Time really cannot be controlled. You can’t slow it down or speed it up or manufacture it. ITime management is managing yourself by following some basic time management principles. This page deals with various time management skills that can help you not only during exams but otherwise as well.

Many people fail to understand the importance of planning and utilising time efficiently; the reason for this seems to arise from the many other pressures put upon you. Lessons, practical work, coursework, homework, other responsibilities, friends, family, etc eat away at valuable time.

It is a usual phenomenon among students that the time spent on studies and its outcome is not in proportion. The reason in most cases is non-effective study habits. You need to understand that it is not the time spent on studies that matters, it is actually effective or quality time spent that brings you laurels.

With the exam season being round the corner and all of you geared up to put your best, here are some tips to manage your time effectively so as to grasp more in less time. As a student, there are some basic principles of Time Management that you can apply.

• Identify The Best Time for Studying: Everyone has high and low periods of attention and concentration. Are you a morning person or a night person? Use your power times to study; use the down times for routines and errands.
  
  
• Study Difficult Subjects First: When you are fresh, you can process information more quickly and save time as a result.
  
  
• Use Distributed Learning and Practice: Study in shorter time blocks with short breaks in between. This keeps you from getting fatigued and wasting time. This type of studying is efficient because while you are taking a break, the brain is still processing the information.
  
  
• Make Sure the Surroundings are Conducive to Studying: This will allow you to reduce distractions which can waste time. If there are times in your home when you know there will be noise and commotion, use that time for mindless tasks.
  
  
• Make Room for Entertainment and Relaxation: If you are too bored of studies, take a break for an hour or simply relax by listening music or anything which you enjoy the most. You need to have a social life yet, you require a balance in your life.
  
  
• Make Sure you Have Time to Sleep and Eat Properly: Sleep is often an activity (or lack of activity) that students use as their time management bank. When they need a few extra hours for studying or socializing, they withdraw a few hours of sleep. Doing this makes the time they spend studying less effective because they will need a couple hours of clock time to get an hour of productive time. This is not a good way to manage yourself in relation to time.
  
  
• Try to Combine Activities: Use the Twofer concept. If you are waiting in line for tickets to the movie, bring your chemistry / maths formulae to memorize.
  
  
• The best formula to remember is revision: About 40 per cent of whatever we remember is forgotten within 24 hours. Studies show that the best revision paradigm is to revise on the 2nd, 7th, 15th, 30th and 180th day of the original learning. This will produce maximum recall.

These are some ideas to get you started. Get a head start and learn how to manage yourself in respect to time now.