- Life skills and money
- Classes 6-8
- 4 min read
Study habits and time planning
Build good study habits with a timetable, priorities, short breaks and a quiet routine, and practise the time sums to plan your evening.
Let us begin
The big idea
Good students are not always the ones who study the longest. They are the ones who plan, focus and rest well. A simple timetable can make studying easier and leave time for play.
A routine is doing things at the same time each day. A timetable is a written plan of your time. Fix a time for homework, revision, play, meals and sleep.
Make a to-do list and choose priorities. Do first what is most important or due soonest, such as a test tomorrow before a project due on Friday.
Study in short sessions with short breaks. One popular way is 25 minutes of study and 5 minutes of rest. Two rounds take 2 × 30 = 60 minutes.
Choose a quiet, well-lit place. Keep your books, pencils and water ready. Switch off the TV and keep phones away while you study, so you can focus.
Revise a little every day instead of studying everything on the night before. Sleep well, eat well and play, because a rested brain remembers better.
Worked examples
See how it works
How long is the homework?
Homework from 5:00 pm to 6:15 pm. From 5:00 to 6:00 is 1 hour, plus 15 minutes. So 1 hour 15 minutes, which is 60 + 15 = 75 minutes.
Adding task times
Maths 40 minutes, English 30 minutes and Science 25 minutes. Total = 40 + 30 + 25 = 95 minutes = 1 hour 35 minutes. If you start at 5:00 pm, you finish at 6:35 pm.
Choosing priorities
Tomorrow there is a Science test. A drawing project is due on Friday. Revise Science first today. Do the drawing on the next days.
Sleep sum
You sleep at 9:30 pm and wake at 6:30 am. From 9:30 pm to 12:30 am is 3 hours; then 6 more hours to 6:30 am. Total = 3 + 6 = 9 hours.
Try it at home
My evening timetable
You will need
- A sheet of paper
- A pencil and ruler
- Colour pencils
What to do
- List what you do between 4 pm and 9 pm: play, snack, homework, revision, dinner, family time.
- Estimate how long each one takes, in minutes.
- Draw a long bar and divide it into parts, one for each activity, with start and end times.
- Colour each part. Check that nothing overlaps and that play and rest are included.
- Follow your plan for a week. Then change what did not work.
Ask a grown-up: An adult can help you check that your timetable is realistic. It is only paper and pencil work.
Practice sheet
Check what you learned
Practice sheet: Study habits and time planning (Classes 6-8, Life skills and money)
- What is a timetable?
- Homework is from 5:00 pm to 6:15 pm. How many minutes is that?
- Maths takes 40 minutes, English 30 and Science 25. What is the total time?
- If you start those tasks at 5:00 pm, when do you finish?
- You have a test tomorrow and a project due in four days. Which do you do first?
- Why are short breaks useful while studying?
- Why should the TV and phone be kept away while you study?
- You study for 25 minutes and rest for 5 minutes, and repeat this twice. How long does it take in all?
- You sleep at 9:30 pm and wake at 6:30 am. How many hours do you sleep?
- Suggest two habits that help in studying well.
Answer key
Answers: Study habits and time planning
- A written plan of what to do at what time.
- 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes).
- 95 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes).
- 6:35 pm.
- The test, because it comes first.
- They rest the mind so you can focus better afterwards.
- So you can focus and not get distracted.
- 60 minutes, or 1 hour (2 × 30).
- 9 hours.
- Sample answers: a fixed study time, a quiet place, revising a little daily, a to-do list.