1. Organization Is Key
Physical organization may help get rid of mental clutter. Cleaning up your study space and your backpack will help motivate you to get up and study. If there’s any way to kill motivation and encourage procrastination, it’s by looking over at your desk and seeing mountains of papers and clutter that leave no space for comfortable studying.
2. Change Of Environment
Find a new study spot, switch up your room, or even just the layout of your desk. Unless your current study spot/layout is really working well for you, facing the same wall or sitting at the same table/desk every day is sure to invoke boredom. A change of environment can act as a reset or a fresh start to a new semester.
3. Form Study Groups
In the first few days of class, find a person or two you get along with and get to know each other. You don’t need to form a lifelong friendship with this person, but having someone you can look to for homework help, notes, and test reviews is super beneficial. Especially in labs where you’ll be working with multiple pages of data.
4. Leave The Past In The Past
Unless you have notes from the past semester that you truly believe is beneficial to a current class, toss it. Clear out your laptop from every worksheet, essay, syllabus and assignment you downloaded last semester to not only clear out space, but also digital clutter, so you’re not constantly reminded of last semester while searching for a file you need now.
5. Shift Your Mindset
If you had a few mishaps last semester, say you did poorly in a class or didn’t have the best routine or habits, a new semester is your chance to grow from it. Reflect on what you did wrong and use that as a what-not-to-do guide as you go along this semester! Don’t think that just because you didn’t do this or that last semester, this semester will be the same. This is a new chance to be the student you want to be.