1. Timing is everything.
Do not, I repeat, do not let procrastination get the best of you! When you receive a homework assignment from your professor start it and try to finish it that same day. It makes life a lot less stressful! It may seem like a lot of work at the time, but once you start doing your assignments the same day a few times it’ll just start to become a routine. Trust me, waiting until last minute thinking you can do it will only lead to maximum frustration. And maximum frustration leads to poor work. And poor work leads to a bad grade in class. All because you didn’t realize timing is everything!
2. Organization is key.
I’ve always been a quite organized person, but this past semester I found myself becoming almost OCD organized and it became very helpful. I'll lend a couple of tips: buy a planner, keep your binder neat with dividers for each class, and keep your work space clean. My planner became my life last semester. I literally used it every single day and it helped keep me on track with every single assignment as well as upcoming events.
Keeping an organized binder makes you actually kind of want to do your homework. Think about it, when you go to grab your binder out of your backpack and you open it to realize how disastrous it is, it just makes you want to put it back in your backpack and never have to deal with it again. Or you can open you backpack, pull out your binder, and open it to the tab your homework is placed in—and voilà, your homework ready to be worked on!
A clear workspace equals a clear mind. In my opinion I believe this is the most helpful organization skill I’ve come across. When I would come home to a messy room, my workspace, it made me not want to do anything, but lie there and dwell in my mess. But when I came home to a clean room it made me feel energized and ready to take on every single assignment I came across. It’s something about the atmosphere of a clean room that makes one feel powerful.
3. Don’t fret!
Last, but definitely not least don’t let the stress get the best of you. It may feel like the workload is getting extremely hectic or there’s not enough time in the day, but I promise you it’ll get better. If you let the stress get to you it’ll only make things worse. I mean there’s no secret to how to not become stressed because it’s going to happen, but you can definitely limit how much stress you put on yourself. Make sure you don’t put to much weight on your shoulders because you need to be able to balance school, work, and your social life. Always remember you’ll get through everything eventually. It just takes time, patience, and commitment. Always keep your glass half full. It’ll be worth it, I promise!
Now that I’ve shared my knowledge with you, I hope you take some of these into consideration and try it out this semester if you haven’t already. Though you’ll most likely have another rollercoaster ride I guarantee you you’ll have less loops on your rollercoaster second semester. Good luck!! (Word count: 605)