Also feel free to join our study/mental health server on Discord. Weāre doing self help āgroup therapyā calls, studying together and much more. Weāre stronger together!
Lots of love! <3
Adding some more for each categories!!! Especially for Neurodivergent college students!!!
Organization:
ā”It can be really hard for a lot of people to keep track of assignments, especially in fast paced college classes, so I reccomend using a planner! It doesn't have to be a fancy one, hell, it can be a normal notebook that you turn into one, or you can be like me and make a google document that is specific to school assignments!!!
ā”Create a home work space. This can be a desk(I'll update what mine looks like eventually), a specific room in your house that feels cozy, etc.
ā”Use a phone calender to keep track of when you have classes, important due dates, and when you have free time for hobbies, studying, extracurriculars, receiving extra help on assignments, etc.
ā”DO NOT BACKPACK STUFF. I did this through high school and trust me, it was *extremely* stressful having to dig through hundreds of crumpled up papers just to find a single sheet of notes. I reccomend having a small binder or folder, even if most of your work is done digitally, chances are that you will receive important notes and hand outs from professors that you definitely want to hold onto!
Planning:
ā”Don't overbook yourself!!! I know that there's a lot of pressure in our society to always be busy, however, everyone needs downtime to perserve their mental health. You don't need to be *totally* inactive during this time, but doing something stress free, relaxing and 100% for you, such as watching a movie, playing a video game, listening to music, going for a walk, etc, is extremely beneficial to your mental health which can actually increase your academic performance! Don't burn yourself out; that's not neccesary to do well in school, believe it or not. You just need to budget time well.
ā”Take mental health days!!!!
ā”Break down large assignments into smaller steps(ex. For a big essay, try chunking it day by day for research and note taking, thesis, body paragraph 1/2/3/etc, counter arguments, conclusion, and final revisions)
ā”Keep a to-do list, and reward yourself for when you complete things on said to-do list! It has personally helped my executive dysfunction a lot!
Mistakes:
ā”IT IS OKAY TO MAKE MISTAKES. IT IS OKAY TO STRUGGLE OR DO POORLY IN A CLASS. THAT'S WHY YOU'RE IN COLLEGE!!!! YOU'RE THERE TO *LEARN*!!! If you didn't have anything to learn, why waste the time, effort and money? Your professors are there for you, utilize them as much as you possibly can. Don't be shy to ask questions, ask for feedback or revise an assignment whenever you can. I've been studying Psychology for YEARS and some stuff in General Psychology 1 was new to me, and I was very often at my professors office getting extra help and feedback so I could deeply and properly understand the material. Professors, in my experience, generally enjoy students who ask questions and want help, so by all means, don't let your fears of being judged hold you back.
Examples:
ā”I personally like using crash-course YouTube videos for when I want to understand a topic better! Here's a link to their channel! https://youtube.com/@crashcourse they have so many topics, you are more than likely to find videos that can help you in your classes!!!
ā”Bring up interesting things you've learned outside of class while in course discussions! It A. Benefits the class as a whole and B. It shows your professor you're truly interested in your studies, and that can go a very long way in terms of your grade, future recommendations, and, if you aim for this stuff, academic achievement awards.
Health:
ā”Eat and hydrate before going to classes. Even if it's something small like a piece of fruit and some water or juice, it's better than running on empty. Your brain uses the most amount of calories in the body, meaning that if you want to retain more information and perform better in class, fueling your brain and body is a good idea. As someone with a restrictive ED, and was in relapse for a large chunk of the semester, I can attest to the fact that my attention span and cognitive abilities were superior on the days where I chose to nurture my body with adequate nutrition, versus the days were I didn't.
ā”SLEEP. And I don't just mean staying up until 2am, waking up at 6am and saying "well I slept at least". That isn't nearly enough for any adult. Adults need roughly 7-9 hours of sleep daily. If you're still a teen or even a very young adult, you might need even more because of the rapid changes occurring physically and mentally. Proper sleep hygiene can help you stay alert and attentive in classes, improve your memory, give you more motivation to complete tasks, and it can even put you in a better mood. It's also important to not over sleep throughout the day, because it can impact your sleek schedule as a whole. A half hour, even one hour nap is okay, especially for those of us who need the extra energy from rest due to health issues, but an excess of sleep can be just as bad as not enough.
I hope these help!!! š
Thank you so much for adding this ā¤ļø
