Studying tips

Before reading this, please note that I am a homeschool student, so you may need to adjust for your situation.

I struggled with time management, but this winter I attended a webinar that changed things. This is a method was used successfully by Harvard Law students and Patrick Henry College students.

This will sound a little crazy at first, but hang in there 😊 First of all, slot an hour of time for each class you have. If your classes do not take an hour, then use the rest of the hour for homework. If you still have more homework to do, then multiply your grade (mine was 11th) times 10 (110). That is the number of minutes TOTAL you should spend on homework each day (not counting any leftover time from your 1-hour class slots). Say you have 5 classes in 11th grade. You can spend approximately 22 extra minutes on homework for each (again, not counting any time left from your class’s hour slot).

This sounds impossible, but if you set a timer for yourself, you automatically work smarter and use the time productively. It's hard, but you have to stick to it and not allow yourself to get distracted by phone notifications or other distractions. Because once you have finished your homework you will have even more time to do other stuff like texting. It can help to use apps that block distractions (one that was recommended is Focus Me). I don’t use any because I don’t have a phone.

I know, this is wild, but it has been proved successful! Like I said, a Harvard Law student applied this and finished all his homework on campus each day so that when he went home in the late afternoon he could spend time with his wife and child. He had top grades all the while and received several honors/awards. His twin brother applied this at PHC and his dorm wing got the most sleep (7 hours each night) and had the highest GPA of all PHC students! Also, studies show that your productivity goes down after 2 hours so working smarter instead of harder is better academically and mentally.

Basically, setting time limits for yourself helps you optimize your productivity in shorter amounts of time and block distractions.

However, too much is just too much. No matter how well you manage your time, this strategy will NOT fix the problem of having too much on your plate. You may need to consider cutting out some things or even pausing certain things temporarily. Figure out what you should prioritize and be sure to balance school with life. It’s healthy to have time for fun and REST😊

I hope this helps. I applied this method successfully during the school year—I was less distracted and way more productive. I also get around 7 hours of sleep each night and have more time for the things I enjoy! Life is not all about school so balancing it was very healthy both physically and mentally.

LMK if you have any questions! Hope this gives you some ideas 😊