By Lizzie Beaumont
TIC Food Technology

Having good systems for using your time can significantly improve your ability to stay on top of school, family and extracurricular commitments.

A start would be working out all the things you actually have to do for a week, month, year. This will include school, travel times to and from school, out of school activities, for some it may be church, caring for younger/older Whānau, part-time work, volunteering and of course plenty of sleep. Once you know where your time is spent you can start making a plan for how you can use available free time productively, for rest or enrichment.

WALL PLANNER – is this a great visual way to show what is coming up, this works well in a family so everyone knows what is coming up, it can work equally well for an individual to plan time for your own wellbeing as well as your commitments.

DIARY – Year 9 students will have been issued these (pictured left), but you can also purchase a WGHS diary from the accounts office. It is a good habit to write down homework and upcoming assessments in your diary, as it is easy to forget.

DAILY “TO DO LIST” – you could set up your own template either on paper (I sometimes use coloured card and have it on the front of my planner) or on your device. It is really rewarding when you tick off the tasks! You could allocate a symbol beside each one to identify its importance.

ONLINE CALENDAR – have on your computer screen for easy reference, you will also have the school assessment calendar you can access, as well as your option subject calendars to refer to