By Angie Wilcock, High Hopes     A major headache for both students and parents alike is homework – it can be the cause of many family arguments (and nagging!), but it doesn’t have to be that way! It’s all about being organised and managing your time.

Discussions I have with both parents and students generally centre on the same issue – too much homework and not enough time. My suggestion is simple – if you can’t control the amount of homework and assignments given (and you really can’t!) then you must take charge of how you get it done. In simple terms, you need a SYSTEM!

Parents stress almost as much as the students when it comes to completing work on time – students need to take more responsibility as they get further into their senior years, but parents still like to ‘stay in the loop’ and offer constructive help when they can.

Here’s a summary of tips for organisation and time management:

• Develop a filing and storage system for notes, papers etc – don’t work in chaos! Rather than letting papers pile up, or losing track of them altogether, perhaps try sorting them into subject folders – a little like an ‘inbox’ or ‘outbox’ space
• Use a diary to keep track of all activities, and keep checking it! There’s not much point having a diary and not using it. Write appointments, due dates for assignments, exam schedules – perhaps colour code for easy reference. Look at your ‘busy’ days and avoid committing too much homework to this night – PLAN AHEAD and don’t leave work to the last minute.
• Use a planner to allocate specific time slots for completion of work – sometimes it’s easier to see an ‘open’ schedule rather than reminding yourself to check your diary each week in advance – use your planner to allocate and commit to time slots of work – this spreads the workload and deadlines are less likely to creep up on you!
• ‘Chunk’ work – break down assignments into smaller, more manageable   tasks. Plan and allocate time for research, draft, edit and final copy for essays and assignments and fill the ‘gaps’ with less time-consuming      tasks – again, colour-code if it works for you!
• Prioritise tasks and start planning/working on assignments as soon as you get them! At least read the task through as soon as it is given to you – try to get a ‘feel’ for what you have been asked to do – without realising it, you have already made a start!

About the author 

She has presented at state conferences and worked directly with parents and students across Australia over the past four years, and in 2010 joined the Generation Next team - along with experts in their field such as Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Paul Dillon and Dr Andrew Fuller - presenting to parents nationally on issues of adolescent mental health and well-being. She is also an online adviser on the US website AllExperts, and has had several articles on transition, learning styles and time management published in state and national education journals as well as on educational websites.  For more information on Angie Wilcock and High Hopes, visit High Hopes.

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