Deploy Your Energies on Important, Immediate Assignments and Earn Better Grades

All too often in life, it seems that the times in which we felt most productive were times when we actually had the least amount of time to spend. What do I mean? Think about that looming deadline set by your boss or that all-too-rapidly approaching final exam. 

Do you find yourself "not" completing the work you're supposed to do, when you have ample time to get it done yet when you're giving yourself a time table and short sharp bursts of urgent timelines you excel above and beyond what you ever expected? 

Here are a few exact situations: 

Not important and not urgent.  10% of your total mark for the course is a book report, but it isn't due for another three months, and you expect to spend only 10-20 hours reading the book and 4-5 hours getting the report written. 

Get to work as early as you can so you don't end up rushing later on. 

However, how often does this important task turn into and "Important and urgent" task, which is exactly what you don't want What you need to do is pretend in your own mind that you only have a quarter of the time to get it completed, then you'll complete it much faster and be able to spend the rest of the time "polishing" the finished product into something really great. 

Not important but urgent.  A quizz is scheduled for the next day, but you haven't been to able to review anything. Though it is only 5% of the total, you are desirous of getting the maximum mark you can. 

You should have made time for this between everything else you were doing. You could have easily avoided all of the stress and anxiety that you have now subjected yourself to. 

You need to spend most of your time honing the skills you need more practice on, while still perfecting the strongest areas. 

Important but not urgent.  You've been given a project with a one month deadline. You estimate you will need approximately 20-25 hours to complete this project. When completed, the project will comprise 35% of your final grade. 

Besides organizing your tasks into realistic groups, you should give each one a time limit and set yourself a target date for completion. Your workload will then be more structured and well-thought-out so that the tasks should be less stressful. Then you can unwind before you again have to get to the focal point of each task. 

Important and urgent.  An important you had the final exam in two days, it is worth on 70% of final grade. You hadn't put in enough time - so much new material to cover you don't know where to start an exam. 

This is a waste of your time. The best strategy is to focus the majority of your time on working on things that are important, but not urgent; the trick is to plan your time to make this possible. Sooner or later you will find this skill invaluable in all the aspects of your life. 

The ideal coping method is to take a more objective look at the issue, and take the time to think it over calmly. There is no situation that can be best dealt with in haste; every difficulty needs some thought put into it, and every difficulty can be better overcome if you plan a little before diving into the situation. 

When you get the balance of urgency, study and researching for projects right and align them with a prioritized time table, in particular the urgent assignments and tests, you'll have a success formula that will see you through not only your education, you'll have a valuable skill that will enable you to complete any project in your working life as well. 

About the author: Dr Marc R. Dussault can show you how to easilyget better grades using proven "speed study" methods that anyone can master! Visit his website for more great tips on speed learning.