time management Newbie IB Preparation Tips

[NephKa]

Hey

I am starting the IB programme in a couple of months and, even though I literally scanned Google for tips on time management, I'd love to get advice from fellow students. Also, I'd appreciate any help on how to survive my classes, but especially Math HL. I'm taking:

Math HL, Physics HL and German HL 

and

Modern Greek and Literature SL, Economics SL and Biology SL.

Greek was mandatory

Thanks :))

[Seung Hun Han]

As a person who took MATH HL, CHEM HL and BIO SL, the best way to prepare yourself is to solve past papers. Math HL. Basically, once you solve many past papers, you'll find certain pattern in some of the questions. If you are aware of those patterns and ways to solve those questions, you can easily get 7. 

[NephKa]

Thank you soo much @Seung Hun Han! I'll try to get my hands on past papers as soon as I can.

[thecsstudent]

For Math HL the best thing you can do is just study consistently. If during both years and during the summer after your first year you spend about 3 hours a week solving exercises you're pretty much guaranteed a 7. For Economics SL you'll probably just have to memorize stuff it's not that difficult it just gets boring after some time. It also has the easiest IA. Physics HL has a huge syllabus but again solving a lot of exercises will help. I'm still not sure how someone can be sure for a 7 there.

Finally, about time management, don't leave anything until the last minute. If you have an in school deadline stick to it.

[Ditteee]

I didn't have any of the same subjects as you, but with 4 HL's, I've had to optimise my time management.

The backbone of my everyday-work was to go to school attend all classes, and when I went home I did homework rather than scroll through FB. If I'd had classes from 8 to 15, I might have taken half an hour or so to grab some food and just sit for a moment, but then I got going. This left me done with homework and assignments by dinnertime, giving me the evening to go to my free-time activities or just relax, or start the next assignment. It also meant that I could go to bed before 10 each evening, which I made use of, because a full night's sleep is KEY to getting good results while keeping your sanity.

Start assignments early. Especially those concerning the language, because here you will have to work with texts. My strategy here was to read the text as soon as I could, because sub-consciously, you will work with it, and when you then sit down a few days later to write the assignment, it will come to you much easier. This counts for every assignment really, start early, because if you then have questions or are confused about something, you have time to ask your teacher, or if you simply run out of inspiration or energy, you can leave it for the day and return the next.

I made use of lists on the tight days and during weekends where I had multiple assignments, be they the usual or the IA's. Just writing it down on a little notepad and putting it on the pinboard over my desk, where I could cross tasks of as I went along, was really nice and very satisfying.

Finally, the very best tool I used was one I didn't get until the start of IB2, from the people at Lanterna. They showed a picture of a table that I took to heart. It was a table, divided into 3 columns and 3 rows:

	Urgent	Not urgent
Much brain power
Less brain power

I did this on a big piece of cardboard, and using sticky notes I wrote ALL my assignments down and put them on my table according to the matrix it presented: for example would I put a math assignment under "urgent + much brain power" because maths was not my good subject, so that was something I had to prioritise, whereas finishing my artworks went under "urgent + less brain power" because it was easier for me and didn't demand as much from me in terms of workload. This of course you can adjust to your own subjects, strengths and weaknesses. 

[SleepDeprivationHL]

I'm not a great IB student, but I've learned a lot this year. So this is pretty much the most important things for first year IB;

• Don't start by expecting a heavy workload
  • You will burn yourself out trying to finish tasks as fast as possible thinking your teachers will give you lots of work in the first 2 months (Take it slow)
  • When the workload starts amping up keep steadily working at it; IB is a marathon, not a sprint.
• Enjoy your social life while it lasts
  • For the first few months of IB you might actually have a social life, enjoy this.
• Worship the marking rubrics
  • if you do this you will know why you're getting a bad/good grade.
• 2 CAS reflections a week
  • I did this, and honestly it makes it so easy if you do this from the start.
• Get a day planner/Calendar app/to-do list 
  • Things will get past you if you don't record it so you can check what you have to later.
• Get lots of sleep
  • You probably won't be getting this later.
• Don't sit next to your friends in classes
  • This might just be personal, but if you mess around too much in class you will miss something.
• Bad IA draft=Bad IA feedback
  • Always hand in the best work you can, even if it is a draft.
• There is no such thing as a free time
  • If you think you don't have work, think again. There is always something you can put a little bit of work into, even if it is revising.
• Physics/Biology/Chemistry/Math as an HL is hard
  • I've seen many people drop HL Physics, and Math HL is quite difficult from what I've heard, so don't take those subjects unless those are your strengths.
  • Unless you have some sort of addiction to Lab Reports, don't take 2 HL Sciences if it can be avoided.
• Juggling deadlines is like juggling chainsaws
  • It's very hazardous, and the longer you do it the more likely you'll screw up.
• The only grades that matter, are your own.
  • I cannot stress this enough do not compare yourself to the person taking 4 HLs, and getting a predicted score of 43/45 These people are not human.
• Ask the 4-HL-Taking Demi-God for their secrets to success.
  • These people are actually really hard workers, and you can always learn from them.
  • Ask if they can peer-edit your drafts, give you advice etc..
• The stuff teachers are telling you is actually pretty good advice
  • "Study 2 hours a night" I thought this was ridiculous, I was wrong.
• Learn from your mistakes
  • Don't get discouraged if you mess something up, you've got 2 years to figure this out.

[NephKa]

@Ditteee and @Alex Smith-napier I could not thank you enough <3.

Seriously, you're my heroes. I'll try my best to do and use everything you said.

Thanks again :))