Lifelong Learning
8-Step Guide to Smart Time Management for Online Students
March 14, 2025
March 14, 2025
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One day, Moana - an online student who follows multiple courses on different platforms, browses her course pages one by one. All her courses have unfinished lessons, and the deadline is in two weeks.
She knows that failing to finish them on time will waste her money and time, and most of all, she will lose valuable certificates that could help her advance her career.
Why did she not finish the lessons day by day? Like many others, Moana juggled multiple priorities—her studies, a full-time job, and family commitments.
“But now it’s too late! How am I supposed to finish all these in two weeks…?”
Do you recognize the feeling?
Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed and behind on your coursework, just like Moana?
If your answer is yes or a nod…then…
Time management is the ability to use one's time effectively or productively. In other words, it means planning and organizing how to split your time between various tasks. If you handle it correctly, you'll find that even under deadlines and intense pressure, you're studying smarter rather than harder to do more in less time.
Now, a question must be raised in your head: how do you, as a learner, manage your time effectively without your learning clashing with your other priorities in life?
Although there is no one-size-fits-all method for doing this, there are 8 easy steps that you can take.
Let’s examine them.
The first and most significant step is understanding how you currently spend your time. You can track your activities for a week, noting down every hour you spend on various tasks. This includes studying, working, leisure activities, and even time spent on social media. Identifying where your time goes will help you see patterns and pinpoint areas where you can make adjustments.
Once you complete the first step to manage your time, you should identify the time wasters. The activities that consume your time without adding value to your life can be considered as these. If you check the activities you’ve done with your time in the week you tracked in the previous step, you can find them without any hassle.
This could include how long you sleep, how often you use social media, streaming videos, how long you linger over meals, how much time you text, etc. As an online student, focus more on the online time wasters, as they can consume a big piece of your online learning time.
The third step is setting achievable goals. Setting clear, attainable goals for an online student is essential for staying focused and motivated. Use the SMART criteria to set your goals.
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Relevant
T - Time-bound.
Once you've set your SMART goals, write them down or type them out as tasks to keep them actual and actionable. For example, aim to complete all weekly assignments by Friday, read two reference articles or e-books your educator recommended on the weekend, or dedicate a specific number of hours to studying each day.
After the first three steps, you now know what activities you are engaged in each day of the week and the goals you have to achieve in a specific period of time.
As the fourth step, you need to keep the necessary and unavoidable activities you do in life and remove distractors from your ideal day or week. Then, list the remaining activities and your learning goals /tasks. Seamlessly allocate specific days and times for each learning task in each subject.
If you have free time on weekends, dedicate more hours to your online studies on those two days. If you are busy the whole week, be smart and assign your lunch hour break, tea time, and commuting time to listening, watching, or reading lessons. Remember! Little sacrifices matter.
Incorporate time management techniques that work best for you. The Pomodoro Technique involves studying for 25 minutes and a 5-minute break. This method can enhance focus and prevent burnout.
Kanban, on the other hand, is a visual board with stages like to-do, in progress, and done, where tasks are placed in the to-do column and moved to the appropriate column as they are worked through and eventually finished.
Additionally, using the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks can help you tackle the most important and urgent assignments first.
Leverage time management tools and apps to stay organized. Google Calendar, Trello, and task management apps can help you schedule activities, set reminders, and keep track of deadlines. Experiment with different tools to find the one that best suits your needs and preferences. For example, if you choose to use a time management technique like Kanban, choosing Trello as your tool is better because Trello is a tool developed based on the Kanban technique.
Self-discipline is crucial for sticking to your schedule and avoiding procrastination. Create a designated study space free from distractions and establish a routine out of your studying schedule. Remind yourself of your goals and the benefits of staying on track. Reward yourself for maintaining discipline to keep your motivation high.
Life is unpredictable, and your schedule might need adjustments occasionally. Regularly review your progress and make necessary changes to your plan. This flexibility allows you to adapt to new challenges and continuously improve your time management skills. If you are lucky enough, you might finish your office work an hour early, which can be used to take a look at your lessons. Right?
Start implementing these steps today, and watch as your online learning experience becomes more manageable and rewarding. Happy studying!
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