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Decreasing students’ stress through time management training: an intervention study
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a time management training program on perceived control of time and perceived stress in the context of higher education. Twenty-three undergraduate students attended a time management training intervention and reported demands, perceived stress and perceived control of time directly before 2 and 4 weeks after training. We used a “non-equivalent dependent variable design” (Cook and Campbell, Quasi-experimentation: design and analysis for field settings, p. 118, 1979) with perceived stress and perceived control of time as dependent variables, which should be influenced by the training, and demands as control variable, which should not be changed. As expected, perceived stress decreased and perceived control of time increased after training, whereas demands did not change. Therefore, time management training might be beneficial for undergraduate students’ well-being. Nevertheless, more intervention studies in this field are necessary, especially with lager samples, to contribute to more robust results and conclusions.
... A limit number of points to improve were also identified, namely to explore more about CV design and job interview behavior, and students' mental health, and time management, which corresponds to suggestions of new topics to be considered in future editions. Somehow, time management and students' mental health are both related in a way that time management training might be beneficial for undergraduate students' wellbeing [16]. As also stated by the authors, time management is an effective tool "to clarify goals, reduce goal conflicts, develop appropriate strategies to achieve the defined goals, anticipate and overcome obstacles and, as a consequence, foster feelings of control of time" [16]. ...
... Somehow, time management and students' mental health are both related in a way that time management training might be beneficial for undergraduate students' wellbeing [16]. As also stated by the authors, time management is an effective tool "to clarify goals, reduce goal conflicts, develop appropriate strategies to achieve the defined goals, anticipate and overcome obstacles and, as a consequence, foster feelings of control of time" [16]. So, the integration of this topic in future editions of the Z-Tec CU will be analyzed and considered. ...
Personal skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork, can be the key factor for differentiation in a technological career. Attending to this, the authors of this paper were motivated to propose a different course (or Curricular Unit, CU) to students of Higher Education level. In this way, this paper describes the aim, objectives, methodology in the creation of an elective CU, called “Preparing Generation Z: beyond technologies (Z-Tec)”. Z-Tec, lectured for the first time in the academic year of 2021–2022, allows student to acquire skills that promote a conscious and reflective transition to the job market, namely: to recognize the importance of career preparation and the skills needed for this preparation, to integrate enhancing strategies as a starting point for career management, to recognize such strategies as facilitators for personal, professional and social success, and to identify and critically apply tools that allow to objectively analyze and decide the professional future. Z-Tec puts on active learning methodologies based on practical exercises, debates, seminars and reflective activities. The results discussed are based on the students’ perceptions gathered at the beginning of each semester, on the several activities that students developed and on the students’ feedback gathered at the end of each semester. A total of 62 students from different areas of knowledge (Engineering, Economy, to Sociology and Public Administration) were positively engaged.
... The findings revealed that time management was ranked first to be a predictor of success among the participants who were top students at their universities based on their GPA. In addition, Häfner et al. (2015) investigated the effects of time management training on 23 students` stress level at a university in Germany. The study culminated in a negative correlation between stress level and time management skills. ...
Time management skills have been considered fundamental to improve 21st century skills related to learning, literacy and life. Commanding the time precisely can facilitate people`s lives in many aspects. Conversely, people who are terrible at managing their time can encounter many problems throughout their lives. In this regard, the main aim of this study which was conducted by a mixed method design was to measure the effects of time management workshops on students` overall success in Foundation English course at Tishk International University located in Erbil, Iraq in 2021-2022 Academic Year. Correspondingly, 30 students in 5 different departments were chosen by convenience sampling method for this study which had a span of 8 weeks. The participants in the control group received a traditional instruction with printed copies on time management, while participants in the experimental group underwent a training period with three time management workshops. The data were collected via a questionnaire, an interview and two exams. SPSS 27 and MAXQDA were primary instruments to analyze the data. The former one was used to analyze the exams through independent samples t test, whereas the latter one was used to transcribe the expressions in the interview. The findings revealed that the students in experimental group outperformed in terms of success in the exams, the level of motivation and transforming their lives positively. The implications of this study can pave the way to integrate time management workshops into the curriculum at educational institutions globally.
... Preliminary research suggests SSIs may reduce anxiety, stress and improve mental well-being in nonclinical samples (Finkelstein et al., 2007;Häfner et al., 2015;Keogh et al., 2006). Further, research suggests single-session mindfulness-based interventions may reduce negative affectivity (e.g., depression, rumination, anxiety, stress) (Schumer et al., 2018). ...
