How to Make School Time Go Fast

Come to class ready to learn. If you do not know anything about the lesson that day, you will be very bored sitting in class because you do not understand the lesson. Time will pass more slowly when we are bored. If you prepare in advance, the class will seem to be more interesting, and the time will also pass faster. ^[6]

• Prepare lessons before class, including all reading materials. This will also help you review previous notes to remember where the lesson went while you wait for class to begin. ^[7]
• Being physically prepared before class also helps. You should eat a nutritious breakfast or lunch and get enough sleep so you can focus on your lesson while sitting in class. ^[8]

Interact with teachers and classmates. When you get a chance, speak up in class. Join in as people discuss. If you don’t divide the class into small groups to discuss, at least your teacher will still encourage students to ask and answer questions. Having you actively participate in the lesson instead of being bored and sitting still will help the class seem to go by faster. ^[9]

Improve listening skills. Participating in class is not only about speaking more, but also about listening better. ^[10]

• Try to ignore sounds other than the teacher’s lecture or when classmates speak. As such, try not to pay attention to sounds like pencils tapping behind your back, scraping paper next to you, or honking cars outside the classroom. You need to force your mind to focus on the teacher’s lecture. ^[11]

Take notes effectively. Taking notes is not an innate skill. You have to learn how to take good notes, and this takes practice. Luckily, you always have time to do this while at school. ^[12]

• Focus on the main points. You can’t write down every word your teacher says, unless you bring a laptop to class and are able to type extremely fast. This means you need to focus on writing the main ideas. The teacher will help you by highlighting the most important things a few times, maybe even telling you what to write. ^[13]
• Besides, you should also pay attention to the words the teacher wrote on the board or displayed on the projection screen. Surely you know that these are important points.

Try to express yourself in your own way. One way to help your brain work in class is to think of your “dream person” or someone you like. You can recall memories or take notes in your own words. If you just write down exactly what the teacher says, you probably haven’t really absorbed the information. However, if you try to put it into your own words, you will be busier and learn more at the same time. ^[14]

• For example, if your teacher says, “One of the great wars of the 20th century was World War II,” you might write, “Great war, 20th century, World War II.” . You don’t need to write the whole sentence, just write the main idea.
• Do not hesitate to use abbreviations to write more information. ^[15]

Divide class time into sections. When you look at the overall length of the class, you will see that time seems to go on forever. But when you break the class into smaller chunks, it’s easier to get through the short periods of time. You’re only doing this in your head, of course, but this little game will help you feel the class go by faster. ^[16]

• For example, you can divide class time into “starting class”, “absorbing information”, “taking notes”, “taking home notes” and “preparing to leave”. You can even write these sections out and cross them out once you’ve passed each section. Another way is to divide the study time into certain time periods, such as the first 15 minutes, the second 15 minutes, and so on.

Find out what causes you to feel bored in class. Write down things that make you uncomfortable or bored at school. Maybe it’s because you don’t like certain subjects. Maybe it’s just because you don’t like sitting for long periods of time. Maybe you just can’t stand being speechless for that period of time. Write down all of those causes, whatever they are. ^[17]

Try to find a solution to the problem. If you can’t sit still for too long, ask your teacher if you can give the class a few minutes in between to do some stretching. That way you can exercise more. If you get bored with certain subjects, find something you enjoy in that subject. For example, you may hate history, but you may find it more interesting to read specific stories about characters from that period than to study in general terms. ^[18]

• You can’t change all the things you don’t like about school, but you can change a few things. Don’t be afraid to talk to your teacher about things that might help you. Some teachers may disagree with the change, but many will be happy to do everything they can to help their students. ^[19]
• If you want to approach the teacher to suggest something, you need to remember to do this outside of class. Try going to the teacher after school. You can say, “Hello, sir. I have come to ask you for a favor. I know the class time is short, but I was thinking if the class can take a short break in between. I can focus more if I get a little exercise. I’m sure the rest of you do too. I understand if you disagree, but I hope you think about it.”