So, you’ve just returned home from a long day of school with a load of assignments and reading to do, but all you can think about is crawling into your bed — phone in hand — and calling it a night.
Same.
The moment I reach the front doorstep of my apartment, any remaining energy stored within me immediately flees my body, and the build-up of mental and physical fatigue from hours of lectures and walking across campus suddenly kicks in. Essentially, I’m pooped. That being said, homework is the last thing on my list of want-to-do’s.
The solution isn’t as simple as telling yourself “Just don’t do it. There’s always another day.” After all, postponing work that will inevitably have to be completed can make your mind feel uneasy and can be frustrating over time. With the fast pace of the quarter system, I always feel as if there is something I should be doing to stay ahead or to prevent myself from falling behind.
Now that the Fall Quarter has begun, here are three study tips to incorporate into your work routine to hopefully make school a little bit easier.
Tip #1: Don’t Have a Start Time. Instead, Have an End Time!
If you’re like me, one of the biggest challenges probably isn’t doing the assignment itself, but getting started on doing it. It’s difficult to find the motivation to begin when your mind has transitioned into relaxation mode from being in your home environment. Not to mention that you’ve probably spent the majority of your concentration on listening attentively to class lectures earlier in the day.
An end time draws a clear line that indicates when you should stop working on a specific assignment and move on to something else. Once the time has ended, you will feel as if you have completed something. While you may not have finished the assignment completely, you have taken positive steps toward its completion! These are all mini achievements in my eyes.
Tip #2: Plan on the Day you Decide to Study.
Rather than planning what to study in advance, wait until the day you decide to study so that you can write down any weaknesses you still have on a topic. Then, write what you will study for the day and track your improvement over time by color coding how well you did each day. This allows you to see what topics you have gotten better at and what you still need to study up on.
I like to use this study tip when my professor has already given a lecture on the subject that I wish to study for. If there are topics that I still don’t understand after it’s been explained in class, I write them down as my weakness and review them. I also make sure to note any questions that arise during my study session to understand where my confusion may come from so I can ask my professor for clarification later.
Tip #3: Enjoy Being a College Student.
If there is any tip that you should incorporate into your studying, it is this tip, which isn’t about studying at all. Rather, it is about a change in mindset towards being in school despite the high stress that it can bring. Don’t defer your happiness, but learn to enjoy it within your time in college.
For the past two years, I have been in university, I always thought that my studying was the most important thing — that graduating and getting a job was the end goal of being here in the first place. That’s not the case at all. Your time as a student means that you are surrounded by your friends and are in an environment that is tailored towards helping you grow as a person and succeed as an adult in society.
Life will always have its ups and downs, and there will be days when we don’t feel like lifting a finger to do anything. That’s okay. As long as we learn how to pick ourselves back up again and continue to do our best, we can find a balance between ourselves and our work. Be courageous and explore what will help you to flourish at school. I hope that these study tips can aid you in your journey as Fall Quarter progresses.