Objectives
Loneliness, perceived stress, depression, and anxiety have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of existing mindfulness and compassion-based intervention are effective, but are time-intensive, decreasing overall accessibility and scalability. Single-session interventions (SSIs) serve as a promising alternative. The current pre-registered clinical trial evaluated a newly developed, manualized, mindfulness-based SSI.
Methods
91 adults were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) one-hour mindfulness only telehealth intervention; (b) one-hour mindfulness and compassion telehealth intervention; or (c) one-week waitlist control (before randomization to an active intervention). Intervention sessions were conducted by graduate students in clinical psychology. The primary outcome was self-reported loneliness; secondary outcomes were self-reported perceived stress, depression, and anxiety. Bayesian multi-level models were conducted to test differences between active interventions and waitlist at the 1-week follow-up and between active interventions at the 2-week follow-up.
Results
We found overall reductions in self-reported loneliness at the 2-week follow-up b = -2.36, 95% Highest Density Interval (HDI) [-3.36, -1.36], however there was no difference between the active interventions and waitlist at the 1-week follow-up. Compared to the waitlist-control, the inclusion of a compassion component led to meaningful reductions in perceived stress b = -3.75, 95% HDI [-6.95, -0.59], anxiety b = -3.79, 95% HDI [-6.99, -0.53], and depression b = -3.01, 95% HDI [-5.22, -0.78] at the 1-week follow-up.
Conclusions
Results suggest that a single-session mindfulness and compassion intervention may lead to meaningful reductions in perceived stress, symptoms of anxiety, and symptoms of depression, but not loneliness. Implications of these findings are discussed.
... Such strategies might be taught in different ways at institutions of higher education. Time management trainings for freshmen or including time management instructions in other courses, especially where long-lasting projects such as writing a paper or preparing for an exam have to be realized, might be two examples (Hafner et al., 2015). ...
Taking into account that time goes by very quickly and the efficiency of an activity depends on how time is used, the purpose of this study is to highlight the formation of students’ ability to properly organize their time through activities related to the design and conduct of teaching practice lessons. The current study is based on the responses given by 181 male and female students aged 21-30 years who were engaged in the organization and conduct of lessons within the professional training practice in school units under the guidance of coordinating teachers. Study participants completed, at the end of the teaching practice that took place between 1.10.2020 and 30.01.2021, a questionnaire where they presented information about how they had organized their time in conducting lessons. The research students attend professional training programs for physical education teachers, physiotherapy, and sports performance carried out in three university centers (“Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacău, National University of Physical Education and Sport in Bucharest, and University of Pitești). The questionnaire included 20 closed-ended questions. The conclusions highlight that during the teaching practice, due to the responsibilities derived from achieving the themes and operational objectives of the lessons, students have become aware of both the passage of time and the importance of making good use of it, which was accompanied by the formation of their time management skills.
... Furthermore, we suggest that measures should be taken to reduce time pressure, which affects mental health by increasing emotional exhaustion. As for reducing time pressure, interventions should be adopted by modifying study programs or structural settings at universities (22); simultaneously, time management training may help reduce time pressure for university students (87). In addition, support from teachers, good campus environment perceptions, excellent class (socio-affective, design, and organization), and motivating teaching behavior are considered to help foster student engagement (88), thus, enhancing student mental health. ...
The post-COVID-19 era means that the COVID-19 is basically under control; however, the risk of the pandemic still affects people's work, study, and life, physically and psychologically. In this era, due to the more challenges first-year college students face, more attention should be paid to their mental health. An emerging study demands-resources (SD-R) model can explain the influencing mechanism of college students' mental health. This model suggests that study demands increase the risk of student burnout, which results in mental health problems; meanwhile, study resources reduce student burnout and increase student engagement, thus improving mental health. Based on the SD-R model, this study explores the impacts of time pressure, emotional exhaustion, perceived social support, and student engagement on mental health and provides adequate measures to reduce the risk of mental health problems among first-year students. Time pressure, perceived social support, emotional exhaustion, student engagement, and mental health scales were used to investigate 537 first-year students at three universities in Guangxi, China, of whom 290 (54%) were female, and 247 (46%) were male, and the average age was 18.97 ± 1.01. Results indicated that: (1) Moderate scores on time pressure and emotional exhaustion and slightly-above-the-median scores on perceived social support, student engagement, and mental health were found among first-year students in the post-COVID-19 era. (2) Time pressure had a positive relationship with emotional exhaustion and a negative relationship with mental health. (3) Perceived social support was negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion but positively correlated with student engagement, and thus improved mental health. Results of this study with a sample of first-year college students in China support the hypotheses based on the SD-R model. These findings suggest that increasing perceived social support and student engagement while decreasing time pressure and emotional exhaustion may promote mental health among first-year college students.
