Time management for A/L students...

Hello everyone!! So in one of my previous A/L posts one of my readers asked how I used to manage time for all the work that was piling up when I was doing A/Ls. So today I'm gonna share my experience and what I got wrong. (And thank you for asking that question btw. 😊) It will not be a fancy article with nice scientific words, but I will share you the wisdom I got during past few years and how I managed to survive A/Ls.

As I mentioned in that post I was not a person who worked hard from the beginning. I know there are some people who are devoted to A/Ls, but most of us are screwed. And it's okay. It's not like we have done A/Ls before. It's the first time and it's okay if you took a wrong path. What's important is to learn from mistakes and do your best to achieve your dream once you understood what you got wrong.

I don't recommend watching and reading about "How to study" videos and articles because it's such a waste of time. Trust me by 2017 I finished every youtube video on how to study (I watched those in my free time) and it's pretty much the same. How to study for 14 hours.. How to use xyz techniques. I think most of them are very unrealistic approaches and every person is unique. You have to find your own way of studying. In grade 12 when I felt like I wanna study what I thought was " Hmm.. I have to do this right. So I better google and search for the best method to study. Then I go through tons of articles and videos and too tired to actually study and end up sleeping". (If you have the same experience comment down below.😂😛) So now I'm sharing my thinking pattern  I had when I first started working and what you should do to make yourself get into work. Once Ajahn Brahmavanso said " Doing is easy. Thinking is the hard part." It is so true when it comes to studying. Thinking about studying and getting yourself to start studying is the hard part. Once you manage to make yourself sit there and start, time will fly. Also it takes 20 days to build up a habit. Once it becomes your routine you will automatically do it without any pushing. So let me start this guide officially now.

Why are you doing A/Ls? First you should have a precise answer to that question. If your answer is to go to university that's not the answer I'm looking for. Which university? What is the degree? You have to have a goal and it should be detailed as much as possible. You have to have realistic precise goals and limits for your mind to stop procrastination and get things done. If it's X degree at Y university you know the level you have to pass the exam. It doesn't matter even if that goal is to get 3 S passes. You just have to know what it is to work for it. We always need a purpose to work for. That's how we are built. When we have literally no idea why we are doing this it's only natural to screw it all. 

Now if you have an answer for that question the next question is how to get it done. First of all you have to know what is in the workload that piled up for months. Take a piece of paper (I used a book actually) and write down the main topics and the subtopics you have to cover. (Do it for all 3 subjects) I do not recommend  having to do lists. I mean like tomorrow I will do this and that type of lists. It just stresses me more. Instead I used to have a separate book to write things I did within that day At the end of each activity I used to write on it. (Eg: Physics class HW, Chemistry 1st chapter theories.) When the book kept filling I felt like I'm really doing something and that motivated me a lot. And I used to cut topics and subtopics from the first book only when I was 100% satisfied with that particular topic. So by just looking at the book I know on which areas I should work on more.

A lot of people recommend "Pomodoro technique" in which you study for 25 minutes and get a break of 5 minutes, but it never worked for me. Yes I study for 25 minutes. but that 5 minute break usually turn out to be few hours actually. Why? Because I tend to get distracted during those 5 minutes and spend hours doing totally irrelevant things.If you need to stay focused and study first for the heavens sake do not use the phone during "study intervals". What I did was, I studied in upstairs balcony where nobody goes. (Once I went there I was too lazy to go down so I had no choice but to study) I took a bottle of water and short eats so I had absolutely no reason to go downstairs.

Since I was a person who started studying way later than other students time was so precious to me. I did mcqs during the time I waited until teachers came to class (both in school and tuition classes). Most of the students use that time to talk about weekly gossips and I'm telling you, if you are not using that time to your benefit you will be the gossip once you fail the exam.

One more important skill you have to have is speed. You have to write faster. That's how I managed to finish the 5 hour chemistry paper in 3 hours. Even in the university I finish three hour papers in one hour. And that's not because I'm bright. I'm fast. That's a skill my chemistry teacher, Sakura miss gave us. She practiced us to write faster and faster. I am really thankful to her for that.

Also one area students struggle the most is Industrial Chemistry. My tip is not to just keep reading and reading it. It's a waste of time.What I did was I recorded everything into my ipod touch and whenever I traveled somewhere I listened to it instead of listening to songs. Just like we memorize lyrics of songs, with repetition we eventually remember everything.

So if I summarize everything I said,

01. First have an idea about the grades you wanna achieve.
02. Write down the topics you have to study and keep a journal to write about the activities you complete.
03. Get rid of distractions while you study.
04. Do mcqs whenever possible. Remember in every 2 minutes you wasted could have done an mcq and you might even get that particular mcq for the paper.
05. Be fast. Learn to read fast (This can only be done by practice.You have to do a lot of questions to get that skill) and write answers fast.
06. Do not just stare at lengthy study material. Be creative and findout a way that works for you. For some people diagrams and mind maps works. For me repetitively listening was what worked.

Those are the methods that worked for me to survive A/Ls. If people who already did A/Ls reading this comment down below things I should add and your experiences. For people who still haven't faced the exam good luck and tell me any topics I should write more about. Thank You!

Photo Credits

Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay

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You can read all of my articles about GCE A/Ls by clicking HERE.