This is for you. If you are a student as well as a teacher. The two opposite job being done by the same person is the most paradoxical thing one can do. Out of necessity, few students go for the teaching job. There are many benefits of teaching if you are still a student. There are several demerits as well. The worst thing is time management. Both the job – to study and to teach – are the tedious tasks. But if one learns to manage the time, you are the most successful person.

There are certain times taking things involved in teaching and also in studying. The correction of copies. The evaluation of homework. The answering of the doubts. These things when combined with the task of studying your subject as you are also a student at the same time, could create a great amount of anxiety. To avoid such tensions, it is necessary to learn time management. There are several things that you need to keep in mind.

Before we move on to know the ways of time management for a tutor who also is a student at the same time. Let us try to simplify the concept of time management. Time management can simply mean “regularity”. If you are not regular in exercising your daily load of work, you could never think of managing time. Let us see, apart from that, how one could be regular as well as tension free.

Set clear goals

Doing things regularly would keep you away from the anxiety of the workload. It is easy to finish the day’s work on the same day. But the question is for whom are you doing all this? What is the purpose? What is the goal?

One needs to consider all those things that one wants to achieve. It is essential to think about both short term as well as long term goals. Set your goals clear.

  • Your goal should be really should be achievable
  • It needs to be specific, and
  • It should be time-bound

If you are handling both the work, the teaching, and the studying, you should decide the task you want to do daily. The topics that you are required to teach and the topics that you need to study must be fixed on the calendar. Having a clear goal is one of the most important things to consider if you have to do multitasking.

Planning the lesson

Once you have gone into the teaching job, you have to make a plan for the lessons that you need to teach. You also have to make a parallel plan for your studies as well. The planning for the 30 minutes teaching should not consume more time. Keep a record of the lessons you want to teach and divide it into segments. Do the same thing for your studies as well. Both lesson plans should go hand in hand. Teachers have a tedious task of lecturing that requires homework to be done. This homework or studying before teaching is the most essential thing for a teacher. But one must keep in mind that this should not take away your time. You need to go through the topics that you have to study as your student life. More time should be spent on your studies than your teaching. It is profitable if you are teaching the same thing that you are also studying for your examination or research. You would be at the advantageous side then. Above all, planning is a must.

Evaluation of the test papers

The most tedious of all tasks for a teacher who is also a student is the hard task of correcting the test papers of his or her students. This job would make a psychological impact on the mind. The burden of the piles of the test copies would ruin the day of a person who has to have his studies done.

There are a few methods that would help you to get rid of the burden of evaluating the test papers.

  • Never give more homework
  • Ask your students to exchange their papers and check if the questions are objective type.
  • If the questions are essay type, then, it is advisable to give prior information about what part you are going to evaluate like the structure or the grammar or the presentation or something else. It would help you to easily check the papers.
  • Ask the students to complete their tasks on time.
  • Always try to finish the daily work as scheduled. Piling up would make it tough.
  • Spend time on your studies. And in the breaks in between, you can evaluate the exam papers. This is the best way to do it.

Taking rest

The key to time management is rest. One might think it to be a time killer, but it is not. In fact, instead of spending time watching youtube or scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, it is better to take a nap. The mind would be healthy. Distractions should be avoided. Do not interact too much with friends nor with the students. If you are a teacher, you would have many students trying to contact you for some kind of help. Do not give them extra time if they are found with unimportant doubts. Avoid moving around with friends until your studies are complete.

Be smart with the technology

Both the study as well as the teaching needs to be made easier through the use of technology. There is no need to engage time in giving feedback to every student you teach. You can make a virtual group and send audio feedback. Also, many things can be done through mobile phones. Several apps would help you be organised. A lot of time would be saved.

No procrastination

procrastination is like a credit card until you get the bill. We all procrastinate at one or another point of time and researchers suggest that it is immensely high among students than in teachers. The overwhelming majority of past empirical research on procrastination has been accumulated based on student samples. There is only scattered initial empirical evidence suggesting that teachers are at risk of procrastination in their profession. Therefore, being both a tutor as well as a student, one needs to avoid procrastination more with the student facet of self.

Segregating personal time

Being both a teacher as well as a student simultaneously, one has many tasks that require attention, concentration, and focus. Prioritizing time for personal needs is necessary to effectively implement and execute the plans for educating students as a teacher as well as the accomplishment of the academic task as a student. This is because lack of personal time and space can lead to exhaustion in the temperament of teachers as well as less concentration, focus, and attention in students which ultimately leads to less effective and efficient results for both the student as well as tutor facet of the individual.

Strategy-oriented work

Both the academic periphery as well as teaching periphery requires a well-articulated and coherent strategy schedule for its proper accomplishment. It is essential to strategically plan homework assignments by the student and evaluating the assignment in the allotted time by the tutor to avoid the unnecessary burden and manage time efficiently.

Prioritization

Setting priorities and organising the day about the most important task is vital to time management. It helps in tracking the records of the day to get the best out of it. Effective prioritising is the arrangement of workload based on both the eminence of the tasks as well as the resulting impact of the accomplished tasks. The individual simultaneously both as a tutor as well as a student essentially needs to prioritise his work accordingly.

Stress management

Mental health essentially is taken in special notice while practicing efficient time management. To stay motivated and perform well in the academics for the student and classroom for the tutor while going through the schedule, it is mandatory to handle stress positively. Being both a teacher as well as a student simultaneously, we might do this but having small frequent breaks in between our tiring schedule or by rewarding oneself after the offset of the accomplishment of the tasks.

Time management is a skill. It is not something innate. It is developed over time. The ways to do time management can vary from person to person. Everyone has different potentials but the basis of time management being regularity or consistency, it can be done by anyone. It needs effort and proper guidance. The above-listed ways can prove to be helpful for a student cum teacher. When one has the task of studying for his or her academic and also the task of teaching other students for some amount of pocket money. The skill of time management can keep you distanced from all kinds of workload and pressure. The discussions above provide us with simpler rules to tackle the problem that many of the student’s cum teachers possess.