Great Scot | Issue 172 | 2025
Finding the balance
Managing time well in the Senior years
Senior school is a time of increasing independence, greater academic demands, and a busy schedule of extracurriculars, social life, and rest. Managing time well during these years centres on learning how to make choices that set you up for long-term success without burning out along the way.
Developing smart time habits
Students often struggle with time-management not because they don’ t care, but because they get caught in a loop chasing deadlines, bouncing between commitments, and never quite feeling in control.
“ It’ s easy to become reactive,” says Andrew O’ Conner, Director of Teaching and Learning( Years 7-12).“ To avoid this, establish a personal routine. When students take more ownership over their schedule, it reduces stress and boosts confidence.”
Andrew encourages students to build small, repeatable strategies into their routines to avoid last-minute panic and maximise focus. These include:
• Getting started early. Procrastination is the thief of time. Techniques like the Pomodoro Method, 25-minute blocks of focused work with short breaks in between, can be effective at getting a little bit done early.
• Protecting your attention. Time management only works if you use the time well. That means working without distractions: no buzzing phones, no background YouTube. Treat focus like a muscle you can train.
• Revising smartly. If a subject feels abstract, try to connect it to something real. How will you use this knowledge? If it’ s an interest, make it part of your life through hobbies, reading, or community.
Jack Miers, one of our exceptional school psychologists, says“ Some Year 12 students have a personal rule of not studying one night per week. Elite athletes don’ t train every day so that they don’ t overexert themselves, just as studying every day can be a quick path to burnout”.
“ Studying for seven hours is not going to be as effective as shorter blocks with rest and recuperation in between. Boys often compete over how may hours they did. Some can carve out three hours of study and feel fulfilled, others might do better in 30-minute stints with 10-minute breaks.”
Jack’ s key piece of advice is to“ work out what works for you. If you attempt a personal best in every race you will hurt yourself. If you’ re taking hours upon hours to study for every SAC you will lose focus.”
Tools that work
Digital calendars like Outlook and task apps like ToDo can be extremely effective when used properly.
But, warns Andrew,“ be aware that using apps can turn into planning to do instead of actually doing. The trick is to stick to what genuinely helps you move forward, not just what looks organised.”
For students feeling buried by their schedules, Andrew offers this:
• Pause and breathe. Write down everything on your mind. Then separate what’ s in your control from what isn’ t.
• Start with one small action. Choose the most doable task and get it started. Action reduces anxiety.
• Use encouraging self-talk. Even a small win counts.“ The less you want to do something, the more powerful it is to do it,” Andrew says.
Nick Clark, Head of Psychological Services, describes a concept from sports psychology.“ Athletes often say,‘ My goal is to win,’ but the reality is you can’ t always control that outcome.“ Rather than focusing on getting a 90 ATAR, we encourage boys to set small, controllable goals: train regularly, get enough sleep, eat well. If you take care of those basics, success tends to follow.”
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