Educational procrastination is able to inhibit learning process and reduce academic achievement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to predict academic procrastination based on time management, belief, and self esteem variables at Payame Noor University of Damghan. A total of 204 undergraduate undergraduate students who participated in scientific research were selected from 621 students studying in the academic year of 2017-2018. This research is descriptive and correlational. Data were collected by Educational Inventory Questionnaire (Solomon and Rothblum, 1984), Self-esteem Questionnaire (Cooper Smith, 1967), IQI Questionnaire (Babaie, 1377), Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ) (Britton and Tesser, 1991). The results were used to test the hypotheses and confirm or reject them from multiple regression statistics. Results showed that time management and self-esteem have a reciprocal effect on academic proclivity in students (p<0.01). There is also no significant relationship between academic procrastination with entity intelligence belief, but this variable has an inverse relationship with incremental intelligence belief (p<0.01).
A procrastinação acadêmica gera consequências negativas tanto em nível individual quanto coletivo: baixa performance dos discentes, aumento de stress, efeitos negativos na saúde física e mental e desperdício de recursos. Portanto, precisa ser estudada e entendida, para que se possa desenvolver mecanismos de superação. O presente trabalho busca, através de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, determinar qual a relação entre procrastinação acadêmica, autoeficácia e perfeccionismo ao passo em que analisa as estratégias, ferramentas ou técnicas
geralmente utilizadas para superar a procrastinação acadêmica. Foi realizada primeiramente uma revisão bibliométrica, seguida de uma revisão sistemática, em um protocolo de pesquisa com cinco estágios distintos, que resultou na análise detalhada de 16 artigos científicos. Com relação à natureza dos trabalhos, percebeu-se que os estudos não possuíam uma aplicação prática imediata; a maioria das pesquisas era exploratória, apresentando absoluta predominância de métodos quantitativos com utilização de surveys baseadas em diferentes escalas. Como resultado, os autores puderam propor arquétipos de comportamento do
procrastinador acadêmico, baseado na interrelação entre autoeficácia e autorregulação e a influência do perfeccionismo. Também foi possível gerar insights para orientar pesquisadores, acadêmicos e profissionais da educação no entendimento sobre o impulso ou hábito da procrastinação acadêmica e possíveis formas de superação.
The article presents the results of a research of the maturity of transprofessional competences in would-be engineers. The communication and self-management skills, including time management, may enhance the performance efficiency of technical specialists and increase their value in the labor market. The importance of universal cross-cutting competences is emphasized by their inclusion into federal state educational standards and, accordingly, into the curricula of disciplines. Socio-psychological techniques were used to assess the work of Russian technical universities in the sphere of developing transprofessional competences. An author-designed questionnaire, a modified chart for evaluating and self-evaluating preparedness for self-education by G. M. Kodzhaspirova, a technique for diagnosing communicative social competence, and a “Team roles” test by R. Belbin allowed revealing the problem zones and weaknesses in this sphere. Thus, an absolute majority of the respondents admit the importance of self-education as an element of professionalization, but preparedness for self-education is rather declarative. 40.6% of the respondents are not aware of time management; the same amount could not name the specific time management tools. Although the respondents are prepared to take on several team roles, their distribution among the would-be engineers is not sufficiently balanced.
A procrastinação acadêmica gera consequências negativas tanto em nível individual quanto coletivo: baixa performance dos discentes, aumento de stress, efeitos negativos na saúde física e mental e desperdício de recursos. Portanto, precisa ser estudada e entendida, para que se possa desenvolver mecanismos de superação. O presente trabalho busca, através de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, determinar qual a relação entre procrastinação acadêmica, autoeficácia e perfeccionismo ao passo em que analisa as estratégias, ferramentas ou técnicas geralmente utilizadas para superar a procrastinação acadêmica. Foi realizada primeiramente uma revisão bibliométrica, seguida de uma revisão sistemática, em um protocolo de pesquisa com cinco estágios distintos, que resultou na análise detalhada de 16 artigos científicos. Com relação à natureza dos trabalhos, percebeu-se que os estudos não possuíam uma aplicação
prática imediata; a maioria das pesquisas era exploratória, apresentando absoluta
predominância de métodos quantitativos com utilização de surveys baseadas em diferentes escalas. Como resultado, os autores puderam propor arquétipos de comportamento do procrastinador acadêmico, baseado na interrelação entre autoeficácia e autorregulação e a influência do perfeccionismo. Também foi possível gerar insights para orientar pesquisadores, acadêmicos e profissionais da educação no entendimento sobre o impulso ou hábito da procrastinação acadêmica e possíveis formas de superação.
