Introduction
It is important to note that one of the most critical student success strategies includes time management. As a student, one directly and profoundly knows how time can be a major limiting factor when studying, learning, and performing academically. Time management is a skill and competence to properly manage, organize, and allocate one’s most limited resources available to him or her. Thesis: Time management must be prioritized and mastered because it directly affects a student’s grades, motivation, and proneness to procrastination, and it is the most effective when used with precision, focus, and specific organization.
Time Management and Grades
Firstly, although many students are perfectly aware that time management is essential, the majority might not realize how significant it is in one’s academic pursuits. A study from the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning shows that “time management tactics had significant associations with academic performance and were associated with different interventions in personalized analytics-based feedback” (Uzir et al., 2019, p. 70). Another study conducted to assess grades and time management competencies among students revealed that “students’ perceived control of time was the factor that correlated significantly with cumulative grade point average” (Adams & Blair, 2019, p. 1). In addition, it does not affect one particular group more than another, which further showcases the breadth and depth of its paramount relevance.
Students with poor time management skills tend to experience more anxiety, less self-control, and poorer perception of time. Thus, not only is time management essential for academic performance, of which most students are aware to a certain extent, but additionally, it affects a learner’s inner self-perception of his or her capabilities. There is a reciprocal element to time management, where the failure to master the skill can lead to lower academic performance not solely due to worsened studying but the lack of confidence to do so.
Precision and Specificity
In order to better oneself in regard to time management, a student should seek to be more specific, precise, and realistic in allocating and planning time. A study on perceptions of time by students shows that for top performers, “establishing clear and specific expectations were perceived as the most helpful, followed by organizing” (Oyarzun et al., 2020, p. 106). In other words, the most effective strategy to handle one’s time effectively is to be as precise and specific with it as possible.
Procrastination
One of the most common and problematic barriers to superior time management is clearly procrastination. However, research from the journal titled Metacognition and Learning reveals that it is the other way around. The evidence supports “the conclusion that academic time management is a key aspect of self-regulated learning and as such, it can be useful for understanding the extent to which college students procrastinate when doing their academic work” (Wolters et al., 2017, p. 381). Therefore, procrastination is the result of poor time management and not the cause. Students who are able to incorporate effective time management strategies do not experience significant issues with procrastination as a direct result of this skill’s mastery.
Conclusion
In conclusion, time management is critical to one’s academic achievements and performance levels, which requires the use of focus, precision, and specificity to master it. Poor time management not only impacts a student’s academic goals and aspirations but additionally impairs inner mental wellbeing. Procrastination is not the preventer of time management but the cause, which means a student needs to prioritize the skill as something of paramount importance.
References
Adams, R. V., & Blair, E. (2019). Impact of time management behaviors on undergraduate engineering students’ performance. SAGE Open, 9(1), 1-11. Web.
Oyarzun, B., Martin, F., & Moore, R. L. (2020). Time management matters: Online faculty perceptions of helpfulness of time management strategies. Distance Education, 41(1), 106-127. Web.
Uzir, N. A., Gasevic, D., Matcha, W., Jovanovic, J., & Pardo, A. (2019). Analytics of time management strategies in a flipped classroom. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 36(1), 70-88. Web.
Wolters, C. A., Won, S., & Hussain, M. (2017). Examining the relations of time management and procrastination within a model of self-regulated learning. Metacognition and Learning, 12, 381-399. Web.