College Success: How to keep up with your work.
I created this guide for college students, but it works for high school, too. This guide is designed to help all students, no matter your health status or major. I took care to include a couple tips for maintaining your mental and physical health while managing a college course load. I hope you enjoy, and I hope this helps!!!
This is the most important tip. Self care is vital. When you’re dealing with a fever, the flu, chronic pain, a stomach bug, or even major depression, it can be difficult to study effectively. Don’t force yourself to study if you’re not feeling well enough to get out of bed and do things. Making yourself get up to study helps nobody if you really aren’t feeling well. You will only feel distracted and you won’t be able to remember much of what you worked toward. Remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day to be productive, and if you’re really feeling guilty for not doing anything, you can restart your day at 2 PM. Now, this isn’t an excuse to procrastinate. You should still get up and do your work if you have a chest cold, are suffering from allergies, or even if you’re just having a plain old bad day. Monitor how you feel and ask yourself if you’re feeling well enough to study or not.
2. Divide large workloads into smaller tasks.
Having a big project to do or having a major exam to study for can be very overwhelming to the point of wanting to cram it all into one day. Here’s a tip: DON’T do this. Your work won’t be it’s best and your grade may suffer. Instead, pull out your planner. Write down the date that the assignment is due. Write down your exam dates. Highlight it or put a star next to it to symbolize it’s importance and to remind you of what you’re working toward. Then, you may want to turn to the notes section or pull out a piece of paper. Some planners have sections where the month has individual days where you can write extended information. Go day by day. Start with the day the work was assigned to you. Create small goals to complete every day leading up to the due date of the assignment. For example, if a big research paper is due: day 1 may be spent searching for a topic, days 2 & 3 can be spent researching the topic and collecting information, day 4 will be planning and drafting the paper, day 5 will be actually writing the paper, day 6 will be editing and revising, and day 7 will be submitting the assignment. Chunking large workloads into easy to manage, bite-sized tasks will reduce the amount of stress you experience and allow you to to focus better.
3. Develop a growth mindset.
In my student success class, we watched a TedTalk by Carol Dweck. She talked about developing a growth mindset in order raise your grades and accomplish your goals more effectively. Basically, a fixed mindset looks like this: “I got a 67% on this test, I thought I did better, I’m a failure, I’m either good at it or I’m not, I hate challenges”. A growth mindset, on the other hand, looks like this: “I got a 67% on this test, so what did I do wrong? Failure is an opportunity to grow and do better next time, I should try new study tactics, I like challenges, feedback is constructive”. Having a growth mindset highlights the idea that failure isn’t permanent, and that you can become better at something through hard work and a good attitude.
To combat procrastination, you can develop a study schedule. Reserve time during the day, maybe an hour or two, to dedicate to a specific study activity. Write it down in your planner. For example, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3 PM-4 PM, I like to copy down my notes from my laptop onto paper. This is my time to make my notes more understandable, and I can also convert information into visual charts and graphs to better see the material. This time is your own to catch up on work, review your notes, and focus on your academic goals. Use this time wisely.
5. Don’t expect instructions.
Many college professors will expect you to come to class having already read the chapters and have notes taken. Their job is to teach you, not baby sit you to make sure you’re coming to class prepared. Some professors will remind you to keep up with your assigned readings. Others will expect you to do it on your own. It’s up to you to learn how your professor works, and to refer to your syllibi to stay on track. Do what you have to do to keep track of your syllibi; set reminders on your phone to check up with your syllibi, put your syllibi in a safe and easy to access place, just do what you think is best.
A well-exercised brain stores information longer and learns how to process it using different strategies. In order to give your brain the exercise it needs, review your materials often and in different ways. For instance, rewriting your notes helps for one occasion, but next time create and use flashcards. Use different techniques for studying the same topic. This will teach your brain how to use the information you study in different situations so you’ll do better on tests. Also, do not quit studying certain topics. If you completed the chapter on the cardiovascular system, for example, don’t stop studying it just because you finished that chapter. Return to the information every week or two so that your brain retains what you’ve learned. You’ll thank me when that topic from the beginning of the semester ends up on final exams.
7. Flash cards, flash cards, flash cards.
Ah, yes. Flash cards. The tool every studyblr swears by. But, they work! Now, how do you use this marvelous invention? Well, there’s several different ways. They can be used for everything, from vocabulary terms to mathematical equations & properties. They’re also reversible. For example, instead of reading the word then flipping over to see the definition, you can do the exact opposite. Start with the definition, then try to figure out the word. Flip the card over to see if you were correct. Cross-checking yourself in this manner also exercises your brain more! Another reason flash cards are adored so much is for their portability. Seriously, stuff them in your pocket or in your purse or laptop case and pull them out wherever you go if you find idle time. Review them at the doctor’s office, babysitting your cousin, between tv commercials, waiting in line at the grocery store, walking between classes, or even during long car rides (as long as you’re not driving!).
8. Know how you work best.
Assess yourself to see what conditions are best (or worst) for you to work in. Do you work better with bright light? Dim light? Do you focus better in the early morning, late morning/early afternoon, early evening, or late at night? Are you more efficient when you study alone or in small groups? Can you focus in large groups or not? Do you tend to procrastinate? Does music help you focus, or does it just hinder your progress? All of these factors are essential to creating an ideal study environment. You know yourself best. See what works best for you and try to create a comfortable study space for yourself.
9. Never settle for taking notes once.
If you take notes one time, sure they might be organized in a way that works for you, but are you going to be able to remember what you wrote? If you type your notes on your computer, make sure to write them down in a notebook later. If the notes you recorded during lecture are sloppy, rewrite them. Then, go back and highlight the essentials. Some important things to highlight include new terms and ideas, dates and names, and key concepts. Rewriting your notes is proven to boost memory. Plus, you get to make them pretty!
10. Remember to treat yourself.
After a long, hard day of studying, get up and stretch. You can breathe now, you did it! Reward yourself with some ice cream, a warm bath, some Netflix time, or whatever you enjoy! Rewarding yourself after doing hard work also teaches your brain to associate studying with a reward at the end, so you’ll be more likely to want to work hard!
Good luck pursuing your dreams! ❤
