Unless the world flips upside down, students will never enjoy doing their homework.
Some of them might like the idea of getting better at something and receiving education to get a chance to develop a nice career, but they often find it difficult to draw the connection line between certain homework tasks/assignments and something they’ll need in future.
However, even the most annoying assignments have their own purpose.
They never fail to broaden your general knowledge, as well as get you used to the fact that you have to do a lot of things you don’t necessarily enjoy.
More important or less, all assignments and tasks have to be done. However, the most effective way to overcome something you hate doing is to get it over with fast.
You may probably relate if someone says that he/she spends too much time on getting the homework done. Who has not complained about that?
But, if you organize your homework life and develop a couple of useful homework habits, you’ll be able to significantly cut down the amount of time you spend on homework without harming the quality of learning, but even improving it.
Would you like to do that? Let’s figure out how then.
10 tips to help you do your homework faster and better
- Keep track of your assignments.
How many times did you forget about that 5-sheet essay you need to write for that important class and remembered about it the night before?
Well, you need to stop those desperate homework races and actually make an effort to fill your online/paper planner in.
If you have a phone, you may even set up the day-before notifications about those assignments. - Organize your assignments.
Use multi-pocket folders or office desk organizers for that matter.
Sort the homework by the days of the week it’s due for and make sure to go through it in time.
Plan which assignments and task you’re going to do this day in order to spread the homework load between the days of the week evenly and never spend the entire evenings doing homework.
Try to get your homework done the day it was given to you.
This way you’ll still remember the teacher’s explanations, which will allow you to spend less time on revising. And, you’ll consolidate the material way better. - Get it out of the way ASAP.
If you find it really hard to actually start doing your homework and concentrate on it, you should try your best not to postpone this tasks for later in the evening and get it done as soon as you can.
Come home, get something to eat, rest for 20-30 minutes, write your homework to-do list for the evening and go through it without taking more than a couple of 5-minute breaks.
This way you’ll get your homework done without stretching it out for the whole day, as well as make the rest of your evening completely free. - Alternate subjects and take 5-minute power breaks in between.
Your brain will find it easier to keep focused if you compile your homework to-do list the way that different types of activities (like reading and writing, hard and easy) and subjects (like math, literature, science, history) change each other.
The longer your brain remains focused and ‘on top of things’, the quicker and more effective you’ll be. - Devote certain hours of your day to homework.
Make them the ‘homework hours only’.
It’s Ok if you can’t do your homework for two hours in a row because you have your sport games or training, part-time job or other activities to attend.
Work on your schedule and adjust it to your needs. Just make sure that the homework hours won’t be interrupted by something/someone else no matter what. - Track the time.
Set the goal time for each assignment, reading task or a project and try to finish it within the desired time interval.
Be realistic about your time goals. Don’t get disappointed if you don’t reach them.
Even trying to finish on time will keep you from distraction on non-homework related things and push you to think better and come up with better ideas.
Thus, you’ll finish the homework a lot faster than you normally do. - Do it in a comfortable homework-designated area.
Working at a desk or some sort of a homework station with organized supplies and learning materials will set you on the homework mood, as well as keep you from running around the house in search of your papers, pencils, posted notes, etc. (That’s a total time waste, ha?).
Decorate this area to make it fun and personal.
If it’s possible, organize it in a quite spot of your house. Outside will sometimes work as well. - Eliminate the distractions.
Your phone and social media are the most distracting ones. Background music and TV noise, loud siblings, cute pets, etc. make you lift your head up, lose the point and reread the same line too many times.
So, make sure to stay away from them during the homework hours and concentrate on one thing at a time.
This way you’ll get your homework done a lot faster to be able to move over to the much more pleasant activities and spend quality time doing them. - Stick to the ‘No technology’ rule.
Of course, you might need to use your computer to finish certain assignments, carry out various projects or to look something up.
But, don’t use your computer for anything else during the homework time. Close all those YouTube and Facebook tabs not to get tempted ‘just to have a look’.
Turn off the Wi-Fi on your phone and tablet not to be distracted by incoming notifications. Mute your phone as well. - Don’t be ashamed to ask for help.
You’re still learning, right? You’re trying to understand and solve problems, but not invent something that’s already been invented.
Ask your parents, friends, older siblings to help you solve the unapproachable problem. Obviously, don’t expect them to do everything for you.
If you know that the school work is too much for you to handle on your own, ask your parents to consider finding you a tutor (on HireRush.com, for instance).
An experienced pro will help you improve your learning skills along with the homework confidence.
