As a high school student transitioning to university, teachers, family, and older friends give you many tips to stay on track and the most common advice given is to not fall behind. However, that is easier said than done. University can be overwhelming and it can be easy to fall behind on work and readings while also trying to manage a social life. Here are 5 tips that will help you succeed in staying on top of all your work!
Make a Schedule: While trying to figure out what to work on first and how to manage your time, simply take some time – maybe even a day – to organize yourself. Write a list of what needs to be done and when it is due and then create a schedule for yourself so that you do not fall behind on that work.
Additional Tip: Make sure to add in breaks! An overload of work can make you more stressed out, and too much stress just makes your task much harder for you to do! But, letting yourself have a half hour, or one hour break a couple of times a day to relax your mind can actually help you think more clearly when it comes time for you to get back to your work.
Go to your Lectures: Many people skip lectures once in a while and I admit to being guilty of it too. But, make sure that even if you miss a lecture, get notes from friends in your class so that you know that you didn’t miss any important information. Even if there are powerpoints posted online, professors elaborate on those which make the ideas or concepts clearer for you to understand and that way, it becomes so much easier for you to memorize them when exam time comes around!
Complete tasks one by one: I’m sure we can all agree that everything gets a whole lot busier in November and the pressure of completing all of our work gets very stressful. However, instead of focusing on everything all at once, keep note of the first tip, and make a list of what needs to be done and when it needs to be done by. Then, complete those assignments or readings one by one according to importance. When you work on 3-4 tasks at once, you are putting more pressure on yourself whereas if you complete your tasks one by one, after you finished an assignment, you know that you have one less thing to worry about!
Go to Office Hours: Not a lot of people attend T.A.s’ office hours, but keep in mind that they are hired to help you, so take full advantage of them. They are the people who mark your papers, essays, and assignments, so it is important for you to learn what types of things they are looking for. I know many T.As who are willing to even edit some papers or assignments if you bring them in early and it just gives you a better opportunity to get a good mark!
5. Visit the Writing Centre: Not only do they help fix your papers and assignments, but they also have a website with numerous tip sheets for you to look at. The Writing Centre is one of the best resources at Queen’s and they work to help you do better in all of your classes. Also, take advantage of the FREE workshops that they hold and if you want to make an appointment with them, do it ahead of time because they get very booked very quickly.