Purpose – To analyse the phenomenon of academic procrastination, as to identify strategies, techniques and tools utilized by the students to overcome procrastination as well as its relation with the concepts of self-regulation and self-efficacy.
Theoretical framework – The research embraces two theoretical frameworks. On one side, the phenomena associated with procrastination such as psychological flexibility, time and task management, self-regulation, self-efficacy, nature of procrastination, perfectionism and self-determination; and on the other side, anti-procrastination strategies, techniques and tools and their effects on procrastination.
Design/methodology/approach – The research is descriptive with a qualitative nature, adopting a phenomenological approach through thematic analysis in order to bring to light the experiences and perceptions of individuals from their own perspectives, challenging structural or normative assumptions. In total, 24 students, 12 from the master’s degree program and 12 from the doctorate program in Management were interviewed.
Findings –The central elements to understand and specifically combat procrastination are related to the concepts of self-efficacy and self-regulation, which have a considerable influence on students’ motivation, behaviour and habits.
Research, Practical & Social implications – The research has pointed to some key strategies, techniques and tools that can be utilized to support further applied research as well as to guide the faculty in supporting the students to overcome or mitigate the procrastination impulse.
Originality/value – The work has an original contribution as no research has been made on that topic utilizing qualitative data through a phenomenological approach, which opens a vast and new path for future research.
Keywords - Academic Procrastination; Self-regulation; Self-efficacy; Anti-procrastination Strategies, Techniques and Tools.
Objetivo – Analisar o fenômeno da procrastinação acadêmica, identificando estratégias, técnicas e ferramentas utilizadas pelos alunos para superar a procrastinação, bem como sua relação com os conceitos de autorregulação e autoeficácia.
Referencial teórico – A pesquisa abarca dois campos teóricos. De um lado, os fenômenos associados à procrastinação tais como flexibilidade psicológica, gestão de tempo e tarefas, autorregulação, autoeficácia, natureza da procrastinação, perfeccionismo e autodeterminação; e de outro, estratégias, técnicas e ferramentas antiprocrastinação e seus efeitos sobre a procrastinação.
Desenho/metodologia/abordagem – A pesquisa é descritiva de natureza qualitativa, adotando uma abordagem fenomenológica por meio da análise temática, a fim de trazer à luz as experiências e percepções dos indivíduos a partir de suas próprias perspectivas, desafiando pressupostos estruturais ou normativos. No total, foram entrevistados 24 alunos, sendo 12 do mestrado e 12 do doutorado em Administração.
Resultados – Os elementos centrais para compreender e combater especificamente a procrastinação estão relacionados com os conceitos de autoeficácia e autorregulação, que têm uma influência considerável na motivação, comportamento e hábitos dos alunos.
Pesquisa, implicações práticas e sociais – A pesquisa apontou algumas estratégias, técnicas e ferramentas-chave que podem ser utilizadas para apoiar pesquisas aplicadas futuras, bem como para orientar o corpo docente no apoio aos alunos para superar ou mitigar o impulso de procrastinação.
Originalidade/valor – O trabalho tem uma contribuição original, pois nenhuma pesquisa foi feita sobre o tema utilizando dados qualitativos por meio de uma abordagem fenomenológica, o que abre um vasto e novo caminho para pesquisas futuras.
