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Top 10 pieces of advice on how to balance your school life, manage your time and your workload
By Sangram Choudhury
IB diploma requires every student to achieve certain objectives. However, they must be
achieved without disturbing the balance between your school life and your life beyond. Time
management is key to success here. I have some tips for you based on personal experience:
1. Plan your schedule
Having a schedule is probably the most common advice for all students, and it is
preferred that the program reflect a specific time period, ideally a day.
2. Make a weekly to-do list
This is what your daily schedule should be based on. In the list, you don't need to
specify the time, but your overall objective should be enough.
3. Prioritize your work
Another important aspect is that you must be able to prioritize your goals, for
example, whether you must finish your university application or prepare for a test
depends on the importance you attach to either.
4. Break large tasks into their smaller components
Throughout the program, you will encounter big projects, such as your IAs and your
EE. They are quite big, so you must ensure that you break them down into smaller
sections, that you intend to achieve over a period of time.
5. Set goals and deadlines for projects
However, deadlines and goals for such projects are necessary otherwise, too much
effort will be wasted.
6. Ensuring stress is within limits
If things go wrong, not according to plan, it's ok. It can happen and is quite common.
It is important to not stress about the failure but rather reflects upon what caused the
failure, and then reschedule it for another time.
7. Be a better version of yourself
Your objective shouldn't be to be a perfectionist, but rather every step you take
should make you realize that you are better than before. This could also play a role in
stress reduction.
8. Distinguish between entertainment and academics
It is of course important to give yourself a break. Therefore it is important to set aside
some time for yourself, and it is best done by ensuring that you separate the place of
entertainment from the place of study, a clear distinction between the two can prove
to be very beneficial.
9. Learn to speak for yourself, and say no
Sometimes in order to achieve something, one has to give up something. Therefore
prioritize accordingly. Regardless of what others think of you, you should prioritize
yourself most if not all of the time, even if that means saying no to your closest
friends.
10. Don't be ashamed to ask for help
If you are really stressed, don't be ashamed to ask for help. Asking teachers for help
can be quite intimidating sometimes, therefore you are recommended to take advice
from your peers or your seniors.
To conclude, I would like to reiterate that this is your fight and yours alone. People will help
you, but the final decision will be yours. This is your fight, and the diploma you will receive at
the end will be yours and yours alone. Wishing you all the best.
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