“I’ve heard that hard work never killed anyone, but I say why take the chance?”
― Ronald Reagan
Someone should read this aloud to all the teachers and professors out there who made our life hell with those never-ending assignments. I mean really, what’s up with their fascination with assignments. Ain’t school and college timings enough for studying?
Well, apparently it is not.
The teachers and professors do not see it this way. Most of them think that doing homework is good for the student’s grades. They just want the homework to be completed, no matter what.
Effects of homework on students
According to a research by Harris Cooper, who is a professor of Psychology and research associate, “Homework has a positive effect on achievement, but the effect varies dramatically with grade level.” He deduced the following facts about homework –
- It has a substantial positive effect on high school students
- It has a fair amount of positive effect on junior high school students.
- It has no amount of effect on elementary school students.
- It works best when the homework is not too complex and the material is distributed across several assignments.
So the teachers should start giving homework from junior high school which is not too complex for the students. But the number of homework students are getting now days is crazy. Some of the students work really hard to complete their homework but in vain. They are just not able to complete the amount of work they are getting.
Reasons why some students fail to complete their homework
In the book, Rethinking Homework, Dr. Cathy Vatterott, who is an Associate of Education at the University of Missouri, carefully analyzes the reason why some students are unable to complete the homework. Those reasons are
Academic
- Tasks that are given are too hard and it’s not possible to complete them without someone’s help.
- The homework assigned to the student is very lengthy for the student’s working speed.
Organizational
- For some elementary school students, it becomes difficult to organize their stuff.
- It’s too much for them to get the right books home, complete the homework and take back the homework next day.
- As they grow older, they form a habit of not completing the homework.
Motivational
- Totally burnt-out from the work overload.
- Faced too much failure in completing the tasks which leads to frustration with tasks.
Situational
- Unable to complete the work at home due to lack of material for the home assignment.
- There are too many other activities going on at the house.
Personal
- A student is going through a rough phase in life or is suffering from depression and anxiety.
- A student has some family problems or some other personal issue.
One major reason for students not completing their homework is Procrastination. Procrastination itself arises due to a combination of reasons mentioned above. Some of the common reasons for procrastination are 
- The student may feel the homework is boring and tedious.
- The tasks are very difficult and the student feels incompetent
- The student has organizational issue with long-range projects.
- For some students, procrastination is akin to a preferred learning style. For instance, some students wait for the deadline as they are able to focus better under pressure, but sometimes in this process, they are unable to complete the homework due to lack of time.
While Academic and Organizational issues are easy to diagnose; Motivational, Situational and Personal issues are pretty hard to diagnose. Most of the Academic and Organizational issue can be influenced by the type of homework assigned to them. Teachers should be careful while handling students who do not complete their homework and should try to find the root cause behind it.
Understanding why we have homework
There are always two sides of a coin. What we’ve learned so far shows that homework is not purely bad or purely good.
Homework is like friction, a necessary evil.
Before I explain to you the 8 secret techniques to complete your homework fast, it’s important to understand why we do homework and what purpose does it serve. Let’s explore both sides of the coin here.
Positive Effect
Immediate achievement and learning
- Reinforces what you have learned during the day.
- Better retention of factual knowledge.
- It helps in processing information and thinking critically.
- It helps in the formation of concepts.
- Homework set prior to a lesson helps better understanding in class.
Long Term Academic Effects
- It increases the willingness to learn even during leisure times.
- It helps us form better study habits and skills.
Non- academic Effects –
- It increases self-discipline in the students as sitting at home and completing homework requires a lot of discipline.
- It teaches us time-management which is an essential quality for achieving success in life.
- It helps us to become independent learners.
- It makes us more responsible.
Negative Effects
Satiation
- Too much and complex homework leads to a loss of interest in academic material.
- It leads to anxiety, physical and emotional fatigue.
Parental Interference
- Students face the extra pressure of completing the homework from their parents.
- When some parents help their children in completing the homework, they sometimes use a different technique to teach, other than that used by the teacher. This leads to confusion.
Cheating
- In the quest to completing the homework, students start cheating from one another, leading to the adoption of undesirable character traits.
8 Secret Techniques to Complete Homework Fast
So far we’ve learned all the pros and cons of homework and why some students are not able to complete them. If it was up to me I would I have permanently abolished the concept of homework? But unfortunately I have no magic wand and I ain’t no Harry Potter. What I can do is, teach you some techniques ways to complete your homework fast.
So here are 8 techniques to complete your homework fast –
1. Planning
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Yeah yeah, I know this is the single most advice that you get from everyone, but this doesn’t work for you. Right? You like to do things on the fly. Well here is news for you; everyone keeps on telling you this single most thing because it is essential for everything in your life.
I know it’s really tough for some students, but you’ll have to learn it at some point in your life, one way or the other.
