Time Management

Whoever said that procrastination is the thief of time knew what they were talking about. It’s the worst enemy of students everywhere. With temptations like friends, television, the Internet and sleep, it can be very easy to lose track of your goals and other priorities, like studying. Good time management will be what makes or breaks a student's chances of success when taking an entrance exam.

Time management is absolutely necessary when studying for any kind of test. It will not only help you achieve your goals when learning material, but it will also be a significant factor in increasing your scores.

Before you even begin to think about raising your scores to genius level, you must set both short term and long term goals.

Time Management Tip #1: Plan where you want your score to be at a specific points in time- in a week, a month, a year. This way, you don’t have to worry about increasing your entire test score by 200 points at one time. Instead, you can work toward improving your practice test score by small increments each week or each month. Little by little keeps you sane.

Time Management Tip #2: Decide when is the best time for you to study and for how long. One of the most important steps in test preparation is to recognize your own habits. If you find you are too tired in the mornings to absorb any information, try studying in the early afternoon after you’ve had a chance to be active and your mind’s a little more awake. Whenever you find that time in the day when you are most apt to learn and be able to recall information, set that portion of the day as your official study time. Let your friends and family know that time as well so they won’t distract you during this time period. Using the same study hours everyday will force you into a routine schedule where you won’t be able to come up with excuses about why you don’t have time to study.

Once you have set your study hours, be sure not to stress yourself out by scheduling marathon study sessions. Your mind needs a break every once in a while! Every hour or two, get up to stretch and walk around for 10 to 20 minutes. It is more efficient to study hard for a set amount of time and take a short break, than attempt to study for hours on end.

Where you study can also affect how you manage your study time. How do you possibly expect to get any studying done if you choose a place where the phone is constantly ringing or your neighbor’s heavy metal music is loud enough to bust anyone’s eardrums within 100 feet of his stereo? Choose a study area that is free of distractions. Yes, this includes prying yourself away from a computer with Internet access if possible. You can check e-mail and your favorite teams’ scores during your break. A regular study area free of distractions will clear your mind of floating thoughts and interruptions, allowing you to properly train yourself for the upcoming exam.

Good time management also needs to be practiced when actually taking a test. These skills will almost certainly help to increase your scores by recognizing when to spend time on a question and when to move on.

Time Management Tip #3: The general rule of thumb is to answer the easiest questions first and return to the more difficult questions later. Don’t waste time trying to figure out one question that you know you could figure out if you only had more time. Make the best of your time by earning the points you deserve on the easy questions. At least ensure those points. You’d hate to find out later that your answer to the impossible question was incorrect when you could’ve answered 10 easier questions later in the test.

Be sure to know the rules of the particular exam you are taking to know exactly how to utilize your time on each question. For example, computer-adaptive tests will not allow you to skip a question. In this situation, instead of answering the easiest questions first and returning to the difficult ones later, you will have to improve your skills in making educated guesses.

THE SILENT TIMER™ (learn more) is an excellent tool in helping you to measure how much time you should spend on each question. It will also help in deciding when you should move on from a question if you’ve spent too much time on it. THE SILENT TIMER™ is your ticket to good test time management, and it serves as the core of your time management strategy. Start improving your scores today by getting your hands on this test-taking mechanism proven to be a vital factor in raising test scores.

Order your SILENT TIMER™ here

Relevant Links

Time Management for Exams
Exam Study Skills, Time Management, Test Anxiety
Tips for Managing Exam Stress
Test-taking Tips
Time Management Skills for Success

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