adminEugine Makaya
Advanced Level results are out and many students are celebrating their success while others are sorrowful. Please do not despair if you did not do well. There is always a second chance; and when you get it utilise it fruitfully.
In Part I of this article I alluded to the types of examinations, planning for an examination and the syllabus as a guide to the examination roadmap. And in this article I am taking you through support systems vital for future exams; starting with time, time management and finally task prioritisation.
Timing
As a student preparing for an examination, it is very important to know that the best resource at your disposal is time. Thus, you should use your time as efficiently as possible. Efficient utilisation of time does not mean that you totally forego your social responsibilities and activities. Actually, you can engage in social responsibilities responsibly; and that can work to your favour as a way of refreshing your mind. For example, sports and exercises are the best ways of refreshing your mind.
Depending on your concentration span, you can mix up activities and or topics and subject disciplines to enhance your concentration. Thus, timing is very important and you should be very sensitive to your concentration capabilities.
The level of concentration needed, the time of the day and your study venue play a very vital role during exam preparation.
This follows from the fact that certain subjects and/or topics require special attention than others.
Always remember that it is very important to keep healthy during exam preparation. You need to eat well and sleep well.
Thus, you need to time your eating and your sleeping for enhanced concentration when studying.
What is time?
Whatever the definition of time you have, time remains an asset that you need to guard jealously. They say time is money, and as such there is a lot of value in every minute you utilise or waste.
Time management
If you cannot manage your time, then you cannot manage yourself. Hence, you need to go back to the drawing board; otherwise exam success is a nightmare.
“To succeed in a race of time is to be ahead of time!”
It is always good practice to do things ahead of time. The moment you succeed in working ahead of time, you will find that you are serving yourself from troubles.
As life is full of eventualities it is best to do the things that matter most first and spare more time for revision and self-consolidation.
Time management is all about knowing how much time you have for a specific task and how to allocate it to the respective tasks. Usually, poor time management leads to stress.
Although all examination preparation tasks are important, it is good practice to prioritise these tasks. You ought to know which tasks should be done first and/ or are pre-requisites of the subsequent tasks.
Prioritisation of tasks
Your examination preparation plan is the best tool that you can use to prioritise tasks. All the tasks should be broken down and then be ranked according to the urgency of attention that each deserves. A very important behavioural sciences tool is shown in a table herein.
The table is used to establish the importance and urgency of a task. Some tasks are important and urgent, others are urgent but not important, while others are not urgent but important and others are not urgent and not important.
Task priorities table
Urgent Not Urgent
Important I Important and Urgent II Important, but Not Urgent
Not Important III Urgent, but Not Important IV Not Urgent and Not Important
The urgency of a task is its very important attribute, characteristic of an examination. Coursework submission deadlines require urgent treatment since marks are deducted or the work may not be marked depending on the lateness of a submission.
Tasks in Quadrant I require urgent attention and no time should be wasted before their execution, while tasks in Quadrant IV can be executed last.
However, it should be noted that though tasks may not be urgent and not important, they should not be left unattended for too long since piling up work may be detrimental. Those not important and not urgent tasks may turn to be important and very urgent with time.
After prioritising tasks there is need to enhance task effectiveness. This can be done through:
(a) Developing new skills
Setting goal
Time planning
Recognising effects of procrastination
“Sensing” time
(b) Celebrating one’s accomplishments
Examination success is not complete until you celebrate your accomplishments. Reward yourself for the success achieved.
You can do this by playing your favourite song, sleeping longer, buying yourself ice cream or your favourite drink. Celebrate it, you deserve it.The journey is still on until exam day. Till next week, good reading!
Eugine Makaya (PhD) is a university lecturer, researcher and author. Feedback: [email protected] or WhatsApp +263773208002
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