gatheryepens

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I went to watch the ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ song from Evita

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ray bradbury

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Franz Kafka, 1912

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ray bradbury

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“Make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth, even if they don’t.”

— Thema Davis

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Best Time Management Techniques I've Used. (Academics + Extracurriculars)

Managing your time for energy and extracurricular activities can be challenging, especially when everything you do is overwhelming, requires your attention, and has deadlines that are too close to each other.

These are some of my best time management techniques that I have personally used, the ones that have changed my life and can possibly change yours too.

There's a free template at the end of the post too! Be sure to check it out :)

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Question Your Time

If you take a look at your day, you might think that you're doing too much (or nothing at all). That is because you have no idea what you're actually doing and how you're spending your free time, which leads to precious time being wasted.

How It Works:

Take a look at your normal day. Ask the following questions and more. Ask as many questions as possible on your time spent:

What am I actually doing every day?

What is an activity that I do almost every day for more than an hour that is actually unnecessary? [Likely social media]

Do I study for at least 2 hours?

Am I finishing up on my projects and deadlines?

Does my calendar really reflect my current goals?

Time Grouping & Blocking

Time grouping is basically when you group similar tasks together. If you have Maths and Science homework, each around 40-45 mins, you don't do them together in different sessions.

Many make the mistake of spacing out their study and homework sessions. It takes more time in the long run, and sometimes you can't actually get anything done. So, group your time!

How It Works:

You must assign a time slot for the task, and you don't do anything else during that time. You block everything else and focus on one thing.

Golden Hour = Morning

This is an advice that I ignored for most of my high school life. Why? Because I believed that mornings were meant for sleeping in and that I'd be too tired. That was a negative belief.

How It Works:

You get up in the morning and your brain is active and flowing with creative energy. This only occurs when actually have a full 8 hours of sleep, by the way. If you sleep at 1 am and try to get up at 6? That is not going to be possible. Literally.

No Routine = Just Work

Most people hate mornings because they have this perception that mornings must have a load of steps and routines. Throughout senior year, I had only three tasks in the morning,

Get Up

Drink coffee

Read The Quran

Hit The Books

If you compare my routine with some of my friends? Unnecessary steps that bog you down. I know some people who do a full 10-step skin care in the morning, dress up, eat, and by the time they get to work or sit down to study? They're drained.

It's not exactly wrong to dress up and eat, etc. But my point is, you can at least get 1 hour of work done before doing anything else. Your focus is laser sharp when you get up. So, use it.

Take your four main tasks and don't add anything else. And follow them.

Eat The Frog

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, eat the biggest one first.”

In simple words? Face your hardest, most important task first, before you get distracted with any other thing.

Honestly, I've heard many say that sometimes it gets overwhelming to do a huge task first thing in the morning and complete it. You feel drained the entire day, and I actually agree, it does. So, here's a simpler way.

Divide Your Work Into 4 Stages:

Outline : Draw a basic overview. What should be done? How will I get it done? Basic steps I need to follow? When is the deadline?

Research : Collect basic information to do the task. That includes articles, journals or just notes.

Draft : This is your prototype. You draft your work into the refining stage.

Final : You keep refining it until you are at the final project. This is the stage where you add the small details.

This flow makes you feel less overwhelmed and gives you more clarity to actually sit down and work.

One In Advance Rule

Look, it's really easy. Your assignment is due in two weeks? Complete it by next week. Project due in one month. Complete it a week in advance.

This is necessary because, when you start early, you finish it earlier than others so you can actually focus on some studying rather than wasting your time managing assignments and tests.

You'll actually notice the difference in your stress levels when everything doesn't pile up.

The trick is to complete everything before one week of the deadline.

Hour Sprints: 1-4 Hours Break Sprints = Work Hours ÷ 2

Hour sprints basically refer to doing your day's work in around 1-3 hours. And honestly, I didn't think this would work but it does. You might have to be patient and slowly increase your time to avoid burnout.

There were times when I worked straight for around 5-6 hours after I had increased my work time, pushing little by little every day. The burnout doesn't last long but the fruits of this method are really worth it.

Breaks are really necessary. I advise you to not allot a certain time limit for the break. Rather take a break when you actually feel tired. If you've worked for 2 hours straight, then you deserve an hour of rest. If you worked for just 30 mins and you feel tired, take 15 mins as your break.

