Whether you’re a senior or a brand new freshman, starting out the semester is hard. Between re-adjusting your sleep schedule to something resembling normal to crying over tuition, everything gets overwhelming. Here are a couple of ways to improve the beginning of the semester.
1. Import Assignments Into Your Calendar.
Let’s face it, keeping track of everything happening in your hectic life is near impossible. My suggestion? Download all of your syllabi and put assignments and tests into your online calendar. Try setting reminders for everything to be extra prepared.
2. Make a Budget
It’s hard not to be buying food every day when you’re surrounded by food carts and anxiety. Try fighting stress eating by making a detailed budget. You don’t need Starbucks every day, after all, and you may be surprised by how much money you can save.
3. Start Making Habits
Much like New Years Resolutions, goals for the new term seem to devolve quickly. To avoid disappointing yourself by setting your sights too high, start by making little habits that will improve your overall life. Try making your bed every morning, immediately putting away your textbooks when you get home, or setting up a specific study time every day. If you start with tiny steps, your habits are more likely to stick.
4. Start Up Automatic Bill Pay
Even thinking about paying tuition is enough to make a girl faint. Having to go to the financial office and hand over your credit card? Enough to make you apoplectic! Forgetting to pay rent? The stuff of nightmares! Setting up online paying for tuition and bills (rent, etc.) can make your life feel so much easier. No more worrying about whether or not you’ll remember the deadlines!
5. Form Your Own Study Groups
It’s hard to cram for a test alone. Things get boring real quick, and your phone provides so many distractions. Forming study groups might be the answer. By forming your own study groups you can gain a support network while being forced to study. You can also learn more by studying with other students in your program who might have already taken that one class you’re struggling with. Plus, you can make studying fun by bringing treats and making card games with your flashcards!
Going to college is an opportunity few get access too, and I’m sure we all feel blessed. Let’s implement better habits this year and make the best of these four crazy, hectic, and stressful years of our lives.