Tips for keeping up with schoolwork
 

I'm a new initiate this semester and I feel like I am always behind in my classes from trying to keep up with my responsibilities at the house too. Can anyone help me out from past experiences with trying to keep up with classes?

Time management is a valuable skill. My sorority and the Society of Women Engineers student section at my school both offered time management classes.

Long story short: There are 168 hours in a week. Carve out 56 of those hours for sleep, then X number of hours for lectures, recitation, lab, problem sets, essays, group studies, etc., Y number of hours for required fraternity activities including chapter meetings, philanthropy activities, recruitment activities, etc., and Z number of hours for a part-time job if you have one. The remaining time is yours to spend as you choose - join a club, play on a varsity or intramural team, spend time with a significant other, go for a jog, sleep in, whatever.

Part of the application process for my chosen university was an interview with an alum. The alumna with whom I interviewed told me straight up: "Classes, sleep, friends - pick any two." I managed to juggle all three, but not everyone can.

One of the best time management tips I received before grad school was to focus on the 3-5 most important things you need to do in any given day, and focus on those first.

Most of us make to-do lists with lots of small BS on them that we can feel good about crossing out. Instead, make a list every night of the most important couple of things you need to get done in the next day. That way, you don't waste any mental energy thinking about what you need to get done when you have a spare minute. Do these things before anything else!

The other thing that really worked for me as an undergrad was the quarter that I had a job as a hostess at a restaurant that was basically only busy for 2 of the 5 hour shift. I had to stay at the hostess stand, but I was allowed to keep a schoolbook there with me. I was soooo bored most of the shift that I happily did my school reading, and one shift got through 3 acts of a Shakespeare play. Moral of the story: put yourself in situations where you have nothing to do but study for a set block of time - no phone, no internet, no talking.