Palavras-chave – Procrastinação Acadêmica; Autorregulação; Autoeficácia; Estratégias, técnicas e ferramentas antiprocrastinação.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether time management behaviours moderated relations between stressors (role conflict, role overload, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict) and strain, as measured by scores on the General Health Questionnaire. It was predicted that use of time management behaviours would be negatively associated with strain. These relations, however, were expected to be mediated by feelings of control over time. It was further predicted that the use of time management behaviours would attenuate stressor-strain relations. Data collected from 525 employed men and women indicated, as predicted, that use of time management behaviours was negatively associated with strain. These relations were partially mediated by feelings of control over time. Moderator tests failed to provide support for time management behaviour as a moderator of stressor-strain relations. Implications of findings are discussed and future directions for time management research are suggested.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short-term time management training programme on perceived control of time and perceived stress. The sample of 177 freshmen was randomly assigned to a time management training (n = 89) and an active control group (CG) (n = 88). We expected that an increase in external demands during the first weeks of the semester would lead to more perceived stress in the CG, but not in the time management training group, due to the time management intervention. As hypothesised, perceived stress increased in the CG, but not in the time management training group. Furthermore, perceived control of time increased in the time management training group but remained unchanged in the CG. Even a rather short intervention of 2 h can protect freshmen from an increase in perceived stress at the beginning of the semester.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short-term time management intervention on procrastination. Procrastination is a serious issue for many students and associated with different negative consequences, such as anxiety or low grades. As procrastination is described as a self-regulatory failure, a training programme focussing on self-regulatory skills might be helpful. We randomly assigned 96 students to a treatment (n = 47) and a control group (n = 49). As hypothesised, participants of the control group showed procrastination: they spent more time on a self-selected, important academic task right before the deadline was reached compared to the weeks before. The participants of the treatment group, instead, allocated their work time more equally and did not show procrastination. Therefore, the explored time management intervention prevents from a serious time management problem.
The authors summarize 35 years of empirical research on goal-setting theory. They describe the core findings of the theory, the mechanisms by which goals operate, moderators of goal effects, the relation of goals and satisfaction, and the role of goals as mediators of incentives. The external validity and practical significance of goal-setting theory are explained, and new directions in goal-setting research are discussed. The relationships of goal setting to other theories are described as are the theory’s limitations.
A pilot survey of science students conducted by Cook & Leckey confirmed that student study habits formed in secondary school persist to the end of the first semester of university life. Such a conclusion indicates that students are not bridging the gap between school and university quickly and effectively. The study reported here is based on surveys of first year students across the University of Ulster and compares their prior perceptions with their experiences after one term. We consider the literature relating to preparedness and student retention and present the results of these surveys in this broad context. Most students appear to have managed the transition into university life success fully since they do not experience the academic, personal and practical difficulties they expected. There is, however, a considerable minority (20-30%) who consistently experience academic and personal problems and for whom coming to university has been a negative experience. These students are at risk, if not from drop-out, then from under-performance and lack of fulfilment.
Despite the high 'guru-factor' in time management, few claims have been subjected to empirical investigation. This study tests the claims that people who manage their time well perceive themselves to be more effective and feel less stressed. University staff and students were utilized to investigate the relationship between time management related behaviours, perceived effectiveness, and work-related morale and distress. Results suggested a hierarchy of time management behaviours. Having a clear sense of career purpose was most important for perceived effectiveness at work, followed by planning and prioritizing. This study has significant practical implications for staff and students. If the aim of using time management strategies is to improve performance and reduce stress, people need to learn to identify the purpose in their career, then plan their time accordingly, rather than tidying desks and hanging 'do not disturb' signs on doors.
Sales research to date has focused on coping styles as measured by problem-focused coping (PFC) and emotion-focused coping (EFC), but it has excluded time management perceptions and behaviors as ways of coping with stress (Srivastava and Sager 1999; Strutton and Lumpkin 1993). This study examines a coping model that integrates EFC, PFC, and time management behaviors in the rubric of a profile. The profile allows for practice of several coping behaviors simultaneously. Using data gained from salespeople, four tentative coping strategy profiles are developed and examined relative to personal characteristics and job outcomes. Study results suggest that salespeople who are able to better handle stress use time management behaviors more often in addition to using high levels of PFC and low levels of EFC.
The purpose of the study was to determine the degree of stress perceived by students at two community colleges in southern Illinois. The Perceived Stress Scale was used to gather data from 212 students enrolled in regularly scheduled psychology classes. Of the students, 75% were in a moderate stress category; 12% in a high stress category, and 13% in a low stress category. Women students were more stressed than men; there were no statistically significant differences between traditional and nontraditional students. The most often used activities to cope with stress included talking to family and friends, leisure activities, and exercising. Less desirable coping strategies were drinking alcohol, smoking, and using illegal drugs. Suggestions for community college personnel to use in assisting students cope with stress are discussed.