The Importance Of Time Management To Nursing Students
Time management is the “process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on specific activities”. Nursing school involves many responsibilities. Time is one thing nursing students may feel that there is not enough of. A student may not be able to control time but he or she can control how their time is spent throughout the day. It is easy to lose track of time. According to Sage Journals, effective time management can lead to greater academic performance and lower levels of anxiety. It is hard to find a balance between nursing students’ social life, families, jobs, and school.
There have been several studies to identify the positive impact of time management. Students who have gained skills to improve their time management have had a positive impact on the students learning and overall outcome of their performance. Time management has also shown to have a positive impact on student’s study habits. Time management is not only important while at school, but it also helps have a balance between sleep, exercise, and diet. How we spend our time is up to us to decide and with the help of this tool a student can have control of his or her activities. Several tips to stay organized while in nursing school include keeping a planner, prioritizing, staying organized, and limiting time on social media.
There are students in nursing school who juggle going to work and taking care of a family all while trying to fit time to study and time for him or herself in-between. The use of a planner or calendar can be used to block out times in the day for different activities. Time should be set aside each day to study and work on assignments that are due. Having time blocked for studying will help the student achieve goals and get assignments done early. Instead of the student procrastinating till the day of the due date, during this blocked time the student will be able to work on assignments and get others done as well. There may not be one assignment due each day and trying to get three or four done in one day may not be possible. Once a student finds a schedule that works for them, he or she should stick with it. The planner should be scheduled around what works best for the student.
Prioritization can be one of the most beneficial tools a nursing student can utilize. When balancing a job, a family, and nursing school it is important to prioritize time. There are only twenty-four hours in a day and within these hours six to eight hours are spent sleeping. With the use of the planner, a nursing student can prioritize which assignments he or she needs to start first depending on the due dates. Prioritization also helps when the student has two exams in one week. Studying for more than one exam the same week is overwhelming due to all the information needing to be learned. The first several days of the week can be spent studying for the second exam then the last couple days should be spent studying for the first exam.
The use of a planner can help a student stay organized. Having separate folders for each class can help keep papers, assignments, and notes separated. Staying organized can include writing assignments and their due date in the planner. This may also help the student from getting overwhelmed. A student may have more than one assignment due in the same week. If the student keeps all assignments and notes for each class together some papers may be lost or get misplaced within all the others.
Limit time spent on social media. A person may think that he or she is only going to spend ten minutes looking at Facebook and before they realize it, they may have spent thirty minutes on Facebook. It is fun to be on social media and be connected with friends and family, but this can be one of the biggest distractions and time-consuming. Goals should be set and when these goals are met, a reward of a fifteen-minute social media break can be possible.
A nursing student must accept that many changes are going to happen while in school. Some of these changes will include when and where their time is spent. There are going to be times where the student is not going to be able to attend that Friday night football game, or attend their best friend’s birthday party, or even attend their little brothers’ extracurricular activities. The student must learn to manage their time and take one step at a time. While in nursing school many activities are going to have to be missed or postponed because the student either has an exam that week or has several assignments due.
Poor time management can lead to increase stress, missed deadlines, poor work quality, poor exam grades, and sleep disturbances. Procrastination can affect how a student manages his or her time. If the student has three assignments due in one day and waits until the due date, he or she may not have enough time. An article in the Sage Journals mentions that individuals underestimate how much time an assignment takes to complete. The student may have to attend class the same day or something unexpected may come up the same day. When something unexpected comes up during the day, it makes a huge impact on the student because now is going to be limited on how much time he or she can spend on the assignments that are due. Everything we do takes up time.
Nursing school can be overwhelming and at times feel like it is too much for a student to handle. If he or she prioritizes their times with the use of a planner and stays organized, they have an increased chance for success. If a student takes on more than he or she can handle at a time this increases his or her to miss an assignment deadline. Getting assignments done and started early will help the nursing student have more time available to spend at work or to spend with their families.
