Time Management


Do you find yourself running out of time each day? Do your tasks just keep piling up and you are not able to catch up with them, missing out on deadlines? Do you frequently find yourself rushing to places, feeling you have insufficient time for yourself and personal relationships?

Well if it is so, you might be having problem in managing your time. Let us first analyze how much time does one have theoretically in a regular IITK week:

Ankit, like all other students in IITK, has 120 hours during weekdays (5 days x 24 hours). If he goes to bed around 12:30A.M. (which is not recommended), wakes up at 7:30 A.M. and also sleeps for an hour during daytime, then he is sleeping 40 hours, leaving 80 waking hours. Ankit has taken five courses this semester and has 25 hours of classes per week, which when combined with 4 hours a day for eating and personal care, leaves him with 35 hours of available time. On an average he studies for 2 hours a day and spends 3 hours either in sports/extra curricular activity or in just hanging out with friends leaves him with 10 hours. Adding this to 32 waking hours of the weekends he has around 42 hours per week for himself.

Surprised ???

Yes, we do have a lot of time and if all of us plan and use it prudently then we would not face problems in time management. But this is not the case with most of us.

Let us stop here and ask- What is Time Management ??? Time is a resource (just like money) and the art of using it effectively by properly organizing one’s activities is time management.

Where is this time going?

These are some of the possible reasons where you might be having time crunch :
  • Over involvement in activities such as computer gaming, chatting, watching movies, and sometimes even in extracurricular activities, eats away time that could have been given elsewhere.
  • Most of us postpone work until deadlines are upon us. Often we try to disguise our avoidance by involving ourselves in activities that may be interesting, and even useful, but do not contribute towards the task at hand (Procrastination).
  • Lack of concentration while doing something and having irrelevant wandering thoughts (Day-dreaming).
  • Sometimes a large amount of work (such as huge syllabus) develops anxiety and we never even start off.
  • 'Work expands to fill the time available’. Often we spend more time than is required for a work. (For instance, it is common for students to spend several of hours to complete an assignment that would only take an hour or so with total concentration.)
Have you ever pondered why you never had a time crunch in school days. Well back then you followed a more or less fixed schedule and basically had no say in where your time went. Whereas here you have a lot of freedom and your schedule is your business. Hence comes the responsibility of managing your time effectively. Time management is nothing but adjusting to this freedom – some take a semester, some take an year, while some even graduate without able to adjust !!

What can be done?

Everyone, at some point or the other encounters such situations. So what can be done? All this can be sorted out and what it takes is a few techniques and some dedication in better managing your time.

Know Yourself:
  • Identify where you are spending most of your time. Once you know this, you’ll be able to cut down on some unimportant activities, consciously as well as sub-consciously. A good way to start with this, is to write down how you spent your day every night before going to sleep.
  • Write down what you have to do and set your priorities. Maintaining a schedule can make you feel in control.
  • Be realistic in your expectations from yourself. Do not over-burden yourself.
  • Identify the ‘Best Time’ for Studying: Everyone has high and low periods of attention and concentration. Figure out if you are you a ‘morning person’ or a ‘night person’. Use your peak times to study and the down times for routines.
  • Identify the place of study that suites you the most, avoiding distractions, be it the library or the comfort of your room.
Kill your anxiety: No matter what is the amount of work at hand, being anxious and not doing anything will not help.
  • Start somewhere, anywhere – but start ! Try starting from the easy part. Set aside 15 minutes today which you will devote exclusively to a task you have been putting off. Once started it is often easier to keep going.
  • The Swiss Cheese Method - make a number of holes in an overwhelming task by turning it into a series of small manageable sub-tasks.
Stay Focussed -
  • Remind yourself to stay focused every time your thoughts wander.
  • Learn to say no instead of every time leaving a task in between. People understand that you have your priorities. (but please note to do so you don’t have to be rude or neglect your friends continuously)
  • Make class time your best study time. Though sleeping in class is very tempting, hearing attentively may save you a lot of time.
If you are following the above methods for the first time and are not able to see immediate results, do not be discouraged. Remember that you are trying something new and it will take some experience and revision, according to your own personal characteristics, to work out the methods that best suit you.