Time management, classroom attention, and discipline are essential for students striving for academic excellence and personal development. Mastery of these skills empowers students to maximize their learning potential, improve academic performance, and nurture habits crucial for long-term success. With proficient time management, engaged classroom participation, and disciplined conduct, students pave the way for perpetual growth and accomplishment, establishing a solid foundation for a prosperous and fulfilling future.

Time is a mysterious term as it has no fixed definition. Some say time is money; some say time is your real asset; time is a complex and multifaceted concept that transcends disciplinary boundaries, influencing our understanding of reality, shaping our experiences, and guiding our actions. While its precise nature may elude complete comprehension, its significance is undeniable virtually. Time is measurable, so it is a physical quantity. The world exists in the past, present and future as there is a vague concept of time travel, which means moving backward or forward at different points.

Time management refers to organizing tasks or events by estimating how much time a task requires and when it must be completed. Calendars, daily routines, and class schedules are examples of time management tools. It is essential in every aspect of life, whether we are students, teachers, principals, administrators, or prime ministers wherever, to succeed in life; time management is fundamental to success in any field.

From a student’s perspective, attention, discipline, and time management are keys to success and extraordinary academic achievement. As time and time wait for no one, we should utilize the appropriate time to complete the specific task without procrastination.

As we all know, there are top-performing sets of students and struggling students in the same classroom despite being provided with the same set of facilities, faculties, syllabus, and other conditions. There might be some negligible percentage of individuality difference in perceiving and learning achievement, but there is not such a vast difference. The deviation occurs between the top performer and the struggling student only due to the difference in time management, the lack of concentration inside the classroom when the teacher explains and instructs, and other distracting factors.

We are aware that the 60% achievement of the student should be the outcome of classroom participation, which means out of 100 words explained in the classroom, s/he can perceive   60 words if s/he is attentive inside the classroom. With a lack of classroom attention and time management skills, the lack of self-confidence in struggling students arises slowly, and the curve of confidence tends to originate (Zero). Attention is essential to learning because it facilitates information processing and dramatically impacts students immediately in the classroom. There are many types of attention, such as sustained attention, selective attention, controlled attention, divided attention, spatial attention, alerting, orienting, or selecting, which are required in different situations, depending on the types of tasks that teachers provide for students. Suppose students can process the information they receive in class effectively. In that case, they will have a better understanding and be able to retrieve the information effectively when needed because their attention has facilitated the learning process. This will positively affect the academic performance of the students. Although variations among students cannot be ignored because some students have higher working memory processing than others, some suggested that training can improve attention span and working memory capacity. Training oneself to pay attention in class helps to reach the level of automaticity, making it easier for students to be attentive for longer.

In general, students also have 24 hours a day, and these 24 hours need to be managed by dividing them into different fractions to complete the specific tasks appropriately. Especially for a high school student, s/he spends around 7 hours maximum in school and three hours traveling from home to school and school to home. Besides this, the student must have six hours of sleep daily. Finally, a student must spend a maximum of five hours of total self-study daily. These five hours of self-study determine how confident the student is to tackle his academic issues. These five hours of self-learning are crucial to academic success. The student must comfortably plan these five hours so that s/he feels very energized.

I recommend that the students fragment these five hours into five parts. Each part of the self-study of the specific subject can be divided into two portions; the first portion should be 10 minutes in which students must write their homework assignment for the particular subject, and the 50 minutes should be utilized for writing practice of the same subject. As the student spends an hour continuously, s/he gets tired mentally as studying activates mental health, as the brain consumes maximum energy. Now, the body needs to be relaxed before self-studying the other subject. Students are recommended to take a break for 20-30 minutes doing different activities like making tea in the kitchen and serving to family members, cleaning socks, cleaning rooms, polishing shoes, watering their plants in the garden, having a walk around in their rooftop or back yard, arranging the books in the room, visiting market for shopping vegetables or other items with their parents or alone, helping mother in the kitchen, doing physical activities like cycling, skipping, playing badminton for a while and so on. All these activities relax the body and balance physical and mental health so the student can quickly self-study the other subjects readily and comfortably.

• 10 Minutes -For home assignments every day
• 50 minutes of writing practice minutely and frequently on the same topic

The student needs to have a sound sleep of six hours. Students need to go to bed for half an hour before falling asleep. By doing this, the student can spend 30 minutes every day reflecting on the whole day, like analyzing what different activities were done today and what is left to be completed so that the targets are completed on time.

After six hours of sound sleep, student needs to wake up early in the morning and need to be aware that they need to be active throughout the whole day in school, for which a short meditation of around 10 to 15 minutes would be an effective tool to make their day exciting. Also, this increases memory power and helps them to concentrate on their daily activities. This reduces stress and laziness, one of the most prominent distracting factors. Besides laziness and stress, the maximum use of mobile phones for social media or online games, being in a relationship, smoking or drinking habits, drug abuse, health hazards, and friends circle can be some of the distracting factors that hinder the academic enrichment of every student. Students must be aware that the distracting factors are the main reasons that drag them away from their academic success. Students must identify the distracting factors first and then try to avoid them. If they cannot be away from the distracting factors, they need to seek the assistance of the counselors. Resisting distractions means choosing long-term success over short-term fun and showing responsibility. Counselors can be their teachers, class teachers, parents, friends, or any staff of the schools.

Remember that effective time management is not about doing more in less time but the right things at the right time. Dedication and perseverance can unlock your potential and help you accomplish your dreams.

Discipline reinforces the importance of adhering to schedules, deadlines, and commitments, complementing effective time management practices. Developing discipline fosters resilience, determination, and self-motivation, contributing to overall character development and success in various aspects of life.

Discipline transcends the classroom, cultivating a sense of responsibility beyond textbooks. Students who practice self-discipline are likelier to take ownership of their actions, be accountable for their decisions, and exhibit a strong work ethic. These qualities benefit students academically and prepare them for the challenges they will encounter in their professional and personal lives. So, discipline is not just about doing well in school; it is about being responsible and ready for whatever comes their way.

By: Krishna Dhungana, Associate Program Coordinator, Science