Juggling Study and Extracurriculars: How To Have It All | Caitlyn’s Hacks

In this article, Matrix Scholarship Student Caitlyn Tan shares her advice for juggling study and extracurriculars while still staying on top.

Me, Myself, and I

Name: Caitlyn Tan

School: Pymble Ladies’ College

Grade: Year 10 (2021)

ATAR Goal: 99.95

University goal: Medicine, Dentistry

A little about me

I’m a Pymble girl and I enjoy participating in the various activities. I run competitively with our school Athletics Team and am actively involved in the College Music Program. I also participate in Language arts events to develop public speaking and communication skills.

My subjects for Year 11

• Year 12 Maths Adv + Year 11 Maths Ext 1
• Chemistry
• Physics
• English Adv

My School life

I study at the Pymble campus and participate in Music, Athletics and Language arts at the College. I play both the double bass and piano, as the Captain of Orchestras leading my fellow peers who are also in the orchestras. I am part of my school’s Cross Country and Athletics team and participate regularly in competitions and races on behalf of my school. I also regularly participate in a variety of Language Arts activities such as Debating, Mock Trial, UN Negotiations. I also am involved with the leading of some small science groups and team competitions.

I am continuing with Latin and Music next year and will be picking up Physics and Chemistry. I will also be doing English Advanced and Year 12 Mathematics Advanced and Year 11 Mathematics Extension 1.

I am pro at:

Latin

I find the study of the grammar and literature of this dead language highly insightful. It helps me develop a greater understanding of the English language. I quite enjoy Latin as we study poetry, which has various meanings and can be very deep at times.

Mathematics

I have gained a strong appreciation of algebra from studying Stage 5 Mathematics and this has greatly enhanced my senior studies.

Music

Music is something that showcases the beauty of humanity and shows how there is fragility in nature.

I struggle with:

English

English can be difficult to grasp and understand. The marking criteria are often not what I expect. Currently, I am taking the Matrix Year 11 ADV English course to improve my English, as well as reading widely and writing regularly.

Mathematics

Sometimes I am inaccurate with my calculations and this can cost me marks in an exam situation. To combat this carelessness and improve my mathematical knowledge, I undertake practice papers each week and highlight the questions that I solved incorrectly. This way, I am able to identify my weak areas and refer back to my notes when necessary.

Juggling Study and Extra-Curriculars: Is it possible to “have it all”?

The short answer: Definitely! It just comes down to how well you can manage your time.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could have everything? Well, nearly everything? Between academics, music, sports and family it’s hard to find enough time to excel and grow in all these areas. And that’s why time management is crucial.

How I use Matrix+ to boost my time management

I use Matrix + for Year 11 English Advanced, Year 12 Mathematics Advanced, Physics and Chemistry. Matrix + helps me to stream my classes when I want and it provides a good online environment for learning new content ahead of the school curriculum. The appeal of using Matrix + lies in its ability to be available whenever you want, so you are able to refer back to lessons you may have missed and revise content during the term.

The easy accessibility and class quizzes let me know how I am doing in the subject and helps me to identify which sections I am weaker in so that I can begin early revision.

Time management

Time management has three main components:

1. Prioritisation
2. Efficiency, and
3. Actual timetabling.

Let’s break these down.

1. Prioritisation

Prioritising and dividing how you spend your time is all down to what is important for you and what you value.

When it comes to time management, you need to understand what is important to you – not just today, but also in the future. Activities that may seem laborious like training for the UCAT, actually have a long-term impact and can affect whether you’re able to get in those top med-schools, if that’s what you’re aiming for.

Here are some questions to help you figure out what’s important for you:

1. Why are you doing this activity? If you know the reason why then this can help to keep you motivated even when life gets busy or the activity becomes difficult.
2. Are there long-term benefits? Will this activity likely aid you in the future?
3. Are there short-term benefits?
4. Where does this(as in the activity you are doing) fit in the big picture?
5. What are some goals for this activity?

Depending on how you answer these questions and value each of the different co-curricular and academic activities, you can then sort out your priorities.

For me, it changes throughout the year but I like to keep a wide range of activities going, which forces me to manage my time efficiently while making the most of College life.

2. How to be efficient

Creating mechanisms that help you be 1% more efficient every day can have huge long-term benefits and leave you with more time to spare to do the things you enjoy.

One of the best ways to be efficient is to plan your time. Now, that doesn’t mean planning every single minute, otherwise, you’ll never complete your plan, but what it does mean is creating your own personal timetable factoring school, coaching and your extra-curricular activities. This way, you can be realistic about how much time you really have, giving you a better perspective of what is expected of you.

For individual practice sessions or music sessions where it is self-guided learning/practice, planning what you want to achieve or do in each session is important. There’s never a worse feeling than knowing you’re wasting valuable study time trying to figure out what you were supposed to be doing. This is usually best for upcoming in-class assessments or exams, where you need to space out your revision, whilst making sure you have revised all the appropriate material.

