Ever looked at your child studying and wondered if they are putting in enough effort? Or thought about how much top students study? Hopefully, I can answer your doubts with a sample of a timetable that my successful students follow.
Maximize Productivity
When you maximize productivity, you also maximize your efficiency.
Timetables are essential especially in a busy student’s life as there are so many different activities happening in a day. With a timetable, it will help to organize and plan the student’s time well. This maximizes efficiency and productivity and minimizes wastage of time happening.
Increase Sense of Security
When you have a plan, you naturally feel much more secure and ready to take on tough exams!
The timetable will also help students to feel secure as their revision plans are in place and this prevents students from feeling lost and stressed up. When students are aware of what they have to do and how long it should take beforehand, it will keep students on task. Especially when an important examination is coming up, there will be a lot of different work to do such as practicing the TYS, practicing past year papers and planning tuition timings. Students will rest assured that whatever they planned in the timetable will be fulfilled as long they stick to it. Since a timetable can organize the activities of a student’s life, they will not have to worry about insufficient time to revise all of their subjects.
Prevent Work Accumulation
A timetable will prevent work from accumulating and being forgotten. As long the students follow a pre-planned revision schedule, they would be able to finish most of their plan. Doesn’t that sound so much better than rushing through each day and trying to complete as much revision as possible without knowing if it is possible to finish studying all of the topics?
Weekly Timetable
If you make a weekly timetable, your waking hours will be a lot more efficiently spent.
However, I would like to add in specifically that a weekly timetable will be better as there are a lot of students who tend to plan their timetable on a daily basis. They set unrealistic goals to finish as much syllabus as they can. However, it runs over their sleeping time and these students have insufficient sleep as they spend late nights studying.
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A weekly timetable keeps students’ plan spread out and it becomes realistic goals that students can reach. Since the weekly timetable helps to spread the time out wisely, students will be able to insert personal time such as spending time with friends or watching TV to relax. There would be no guilt in taking time away from studying as you know you are able to finish your revision plan with the help of sticking to the timetable.
After hearing all the benefits of a timetable, students often start to plan out a weekly timetable. However, there are common mistakes such as over-planning and being unrealistic in setting goals. Or, some students actually fail to keep up with the timetable after 1-2 weeks as they lack of discipline. Hence, it is crucial that students keep to the timetable as 1-2 weeks of keeping to the timetable would not be sufficient to show results. The time after the 1-2 weeks are spent inefficiently and unproductively and it will not aid students in achieving their academic goals. Hence, students should be encouraged to force themselves to follow a realistic timetable to achieve the best effects of having an organized timetable.
Sample Timetable
This is just an example of how much your child should be studying during the holidays or weekends. Notice how much sleep and rest they get in between studying! It is not how much the student, but how well they study!
| Time | Activity | Reasoning |
| 830 | Wake Up | Wake up bright and early to get used to exam conditions as exams are usually in the morning! |
| 845 | Have Breakfast | Eat some brain food that will boost memory and stay healthy. |
| 900 | Shower | Refresh your mind and body and fully wake yourself up |
| 930 | Revise textbooks | Ensure that you are equipped with accurate knowledge before you start revising |
| 1130 | Short Break | Take a short 15 mins to break to recharge yourself and relax yourself |
| 1145 | Revise textbooks | Ensure that you are equipped with accurate knowledge before you start revising |
| 1330 | Lunch | Eating will replenish your energy level with a moderate-sized meal. Starving will cause gaps in metabolic activity and reduce concentration levels |
| 1430 | Revision Exercises | Reinforce your learning by testing your concepts by practicing questions |
| 1530 | Short Nap | Most students will feel post-lunch sleepiness or sleepiness from the heat. A short nap not longer than 20 mins and not shorter than 10 minutes should be taken to improve alertness for later. |
| 1630 | Revision Exercises | Reinforce your learning by testing your concepts by practicing questions |
| 1900 | Dinner | Eat together with your family nutritious food for a healthy diet |
| 2000 | Tuition | Clarify doubts accumulated from studying |
| 2200 | Revise work done during tuition | Take the time out to digest what you have learnt during tuition to recap the learning and absorb the knowledge better |
| 2230 | Personal Time | Take this time to rest and relax, spend time with your family and friends as we should not neglect our loved ones while studying! |
