Getting Organised

High school can be a stressful time for many students, but learning to plan and prioritise your workload will help set you up for success.

At Choice Education Group, we place an emphasis not only on understanding the study material, but strategies to manage your workload and study plan.

New Academic Year, New Goals

We’ve discussed the value of SMART goals at length in previous articles, but why is it important to set goals at the start of the year? Surely your child can set goals throughout the year as necessary?

Of course, SMART goals can be set as needed: when commencing a new unit or topic, when your child notices a skill requires further attention, to keep a student on track with assessment schedules, and so on. Charles Darwin University Australia suggests that overarching SMART goals frame the bigger picture of why you are studying, while short-term goals help students to achieve long-term targets. Therefore, as every school or University year presents new challenges, new goals should be established.

By developing SMART goals at the start of the new academic year, students have a better chance at avoiding vague objectives that prevent achievement. To say aloud “I will be more organised this year” is far less convincing – even to the person setting that goal, than to write down a formal ambition such as “I will plan what I need for each class the day before, and I will have improved my organisation skills by the end of term.”

By defining the specifics of a goal, establishing a time-frame for when the goal should be completed, as well as measuring its success over time, children and adolescents have a better chance at succeeding in the primary, secondary and tertiary classroom throughout the year.

The Importance of Planning

Writing down your plans, tasks, chores – whatever it may be, will help you to focus on the tasks ahead. That is why purchasing a planner, diary or calendar is a valuable investment, as it allows students to balance their domestic responsibilities, work-load, and assessment schedule with focus.

Utilising a school diary or planner also helps to reduce the risk of *gasp!* forgetting that your Science assignment is due today! And with reduced stress comes better control and focus over your studies.

American Health and Wellbeing organisation Mental Help supports the need to manage stress through improved time management skills, recommending it is imperative that work or study demands do not impede on a student’s need for family and personal time; that means setting time boundaries on such activities and sticking to them.

But setting goals and using visual planners to prioritise tasks is not just for students. Parents, teachers – in fact, anyone with the aspiration to complete tasks and achieve goals can benefit. As the Australian Institute of Business (AIB) reports, taking the time to establish what your plans are ahead of time ultimately improves your work performance; this is because when people forward plan, it can lead to better decision-making in the short-term, and the chance to hone in-demand skills required in the workforce later on.

It may be beneficial to introduce a family organiser or wall calendar to help your child understand the long-term value of setting goals and using a planner to organise their studies. Knowing what you need to achieve in a set period of time, says AIB, prevents you from working on unnecessary tasks, and leads to more leisure time. And what child or student doesn’t want more of that?

Prioritisation

In 2021, time management is a skill every job ad seems to demand. So why isn’t this skill taught explicitly in school? At Choice Education Group, we will help your child to organise their academic responsibilities – from homework to assessment tasks to personal study skills.

The benefits of managing one’s time effectively has numerous benefits, says the Corporate Finance Institute (CFI). Besides it being a skill that not only helps to organise kids during their primary, secondary and tertiary studies, exceptional time management is a much-sought after skill in the workforce, and one that can ultimately lead to great career success.

But as establishing fantastic time management skills takes practise, CFI suggests a seven-step process:

1. Set your goals - and make them SMART;
2. Prioritise – and complete the most pressing task first;
3. Set a time limit - how long will it take to achieve each task?
4. Take breaks between tasks – and give your brain a break;
5. Organise yourself – by referring to your diary, planner or calendar. What else needs to be achieved today? What do you need to complete the next task?
6. Remove non-essential tasks – while you may want to complete an extra Visual Design sketch, or practise your keyboard skills for leisure one hour a day, are these goals essential to today’s demands?
7. Plan ahead – and decide what needs to be achieved tomorrow. What resources will you need to get started?

If you are concerned about where your child is at academically before the school year continues, book in for a FREE Academic Assessment with Choice Education Group today. https://www.choiceeducationgroup.com/book-online

Sources:

Choice Education Group

https://www.choiceeducationgroup.com/post/smart-goals

Charles Darwin University Australia

https://www.cdu.edu.au/launchpad/student-life/why-you-should-be-setting-smart-goals-uni

Mental Help

https://www.mentalhelp.net/stress/time-management-to-prevent-stress/

Australian Institute of Business

https://www.aib.edu.au/blog/career-development/how-setting-goals-can-improve-your-work-performance/

Corporate Finance Institute

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/soft-skills/time-management-list-tips/