But don’t worry I am not asking much from you. All you have to do is note down whatever assignment you are getting in class on a single piece of sheet. Pretty simple right?
Next what you need to do is, as soon as you get the assignment, review what needs to be done for five minutes when the period gets over. I know suppressing the urge to have fun with your friends in those little breaks is not easy. But you gotta decide for yourself, whether you want to have fun later in the day, after completing the homework quickly or you want to have fun now.
After reviewing the assignments questions, if you feel you don’t understand any part or you have any doubts, ask any of your classmates for help. This simple technique will save you a lot of time.
The most important thing that you have to do is, scheduling all your work. I would recommend you to use some Smartphone app for this as your phone is always with you. You can schedule all your homework in a planning app such as then and there in the class or after coming home from the paper sheet in which you have written down all the assignments. The next thing you need to do is prioritize which assignment you need to do first and which assignment to do afterward.
Priority should be given to assignments keeping these three points in mind –
- Difficulty – Start with the most difficult task at hand as your concentration and motivation to complete the work will be comparatively high when you are just starting.
- Urgency – View your schedule to find the most pressing tasks at hand. If you need to complete Math assignment day after tomorrow and English assignment tomorrow, start with English assignment first.
- Credits – Try completing the assignment which has more completion points. For instance, if you need to submit a Math’s assignment tomorrow and you have to submit a science project a day after tomorrow. You are not sure whether you will be able to complete the Science project, which has more completion points, in one single day. What will you do? Well, the smart choice will be to finish the Science project first as it has more completion points.
2. Get a Head Start
While coming back home from the school, start your homework early in the bus. Share this idea with some of your friends, and tell them how much fun you all can have if you all complete the homework fast.
Now you will have some companions to do the assignments with you. In this way you can ask for help if you get stuck somewhere, and vice versa.
3. Preparing
- Find yourself a quiet place free from distractions to do your homework.
- Gather all your supplies before sitting down for work, as it breaks your flow if you get up in every five minutes.
- Keep a bottle of water and a table clock in front of you.
4. Routine
Form a routine for yourself. No one knows you better then you yourself do. So pick a time you feel most comfortable for studying. Then make a routine for studying in those specific hours. It’s all about training your mind and body. After a few days, your mind will start responding in ways you want to. Take small breaks in between. Start with 45 min of studying followed by 15 min of rest. Slowly when your concentration level begins to increase, start reducing the break time.
5. Focus
Stay completely focused while working. One of the most important things while completing the homework is – to learn. Don’t do the homework just for the sake of completing it. Try to learn as well while doing it; this habit will take you a long way.
6. Follow 80-20 Rule
The 80-20 principle states that 80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your effort. Apply this principle while doing your homework. It means you should know which assignment needs to be perfect and which assignments need to be just good enough. This is an art that you will learn gradually.
7. Make Use of Facebook
Don’t get me wrong, you should not browse Facebook while doing your homework. But you can make use of it in your short breaks. What you need to do is, create a Facebook group, add all your classmates in it, and post questions on its wall if you get stuck in some problem. This will be a great way to help each other and complete the homework.
8. Take help from online homework tutors
Many online sites have started that can help you with your homework problems some nominal fee. You should use these services only in these three cases –
- If the homework is highly valuable and you need to get good grades in it.
- If you get stuck in some urgent personal work and there is no way you will be gonna complete it by yourself.
- If the homework is extremely boring and you think you won’t be learning anything from it.
There are many online websites that provide such services. Two of the good and reliable websites are – Assignment Help and Urgent Homework. Online homework help options are a fast and reliable way to get affordable help with professional tutors from the comfort of your home.
So the secret of doing homework on time is….
In the movie Kung-Fu Panda, Po(the Panda) is a lazy, fat Panda who loves Kung Fu and dreams of becoming a Kung-Fu master. His dream is turned into reality when, unexpectedly, he must fulfill an ancient prophecy and study the skills with his idols, the furious five. Shifu(the master) and the furious five mock and disdain him. Po works really hard in training and wins everyone’s heart. When dreaded Tai-Lung escapes out of the jail, Master Shifu decides it’s time for Po to receive the Dragon Scroll. Dragon Scroll is a secret scroll that contains the secret to limitless power. When Po receives the Dragon Scroll, he is bewildered; there was nothing in the scroll. It was blank. At first, he doesn’t understand it, but later he realizes the secret.
The secret is that there is no secret ingredient, it’s just you. The scroll showed you your reflection, signifying that having faith in yourself will give you limitless power.
Similarly, there is no secret to complete homework fast; it’s just you, your efforts and your effective utilization of time. Of course, you can seek help from your parents, teachers, online tutors and any other resource in your reach whenever you are stuck somewhere but it all begins with you.
So these are the 8 secrets to complete your homework fast. 😉 Do apply these and share your homework success stories in the comments section below.
