5 Tips on Time Management from Harvard Graduate

Among my peers who got top grades or got into Ivy League schools, most of them had an intense focus on time management.

This post dives into 5 tips on time management, based on my personal experiences and successful habits I’ve picked up from my peers.

1. Have more than 7 hours of sleep

Time management is not about maximizing the study hours. It’s about maximizing productivity during study sessions.

Sufficient sleep enhances cognitive functions, including memory, problem-solving skills, and focus, making your study sessions more effective.

Throughout my high school years, I struggled with imposter syndrome, a psychological condition characterized by feelings of not deserving my place and believing I needed to work harder to match my peers' achievements.

To overcome the imposter syndrome, I reduced my sleep hours for additional study time, the worst decision I made in hindsight. Sleep deprivation led to decreased effectiveness in my studies and a drop in grades. I further reduced my sleep to study more and perpetuated a vicious cycle.

It was not until I went to college that I discovered the productivity boost of having over 7 hours of sleep every day, which helped me graduate with a 3.9/4.0 GPA.

2. Time management is about choosing what not to do

You can’t do everything well. You must choose high-priority tasks and dedicate your energy to them, starting with the most important and urgent tasks from 4 quadrants of time management above.

For example, preparing for an upcoming SAT or exam would fall into the first quadrant (urgent and important), and previewing for the next ethics class might fall into the fourth quadrant (not urgent and not important) when you’re busy.

The key is to allocate time and effort where they're most needed, ensuring that top priorities are addressed first.

3. Consider switching subjects every 30 min

For subjects I didn’t quite like to study, I rotated them every 30 minutes to keep myself from getting bored (I know, almost all subjects are boring 😅).

Luckily, there’s a study that proves that context switching helps you learn faster (Source).

If you're struggling with a subject, don’t hesitate to switch to another one before circling back. This approach balances your study time across all subjects.

The last thing you need is for one subject to eat up all your study time, dragging down your grades in other areas.

4. Enter the flow state and let it flow

Typically, after scrolling through Instagram reels and Twitter for a few minutes, I manage to enter the flow state—a state of deep concentration on a single subject where my productivity hits its peak.

Once you hit that flow state, try to stay in it and get as much done as possible. It's tough to reach this level of focus multiple times a day, especially with all the distractions we face today.

To effortlessly slip into the flow state, plan to tackle your most demanding tasks when you're at your peak energy levels and remove any distractions from your environment.

I'm currently in a quiet, isolated room with the curtains drawn to ensure that nothing from the outside environment distracts me as I write this post.

Remember that the average attention span of a human is now 8.25 seconds(!) (Source). The ability to enter a flow state has become an incredibly valuable skill.

5. Use the time we unknowingly waste

Every day, we unknowingly waste time - 20 minutes on the subway, 10 minutes waiting in line, 10 minutes between classes, 15 minutes waiting for a teacher to arrive, and another 15 minutes before heading off to private academies.

These quickly add up to more than an hour.

I capitalized on these moments to complete one of my homework. Typically, I used these brief periods of free time to study and memorize English vocabulary, finding it easier to concentrate during these short spans. Or I completed quick homework that I could finish within 10-20 minutes.

It might sound extreme, but I've seen a friend of mine studying English vocabulary while climbing stairs. He’s now a doctor in Korea.

By reclaiming the time you unknowingly let slip away, you can add an extra hour of study time each day. This can accumulate to an additional seven hours per week, amounting to 365 extra hours over a year.

Conclusion

Effective time management is key to improving your academic performance since your grades are directly proportional to both the amount of time you invest and your productivity levels while studying.

While I advocate taking breaks and valuing time with friends and family, it's also crucial to optimize your study sessions for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

I highly recommend adopting these five tips; you'll notice a significant improvement in both your productivity and grades.

Good luck!! ☘️