I like having a range of different activities with a balance of academics and music or other activities.

Having a timetable

Here’s what my normal timetable looks like:

So you can do it all – but how can you make sure you’re putting in 100% to all of your activities and commitments and “stay on top”?

Staying Motivated

At times, we all struggle with motivation – sometimes it’s just to get out of bed on time, other times to keep persisting after yearlies have ended. You might feel a bit burnt out and sometimes waiting for the motivation fairy simply won’t do. Having good, achievable goals in each part of your life is important so that you can stay motivated and visualise the bigger picture when you’re done.

You’ve probably heard of SMART goals and you might be rolling your eyes now, but they actually work – with practice!

Setting a Good Goal

When setting goals you want to make sure it has the following qualities:

• Specific – What exactly do you want? The more precise you are, the better the journey will be in working towards that goal.
• Measurable – How will you know you’ve achieved it? If it’s some vague, wishy-washy goal with no real end, then it can be hard to understand what you are striving for and it becomes easy to lose motivation.
• Achievable – Is it attainable? Now’s the time for the reality check. Sure, dream big, but is it something realistic that you can do and is possible – in other words – something within your control. Your goal might be “To be in the Physics Olympiad Team” but that ultimately depends on the people choosing the team. Instead, your goal might be “Gain a better understanding of Physics concepts and problem-solving to be considered for the Olympiad Team.”
• Relevant – Is the goal relevant? This part is to make sure that this goal matters to you and aligns with what you want because, in the end, you are still responsible for achieving your own goal. Make sure it’s something worthwhile and you have the capacity to pursue your own goal.
• Time – When will you achieve the goal by? Having a deadline forces you to focus and work at it over long time frames. This prevents everyday tasks from taking priority over your long-term goals.

Something else I do personally is setting out three milestones or things for each area that I want to achieve and stick out at these goals for the year. Also, include the reasons why you want or are doing something. This way, whenever you don’t feel super motivated you can look back and remember and be re-enthused to continue striving for your highest.

Having a range of goals give you a sense of purpose and acts as a guiding tool to help you achieve your dream. One small step forward is one step closer.

As Bill Copeland, an American poet from Georgia once said, “you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.”

My term routine

My study routine during the term is usually 30 minutes for each subject, more if there is an assessment or assignment. Other times, I just revise content from class putting them as notes.

Each week for certain subjects like Sciences, I create a list of study questions that directly test the knowledge I have learnt in that week. This means when I go back to revise, I already have a bank of questions prepared so I can begin studying with ease.

My daily rhythm usually consists of running, music, school and homework, just arranged differently each day. Some days I have to wake up early to finish homework and practice music and other days I have Matrix classes or running training. I usually spend at least 2 hours in total studying each night for different subjects or completing work from school.

My holiday routine

My holidays are usually quite action-packed. Recently, I have begun applying for different work experience placements that will take place in the holidays. Other times, I have Duke of Ed camps to attend, which provide a different experience from my normal study.

I usually meet up with friends once or twice, but before the holidays begin I create a list of all the competitions and study I need to complete, roughly planning each day. This creates a structure within the holidays, ensuring I do not waste my holidays and can use them to get ahead while engaging in relaxational activities.

Here’s what my holiday timetable might look like:

Exam prep

The time for exams is here. My top tip is to start planning early, because before you know it, it’ll be the day of your exam!

To prepare for my exams, I create a list of all the different topics I need to master and demonstrate. Then, I make a schedule of when I will realistically be able to study all this information.

For example, in maths, I create a Google Drive of all the resources I have found from the internet and from my teacher so that when I study, all I have to do is go through the google drive and open the resource and won’t waste time searching.

For conceptual-based subjects like Latin, I create a bunch of practice questions about the seen translation that are likely to appear on the exam and answer those.

The types of study and practice I engage in include; mind-maps, flashcards (spaced repetition), self-teaching, notes, writing my own assessments and practice papers.

Staying on top

I fight distractions by

When I study, I sometimes can get distracted by the overwhelming tasks that I have due. Writing a list of all the tasks and things I need to get due can help me to get stuff done quickly and efficiently as I know exactly what I am going to study during that time. I stay focused by putting away all my devices and turning on Focus-To-Do which fills your screen with a timer. I find this super helpful because it prevents me from scrolling on my laptop and gives me a realistic sense of how much time I have left, thus conquering my procrastination.

I keep healthy by

I stay healthy by engaging in running. I run in a squad with girls from my school, which provides a social outlet as we often chat as we warm-up together. Being in a running group keeps me motivated as we talk about our goals with one another and what we would like to achieve in the next time trial.

Having friends at running helps me to engage in the sport better as I feel like I belong and it helps me to de-stress as it provides a break from study and the screen.