How many times have you caught yourself staring at textbooks at weird hours of the night and even later, regardless of how early you started your homework? It can be understood by Parkinson’s Law – ‘Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” What does this mean? If, for instance, you allow yourself the whole night to memorize your geometry formulas for a test the following day, you will see that the task has, in a way, filled in your entire evening.
Of course, we know that you have a lot of homework to be done, but some tweaks in your routine here and there can help you spend time to get a lot more accomplished. Here, we have come up with eight simple tips and trips that can help you use Parkinson’s Law to your advantage.
1. Start with a list
Compile a list of everything you have to do in a day, and by everything, we mean everything. Little things, such as re-reading the notes from your morning class to taking a quiz to assess your understanding of the concept, everything should be a part of the list. Making a list reduces your chances of forgetting anything, and helps one stay on track, says Jasmine, who offers assignment help services with TFTH. The ideal way to go about with a list is to keep it handy with you.
So, anytime you complete a task, you can strike off that task from the list. It will help you ascertain whether you are on track or not.
2. Allocate time that you need to complete every item in the list
Try and be a bit ruthless to yourself here. So, if you think a particular task will take you 60 minutes, allocate only 55 or 50 minutes to it. Of course, you have to be realistic because there is no way that you will magically acquire a fast speed.
However, when you give yourself 5-10 minutes less than the usual time you take to complete a task, you try to keep yourself fully engrossed in the task without being bothered by the environmental urges. It continually motivates you to wrap up your tasks quicker, even when you know it usually takes longer.
3. Accumulate everything you need
When you sit down for doing your tasks, collect everything you will need to finish the work handy. So, from your laptop to the pencils, pens, and notebook, whatever you need should be accessible around you. If you keep getting up again and again to get things, it will only delay your speed of finishing the tasks.
4. Unplug
When you sit down to study, you need to unplug from the social media and constant beeps and blings of your phone. If your phone keeps ringing every few minutes, it will be impossible for you to focus on the task in hand. The best thing would be to either keep your phone on silent and put it away from you, or turn it off and keep it somewhere.
In any case, if you need to search for something online, do not turn on your device, mark it down, and go back to it when you turn on your phone or search for it on your laptop.
5. Time yourself
When you note how much time it takes to complete a particular concept or subject or lesson, it gets easier for you to plan in the future, says Nia, who offers the best product management courses online. So, for this, you can use a stopwatch to note when you start and stop a particular task. It helps you complete the task in due time and prevents any wastage of time.
6. Stick to the task
When you have to do some fact-checking on the internet, it may be enticing for you to surf on social media and get on to a completely unrelated website. So, as we said, if you have self-control, great, else, mark it down and come back to it later. Similarly, if there is a certain doubt that you need to ask your classmate, but you know that making a call to them will take longer than just doubt clearing, you can note down your doubt and ask them about it when you take a break. It will not break the flow of your tasks.
7. Take breaks
Each of us needs a break when we have been studying for long hours or switching from one subject to another. Taking active breaks is an excellent way to boost your energy. Tech breaks are indeed the best way to combat your urge of browsing while studying, says Linda, who offers online do my paper services at EduWorldUSA. However, usually, students have a habit of stretching their tech breaks unnecessarily. If you take a break of 10 minutes, stick to it, and get back to your studies after that.
8. Reward yourself
Finished the allocated task before time? Reward yourself! For instance, if you were to do a math chapter in one hour and completed the same in 45 minutes, use that extra 15 minutes as a break time. Of course, if you do not feel tired, you can immediately move on to the next task, as it will shorten your overall homework duration of the day. If you complete your day’s task, you can watch a good Netflix show at the end of the day and relax your mind.
So, these are the eight useful tips that can help you finish your homework on time. Always remember the more you employ this system, the easier it will get for you to adhere to it. If followed religiously, you will be amazed by the amount of time you shave off your homework duration. If you have more tips to add to the list, do let us know in the comment box below. Well, who knows how your tips might help some of our readers. Afterall, sharing is caring, right?
Rhydian Choi 
Kim Marks