How to Plan a Homework Schedule

Co-authored by Ronitte Libedinsky, MS

Last Updated: March 6, 2023 References Approved

It feels like homework never stops getting piled on, and keeping track of it all can feel a little chaotic. That’s where a homework schedule comes in. With a good schedule, you won’t have to worry about missing homework assignments or not having enough time to finish them, and it’s surprisingly easy to put one together. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry—we’ll walk you through what to do step-by-step below!

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Setting Up a Homework Schedule

1
Set a time frame for doing homework. Decide how much time you have available for homework after school for each day of the week.^{[1]
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Research source} For example, Monday - 1 hour, Tuesday - 1 1/2 hours, Wednesday - 1/2 hour, etc. On days where you have other planned activities, whether it's an extracurricular activity or chores or quality time with your family, you will have less time for homework.^{[2]
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Trustworthy Source
Child Mind Institute
Nonprofit organization providing evidence-based care for children with mental health and learning disorders and their families
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2
Consider using your mornings. At the end of the day, if you're really tired and still have homework, go to bed and set your alarm perhaps an hour or two earlier than what you usually do. This way when you do your homework you will have more energy and be able to complete it faster. You also won't have to worry about it after school, when you are tired.

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3
Take advantage of your travel time. If you don't get motion sick in the car or on public transportation, try to do some of your homework on your way to a basketball game or on your way home from school. But be careful, as your writing may be messy and unreadable.
4
Use your study halls or homeroom times well. Don't be fooling around with your friends and then come home annoyed that you have a lot of homework. This will make you more grumpy and you will probably get told off by your teachers as well. Don't let your friends distract you.
5
Use free periods. If you have a free period, don't use it to hang out with your friends at a local pizza place, use it to catch up on your homework. You will have time to hang out with your friends after school or on a weekend, make homework your first priority.
6
Make Fridays count. Unless you have plans on Friday after school, try to do all your homework for the weekend then. It will be easier to enjoy the weekend without having to worry about your homework. What a lot of people do is not do their homework on Friday, and wait until Sunday night to do it so you have all weekend (including Friday) to do whatever. This may sound like a good idea now, but while you are going out to a party or whatever on Saturday night, all you will be able to think about is having to do your homework the next night. Then on Sunday, you will be tired and won't have a good attitude to do your homework.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Creating a Homework Space

1
Select your environment carefully. If your environment is in your living room with all your siblings and parents around, that probably isn't the best choice of environment. You will easily get distracted by your siblings asking you questions or the TV noise in the background. A good choice will probably be your own bedroom (with the door shut) or, if you have one, a study. Make sure your family knows you are doing your homework, otherwise they might walk in while you are working on studying for your math test tomorrow.^{[3]
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- Everyone has their own specific type of environment that they work best in. Choose a space that works best for you.^{[4]
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  Expert Source
  
  Ronitte Libedinsky, MS
  Academic Tutor
  Expert Interview. 26 May 2020.}
2
Put all of your supplies in your bookbag. Make sure you have all your stationery and books (including textbooks) needed before leaving school. Obviously this helps because you don't want to get home and when you are about to do your homework, you realize you have left your textbook at school.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Understanding What Needs To Get Done

1
List all of the homework and activities that you have for that day or week. Include games, projects, essays and more. It will be easier to know what homework you have and the details. Then sort out what times and what days you have your out of school activities. Write down the time periods of when you don't have something planned. Assign a subject of homework to that time period. This leads to using your spare time. If you don't have an activity one day, try to do your homework for other days also to get it out of the way.^{[5]
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Trustworthy Source
Understood
Nonprofit organization dedicated to resources and support to people with thinking differences, such as ADHD or dyslexia
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2
Write your assignments down accurately and promptly. You cannot plan your homework time effectively if you do not know exactly what to do. Record the following information:
- The subject or course in which the work is assigned (for example, Spanish, algebra, French or English)
- Know what you're expected to hand in or do and ask if you do not understand (for example, turn in an essay, develop a PowerPoint presentation, or take a test.)
- The details of your assignments (for example, double-spaced or single-spaced, blue ink or black).
- Page numbers (which pages you need to read, study, or refer to complete your assignment.)
- Due date of the assignment.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Getting All of Your Homework Done

1
Estimate how much time will be needed to complete each assignment. Be realistic. It is better to block out more time than less. If you finish early, you can use your bonus time for another subject. Remember that if you have extra time left over, you can reward yourself by doing something other than homework.
2
Prioritize Using the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) Policy. This is an optimal dynamic scheduling policy. If it is humanly possible to meet all the deadlines, earliest deadline first policy will work. That means, if you get a new assignment due the next day, you need to suspend all work due in 2 days and work on the next day's assignment. However, if you cannot meet any deadlines, you will miss them randomly with EDF.
- To solve this problem, if you cannot meet all the deadlines, use a static priority rate-monotonic policy. Find the course that releases new homework the most frequently, and list it the highest (do the work first), and so forth. This is mathematically optimal among all static-priority scheduling policies. In other words, if ANY static priority scheme can meet all the deadlines, the rate-monotonic static priority scheme will meet all the deadlines, too. When the static priority scheme misses deadlines, it is deterministic - the lowest priority class assignments will be skipped, so it behaves predictably when you are overloaded. If certain assignments have the same due date, then start with the one(s) that are hardest or will take the longest.
3
Break down your homework time. Look at your assignments and consider how much time you need to devote to each. Find time in your homework schedule to get it done, preferably a day early.
- If you have a five-page English paper due on Friday, evenly spread the total amount of hours you believe it is going to take to complete the paper between each day.
4
Write in break times. This will stop you from getting too overwhelmed and frustrated during long stretches of homework time and will help you to keep your mind focused. A ten-minute break for each hour of homework done is a good guideline. Use this time to stretch, wash your face, walk around the block, unload the dishwasher for your parents, get something to drink, or do anything that won't tempt you to delay your return to homework. Do not extend the time you take to refuel (such as getting your juice) and do not start with activities that relate to goofing off.
5
Stick with the schedule. Once you have your schedule, follow it, or else all the planning in the world is useless. Your plans won't work if you won't work.^{[6]
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6
Avoid procrastination. Don't spend the first 20 minutes at home complaining about your homework, because in that amount of time you could have done some homework. It really is pointless complaining, because you are going to have to do it anyway.^{[7]
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