How to Manage Your Time & Study Effectively

As apart of our Features: Finals Editions, we decided to give you a few tips on how we’ve been managing our time during this stressful season:  

• Plan Ahead: Remember that syllabus your professor gave you at the beginning of the term? That’ll be useful in helping you plan ahead to make sure you’re covering all of the topics. It will also help you break down the daunting class into smaller tasks 
• Find a Study Buddy: Find a study buddy or set up an online group. Set up a study date together to go over the material covered in class. If you study better alone, simply set daily goals and check in with each at the end of the day. They’ll see you accountable and prevent you from slipping behind in your work. 
• Actually Follow Your Schedule: Granted, this is easier said than done. We’ve all fallen behind by not being as productive as we’d like to be. But on those days where you feel like you need a break, make sure you get one thing done on your list for the day. You don’t want to end up cramming 12 chapters of coursework in one night. Don’t do it! 
• Don’t Cram: Shoving weeks’ worth of information into your brain in a short amount of time does not necessarily mean you’ll remember it in the future (or even during your final exam). Not to mention last minute cram sessions will kick your stress levels into high gear.
• Don’t Multitask: By dividing your attention among so many different tasks, the of your work and your efficient is bound to suffer. Turn off all of the distractions you have (yes that includes your phone too) and focus solely on your work. Try making a deal with yourself: for every chapter you finish, reward yourself with an episode of your favourite show. You’ll be motivated to get your work done and have something to look forward to while you’re studying. 
• Choose the Right Environment: Make sure you choose a spot that meets your study needs. If you usually feel sleepy while studying in your bed, don’t study there (or convince yourself that this time will be different). Find a study lounge and get your work done there. If you like to study around noise, study in a coffee shop instead of the library. 
• Practice Active Studying: By utilizing numerous active study strategies, such as talking over the concepts with classmates, drawing graphs, and doing practice problems, you’ll understand the material better than if you just reread the textbook. 
• Sleep: You’re not effectively managing your time if you’re sacrificing sleep. Your brain will not perform at its best when you’re sleep-deprived, so that is totally counterproductive when studying. 
• Utilize Available Resources: There are countless resources on every college campus that can help you study: practice exams, review session, tutors etc. Don’t forget to utilize your professors as well! Talking to your professor during office hours before an exam to review or after an exam to go over your mistakes will not only help you understand the material better, but it’ll also show the professor that you care about his or her class.

• exams
• finals
• motivation
• school
• tips