IB Survival Guide: Time management tips and strategies all IB 45 students use

IB is rigorous. Especially in grade 12, most students find it hard to juggle the immense academic pressure, the consistent deadlines and social life all at the same time. However, here at MyIBTutor, not only do we want you to survive the IB, we want you to thrive. We believe that time management is one of the most essential skills for succeeding in the IB. Time management does not have to be difficult. Just follow these 3 time management tips which helped our tutors achieve 44s and 45s.

1. Always schedule your day one day in advance

This may be a simple tip; however, you would be surprised how few people actually schedule their days. Scheduling your studies is the bread and butter of time management when it comes to the IB.

Nowadays, you can schedule your day using a huge variety of apps; Google calendar, Click-up, and Morgen; however, the platform you use hardly matters. Most importantly there are a few fundamental principles you must follow.

Firstly, people seem to have a tendency to think they are 100% efficient. Do NOT make this mistake. We become distracted easily, so it is unrealistic to expect flawless transitions between tasks. When scheduling, leave buffer time between tasks, where you plan to do nothing. This will help create a more effective study plan. See the timetable below as an example.

Example for an effective time table

2. Learn the difference between Important and Urgent

You have probably noticed by now that work expands to fill the time available. Think back to the times when you had given yourself 1 week to do an assessment; that assessment kept you busy all week. Whereas your friend, an active procrastinator, managed to finish the same amount of work in the last before the assessment was due. This effect is called Parkinson’s law.

If we do not effectively time manage and prioritise our tasks, we will find that unimportant tasks will begin to fill up all our time. This is why it is essential to understand the difference between important and urgent.

Important things result in a positive return over a long period of time. For example, studying a language for 10 minutes every day is essential, even though it may not be urgent.

On the other hand, urgent tasks are tasks that need attention now. The math homework that is due tomorrow is urgent, but it may not be as important as other tasks that have a greater impact on your overall success in the IB program.

It is always better to prioritise important tasks over urgent tasks when managing your time. Doing this over the long term will have the largest impact on your academics. In general, it is good to use the matrix shown below.

Importance and Urgency matrix

3. Track how many hours you really study.

Image of study tracking app - Forest

Most students spend half their day sitting down contemplating in front of a desk and consider it studying. In reality, this is not true.

The time you spend studying is NOT the time you spend learning.

To get a good understanding of how much time you are REALLY spending studying and learning, we recommend using a studying tracking app, such as Forest, which will keep a record of how many hours you spend studying. Make sure to only record your effective studying time and not buffer or transition periods. This will allow you to get a good idea of how effective your studying sessions truly are!

That's it. By following these time management tips and using tools like Forest, you can stay on track and make the most of your study time in the IB program.