it is over and done with you for that day. And this way, you will have a better grip over time which seemingly runs as fast as a racing cheetah.

• Make a study plan

Set fixed times during the week to work on the course. If you have a learning team or a partner, decide what days you will meet to write coursework. You can preferably list everything you need to when doing your coursework. And we mean everything- from re-reading notes from the morning’s history class to quizzing yourself on Spanish vocabulary. 

• Making a schedule

Naturally, given the vicissitudes of ever-evolving life, some weeks will be easier than others for doing all the course requirements, so look ahead and scribble a schedule. Figure out what weeks look nuanced and plan how you will get your coursework done ahead of time to compensate for your paucity of span during those busy weeks.

• Gather all your gear

Assemble EVERYTHING you will require for the coursework you are working on. This will essentially include every pinch of requisites, from arranging pencils for problem sets to set up your laptop for writing assignments. Getting up for supplies takes you off course and hinders your desire to work meticulously. More salutary, if you can gather your indispensable items and keep it close to your eyes. Because out of sight out of mind can work accurately while completing coursework, especially if you let slip things easily.

• Get rid of distracters

That may mean going to a nearby tranquil café, not checking your email program frequently, turning off your cell phone, or turning off the TV. This even means closing your door to keep family members away for moments. Let your siblings not distract you over a favorite Netflix show, or your Mom not nag you for having your lunch. 

Also, the constant blings and beeps from your phone can keep you distracted. Figure out the source of distraction from your coursework and eliminate it as you switch your work mode ON.

• Set incentives and goals

Gift yourself, or have someone gift you incentives for completing an assignment within a time frame. Set personal learning and time goals. Treat yourself when you have finished a discussion for an online course or a specific module. And remember to do the opposite if you have not completed your coursework. You will watch your brain acting as the ‘obedient child’. 

• Start with the toughest coursework

Check your list of works in your coursework module. Find out the one that’s most eligible to break your sweat. And since we all fear at least one subject, sometimes the thought of writing an assignment on it makes us sick. And since we all have preferences, we cannot wait to start the project at other times. So, your job is to get the most challenging task marked off the list. Then, you will realize that the subsequent assignments are much easier to handle when done. 

• Take plenty of breaks

Most of us require a break between subjects or break up a long stretch of writing. Active breaks are a great way to keep your energy up. Tech breaks can be an excellent way to combat the fear of missing out. But while taking tech breaks, you stretch your break much longer than you had initially thought. Stick to a break schedule of ten minutes or so. 

Parting thoughts,

Staying on track and being duteous to the tips mentioned above can help you breeze through your work quickly enough to catch up on some Netflix. 

And our best piece of advice? Keep at it. The more you use this system, the easier it will become for you. You will be shocked by how many hours you can shave off coursework-ing just by focusing on and committing to a distraction-free study plan.