When you sit down to study without a plan, you just dive into the first project that comes to mind. The problem with this approach has been discussed earlier: There is little guarantee that the first thing that comes to mind is the most important.
If you find yourself forgetting to transfer data back and forth from your long-term calendar to your daily calendar (or vice versa), or you simply need even more help keeping the most important tasks in mind, a Priority Task Sheet is another tool you can use. Its sole purpose is to help you arrange your tasks in order of importance (not to record them—that’s the job of your calendar). That way, even if you find yourself without enough time for everything, you can at least finish the most important assignments. You can’t effectively deal with today’s priorities if you still have to contend with yesterday’s...or last week’s!
First, ask yourself this question: “If I only got a few things done this week, what would I want them to be?” Mark these high-priority tasks with an “H” or an “A.” After you have identified the “urgent” items, consider those tasks that are least important—items that could wait until the following week to be done, if necessary. (This may include tasks you consider very important but that don’t have to be completed this week.) These are low-priority items, at least for this week—mark them with an “L” or a “C.”
All the other items fit somewhere between the critical tasks and the low-priority ones. Review the remaining items. If you’re sure none of them are particularly low or high priority, mark them with an “M,” for middle priority, or a “B.”
Strategy tip: If you push aside the same low-priority item day after day, week after week, at some point you should just stop and decide whether it’s something you need to do at all! This is a strategic way to make a task or problem “disappear.” In the business world, some managers purposefully avoid confronting a number of problems, wait- ing to see if they will simply solve themselves through benign neglect. If it works in business, it can work in school. (But if you find yourself consistently moving “B” or even “A” priorities from day to day, reassess your system. Something’s broken.)
A completed Priority Task Sheet is on page 95. A blank Priority Task Sheet you can photocopy is on page 98.
Have you been taking the time to estimate how long each task will take, and adjusting your projections when it’s clear certain tasks invariably take longer than you think? Terrific! Here’s a way to use such estimating as a great motivator: Instead of writing down how long a task will take, write down the time you intend to finish it. What’s the difference? It has now become a goal. It may put just the slightest amount of pressure on you, making you try just a little harder to finish on time.
You can take this goal-setting technique further. Write down the times you expect to finish each page of a 10-page reading assignment, or each one of the 20 math problems you have to complete. Setting such small time goals is a great motivator and a fantastic way to maximize your concentration and minimize daydreaming.
And Keep in Mind...
Besides the importance of the task and the available time you have to complete it, other factors will determine how you fit everything you have to do into the time available. Some factors will be beyond your control—your work schedule, appointments with professors, counsellors, or doctors. But there are plenty of factors you do control and should consider as you put together your calendar each week.
Schedule enough time for each task—time to “warm up” and get the task accomplished, but, particularly when working on long-term projects, not so much time that you “burn out.” Every individual is different, but most students study best in blocks of 30–45 minutes, depending on the subject.
Don’t overdo it. Plan your study time in blocks, breaking up work time with short leisure activities. (It’s helpful to add these to your schedule as well.) For example, you’ve set aside three hours on Wednesday afternoon for that research assignment. Schedule a 15-minute walk to the ice cream shop somewhere in the middle of that study block. You’ll find that these breaks help you think more clearly and creatively when you get back to studying.
CBSE Sample Question Papers , Notes, Worksheets for Class 1 to 12
Download Worksheets, Sample Papers, Previous Year Question Papers, Important Questions Chapter wise, Revision Notes, Test Papers of Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4, Class 5, Class 6, Class 7, Class 8, Class 9, Class 10, Class 11, Class 12 to get more practice & good marks in your school exams. These papers and worksheets are of various schools and prescribed by CBSE as per NCERT syllabus. One can easily download the papers and worksheets and practice them.All the available CBSE practice material are of various subjects which includes Maths, Science, Social Science, English and Hindi, Physics, chemistry, economics, biology, computer Science, Business Studies, Accounts, etc etc.. These questions will help students get an idea of important questions and topics to prepare for the new examination scheme introduced from the current academic session.
CBSE Class 11 Maths Sample Papers, Notes, Important Questions, MCQs