Divide your work time by half and that is your break time.

Energy Mapping

Observe your past three days and find out when your energy is high, medium and low. Based on this, align your tasks according to your energy flows.

High Energy = Deep Work Like Intensive Studying And Creative Projects

Medium Energy = Outlining Your Projects, Skimming Notes, Active Recall

Low Energy = Passive Study & Chores

This is based on my own energy mapping.

How It Works:

Track Yourself for 3 Days

Every 2–3 hours, jot down:

What you were doing

Your energy level ( 1–5)

Your mood (😊😐😣)

Now, figure out yours.

Rule Of Three = Daily, Weekly, Monthly

See, the thing about extra curriculars is that you have to handle academics and family commitments at the side too. So, here's the rule of three:

You choose three tasks/goals for the day, week and month. And you focus on that alone. Only that. Nothing else.

How To Figure Out Those Goals?

Monthly:

What is the top three priority goals/tasks this month?

Pick Three And Break It Down Into Weekly Goals.

Weekly:

What is the top three priorities this week to achieve my monthly goals/tasks ?

Pick Three And Break It Down Into Daily Goals.

Daily:

What are the three actionable steps that I must do everyday to achieve my weekly & monthly goals/tasks?

Pick Three And Follow.

Non-Negotiable Rules For Managing Calendar:

Here are some rules that you can not break when you're planning your calendar:

If it's not on your calendar. It does not exist.

Add your class timings first

Study time should be scheduled daily

Enter extracurricular activities/deadlines as soon as you know

At least a 20 min gap between two things is non-negotiable

Every day must have at least 1 hour of "Me Time"

No more than 3 extra curriculars

Plan every Sunday. Tweak it every day

Get Your Free Template

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Additional Posts That Might Help:

How To Self Study

How To Study Concept-Oriented Subjects

How To Study For Longer Hours

An Absolute Guide To Manage Your Time And Energy For School

How To Better Your Overall High School Experience From A Recently Passed Out Student

How To Study Multiple Subjects

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Ebook:

How To Self Study [Ultimate Productivity Guide] + Exercises. => Get It On -- Ko-fi

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I hope this helps!

[gatheryepens]

louisa may alcott, little women.

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08.06 🎉 ~ Birthday's and endings :(

Happy Sunday!! This week has been quite eventful, I think this has definitely been the busiest week I have had. It was my birthday and my friend came, then my uni friends threw me a 'suprise' birthday!!! This will probably be the last study post for the academic year, since my final day at uni is tommorrow. I have a presentation and report due. I will probably keep posting stuff about my placements that I am doing :).

I have also started reading SOTR, I'm so excited to keep on reading but I had to pause due to academia lol.

🎶- Fly me to the moon , Frank Sinatra

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BhIzOeaFejO/

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Louisa May Alcott, from Little Women

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The fact I’m turning 20 in less than a week is very scary….

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23.05 ~ Weekend and writing ✍🏾

Some photos from the past week. I’m currently doing my last module, which is very research based. We have about 3 weeks to write a ‘report’ and create a presentation about the topic. So far I’ve got about 300 words! I’m planning on doing some more before I go to work and after. My friends and I went for a picnic, and we saw Keats house (the Keats girlie in me was dying). I hope everyone had a fabulous week :).

WC: 300/2000

🎶 - white mustang - lana del rey

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14.05.25:

One of my 30/10 Pomodoro sessions from today. I’m not done yet, but since I’m taking a break, I thought I’d share an update. Right now, I’m practicing by solving questions and creating flashcards for new topics. I'm studying logical expressions—it's tougher than it looks. I thought I had studied this before, but if I did, I don’t remember much. At least I have a beautiful day outside, it's giving me more energy. I still have three more sessions to go, so I’ll keep at it. Hope you’re all having a great day!

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19/04🍥

Things I did today

studied DNA replication and RNA transcription

3 hrs biology

1,5 hrs math

45mins chemistry

1hr reading

decorated my phone case

went out for a walk

Took a practice math test today and got a B on both, but made a lot of mistakes

Mind is occupied with biochemistry right now, hoping to pass the tests coming up 🍡

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Alright tell me in the tags, what’s Your Poem? That poem you heard once and it has dwelt within you ever since?

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Day 73

2025.5.15

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I can't resist a pretty new notebook