As the time for year 6’s to enter high school begins, the stress for acedamic sucess will also start to increase, with almost fortnightly tests in various classes, various tests which define their legacies and also other non-compulsory tests such as ICAS, CAT, Australian Maths Competition and more being on their plate. Another thing not to forget that will also come in the year 6’s life are extra-curricular activities social life and various other things. So one obvious question that would be burning in soon-to-be year 7’s minds is: How do I manage my studies along with my social and extra-curricular life? Well as a current IGNITE student in various clubs and extra-curricular activites, in this article, I will answer this question myself. So, today I will be writing about the top 2 techniques that I use and reccomend to the up and coming year 7’s.
- Pomodoro technique
THe pomodoro techniques is one of the most effective techniques there is. The word itself, pomodoro, however, means tomato. So how does a tomato help you with sutdies? Well, the pomodoro technqie was developed to aid people called procrastinators, who are people that would delay their work unti lthe last minute. So, a man from Italy created a tomato shaped timer. The timer would be set for 25 minutes, and your work/task would begin, with no distractions with you, just you doing your best work on the task you have, After the 25 minutes, the most rewarding part would come. You would get to have a 10 minute break. This could include eating some food, calling a friend or playing your favourite music. After the break is over, the pomodoro restars. I find the pomodoro the most effective technique becuase I get a huge dompamine hit becuase of the reward, and becuaes I know I have finished some work. Therefore, I am much more likely to fucs becuase I know that there is a reward that will be after a short period of time. There are, however some important things to remember about pomodoros; some of which I have dicussed before. Firstly, when you are doing your pomodoro, you need to put all distractions away. This includes drinks (except water), all food, all screens and any other things that usualyl make you distracted. Next, you need to focus soley on one task and put your 110% effort into it. This makes you know that you focused completely on your work. Finally, you need to be fair with youself and don’t give yourself longer than 15 minute breaks. This can often make you de-motivated to continue your pomodoro.
2. Scheduling and Prioritising
WIth around 7 different subjects in high school, it is essential that you are at the top of all of your assignments and tests. A way I like to do this is by scheduling and prioritising my tasks. But what do I mean? For this process to work, I start with prioritising my items. I write down on a notebook all of the tasks that are due, the weightage of the assignment, and whether it is summative (going to my grade) or formative (not going to my grade). After that, I list the subjects from most needed to be done to least needed to be done. This can be made in order of how much work you have to do, the weightage of the assignment, and also when it is due. After that, it is time to schedule. Depending on your most urgent task, put a certain amoutn of time down that you think you are going to take for the task. After that, slot your work amoung other activities in the day, and you have yourself a schedule. Like a pomodoro, it is important to be true to yourself and don’t give yourself too much or too little of time.
Therefore, these are two strategies that I use to balance my extra-curricular activites with studies and assignments. I hope you liked this article, and see you in the next one.