By: Devynne Housa
New semester, new you, right? Well, it’s not that easy. By the time we’re in college, most of our study habits are pretty set in stone, making it tough to change them. If you find yourself saying “this semester I SWEAR I’ll finish all my assignments before the day before they are due,” congratulations - you’re a college student.
While we may not completely beat procrastination (hey, we work better under pressure, right?) there are things to try to better manage your time and keep your sanity to have a successful and healthy semester.
Here are some tips to start your semester off on the right foot.
Tip #1: Learn to Prioritize
A lot of students get caught up in busy work each semester, pushing off big projects until the last minute while focusing all of their energy on that pesky homework assignment that’s worth 0.5% of the grade. While it can be difficult to know where to place your focus, learning how to prioritize your assignments can be a huge time-saver, as well as a sanity-saver.
One way to prioritize is based on how long you think the assignment will take you. If you have a project that is going to take you hours to get done, then focus on that first. For every hour of work on that project, work on a smaller assignment that you can finish in 15 minutes. This will help you balance your workload, and feel productive at the same time.
Tip #2: Create an “Assignment Master-list”
The “assignment master-list” is essentially an ongoing, semester-long to-do list of your assignments. Once you get all of your syllabi for your classes, go to the class schedule/assignment due date section, and transfer all of the homework, projects, quizzes, exams, and any other things you will need to do for the class onto a document, listed by week and day. Do this for every class, and at the end you will have a week-by-week breakdown of every assignment and test you will have to complete this semester.
Obviously, some classes move deadlines around, and some don’t even have class schedules with due dates to begin with. But even if your master-list serves as a rough outline, it can help you track your weeks and prepare for busier times in your semester. Plus, it feels so good to look back at your calendar and see everything you finished at the end of the year.
Tip #3: Take Breaks
To avoid burnout, you need to take breaks and take care of your physical and mental health. There is no assignment or exam that is worth your sanity, so make sure you balance your study time with your happy time.
Studies have shown that taking breaks is essential to success and improving productivity over time, so for every hour of work you do, make sure to take at least 15 minutes of stress-free break time. This way, you won’t feel fatigued, and you’ll be able to work more efficiently when you return to the books.