Time management is a critical skill for online students who enjoy the flexibility of studying online from the comfort of their homes. From the moment you enroll in our online school, EduWW staff will help you polish your time management skills and thrive in an online learning environment.
Our years-long experience in online education showed that managing time correctly will bring good results in online school no matter the student’s age, profile, or learning habits. Stay with us to learn about some practical examples of effectively organizing your time as an online student.
Time Management Challenges for Online Students
When a child attends a traditional school, they only have to ensure not being late for a class. Everything else is pre-defined for them, and they follow the schedule. Traditional school settings use the same method for primary and secondary education. The first time a student faces the challenges of managing their own time is when they go to a college or a university.
However, the new age and online education have changed this scenario. Students who study online must polish their time management skills from an early age. Online school is flexible and allows students to choose when to log into the platform and study. They can organize their time however they want, and there is no strict pre-determined schedule to follow.
That flexibility is a double-edged sword. Being able to study at the time you want can be of massive help to some students. However, that freedom often leads to pitfalls where students waste their time instead of studying. That is why online K-12 students need to find balance. That is not an easy task, especially with the potential distractions in an online environment that can hinder focus and productivity.
Importance of Time Management for Online K-12 Students
Effective time allocation is not merely a tool for improving grades. That is the cornerstone of a successful academic journey. Poor time management in online learning can negatively impact academic achievement.
Developing Time Management Skills for Online Students
Young learners have difficulty understanding the concept of time management. That is why they need parents to help them. Even high schoolers sometimes feel lost when planning and organizing their study time independently.
Our experience showed that students who are athletes or have other hobbies are better at managing their time. That is because they have several obligations daily and must divide the available time between them wisely. Let’s borrow a page from their book.
Set Your Study Time for Each Day
We already mentioned that at an online school, you don’t have to start the school day at 8 a.m. You can start learning whenever you want because the online platform is available 24/7. Still, it is good to dedicate a particular amount of time to studying and stick to that.
If you like to sleep a bit longer or have a practice session in the morning and can’t study early – that is ok. You can learn at noon or in the afternoon. High school students can usually make their day-to-day schedule independently. On the other hand, younger learners need parents to set the time for study sessions.
If you are a high school student, ask yourself when you feel most productive and dedicate that time to studying. If you are a parent of a younger student, get to know your child and their habits. Based on that, create the study schedule for each day and ensure the child follows it.
Create a Task List
Given that at an online school, you get to choose what subject you would like to do first and in what capacity, setting tasks for the day is significant. Our online learning platform has a helpful tool called Calendar. This feature calculates the time in your semester and gives you tasks for each day.
You don’t have to follow the Calendar strictly. You can use it as a guideline. For instance, if you can study at a faster pace than the one Calendar suggests – go for it. Do more in a single day.
If you feel sluggish on a particular day and can’t fulfill the tempo, the Calendar tool has set for you, that is ok, too. Do as much as you can, and make up for the rest on another day.
Aside from this, you can always rely on your assigned tutor. Ask them for help in creating your daily or weekly tasks. All EduWW tutors are friendly and will gladly help struggling students find their own learning pace.
Create a Dedicated Study Space
The space you are studying can massively affect your time and productivity. Being surrounded by distractions does you no good. A dedicated study space should be a nice room without any noise. A student should have a desk, a comfortable chair, and a natural light. Ensure that the desk at which a student works doesn’t have distractions such as books, games, or anything that can divert their attention from the learning material.
A glass of water, a cup of tea, a chocolate bar, or a piece of fruit are okay to have as a snack. While studying, switch your phone to silent or tune it off, and don’t have it near you at the desk. You will be tempted to check your social media accounts, and soon, you will spend time endlessly scrolling through TikTok or Instagram instead of studying.
By creating this distraction-free environment, you can focus on studying and completing your daily tasks on time. If you start losing focus on other things, you will spend more time studying, and you won’t be as productive as you should be
Identifying and Addressing Procrastination
Procrastination is a common challenge across all age groups. Online students are prone to procrastinating if they don’t know how to manage their time well. When they have too much time, students tend to postpone their obligations for later. At first, it is for an hour or two or for tomorrow, and eventually, they get a pile of overdue assignments and insufficient progress at school.
One of the ways to prevent procrastination is to foster a productive approach to time management and promote a more disciplined and structured learning routine. Sometimes, this can be done with a particular study method. Our teachers usually share some useful time management strategies for online students. One of them is the Pomodoro study technique.
Consequences and Learning from Mistakes
Most students have a very good start with an online school. They are motivated and eager to learn. It is new for them, and they are curious. Therefore, they do their tasks regularly and have no trouble with progress. However, after a month or two, the motivation starts to drop off, and they start postponing their obligations for tomorrow, then for another day, and so on. Soon enough, they have many overdue assignments, leading to poor progress and bad grades.
Some students have difficulty adjusting to online schooling from the beginning. They don’t know how long they must study or how to create a learning schedule independently. Their platform activity looks like this: they log in, enter the subjects, choose the lesson, spend 20 seconds on it, and then jump to another one and do something similar.
Our tutors are aware of these issues, and they check up on students daily or weekly, offering them help. Likewise, we encourage our students to book a meeting with their assigned tutor and discuss their problems. Our tutors will guide them in managing their time based on their learning habits and suggest a schedule that will fit them the most in completing the assignments.
How EduWW Students Manage Their Time?
We enroll students of different profiles. Some of them are semi-professional athletes with a busy schedule. The flexibility of an online school plays a huge role in their life.
Online education is the most reasonable option for people competing in sports at the highest levels. I am able to attend all of my daily practices while also keeping up with my schoolwork when I study in this manner. I’m fairly organized. My mornings are for practice, and I use my afternoons to study and complete all of my homework by that evening. If I could give my peers advice, it is to finish the schoolwork even on bad days. Avoid putting off tasks too long because you can become overwhelmed – says Natalie Cinkova, a 12th-grade student and one of the most talented young tennis players in Switzerland.
Time Management is a Skill for Life
Mastering time management is not only feasible but vital for the academic progress of online students. Knowing how to manage your time well is a skill for life. You will need it in college and later in your work life.
Therefore, learning to manage your time effectively in school can give you an advantage. As time goes by, you will only improve this skill. By following the abovementioned time management tips, students can navigate the challenges of online learning, ensuring a fulfilling and successful educational journey. To sum up, everything we mentioned in this article:
- Use the flexibility of online schooling to your advantage.
- Determine when you are most productive during the day, set your study time, and stick to it.
- Create a to-do list and complete all tasks for each day.
- Use all the features our platform offers, such as the Calendar tool.
- Ask a tutor to help you out.
- Avoid procrastination and develop study habits that suit your needs.
Use the time you dedicate to studying wisely and focus on learning. If you study online, you will spend less time on schoolwork and have great results.
