We Need Longer Days

I've noticed that a lot of people have been talking about good time-management skills on these forums. Well, what about all of us who are just starting college, and are new to the whole college scene...do you have any ideas on some good ways we can get everything accomplished? I would love to know how you did it:-)

[Eli]

Well,

I guess Im the only slacker here. I just dont study. That leaves me lots of free time to party and watch television. Internet also occupies a lot of my day. My GPA is okay, and I am never under any undo stress from fear of a test. (I figure if I dont know it already, I cant learn it in the hour before a test; therefore, I just watch television, and go to class).

Easy E www.angelfire.com/va2/gammachi

[This message has been edited by Eli (edited August 03, 2000).]

[-sketchball-]

i have an idea that i want to try next (my soph.) year....

each weekday, from 9 to 5, i must either be in class, studying in the library, at my work-study, eating lunch, or working out. no hanging out in the dorms, taking naps, watching tv, etc. during those hours. if i could actually make myself adhere to this i would be SO effective.....

and next year i want to try finishing papers 24 hrs. before they're due, instead of doing the last-minute thing every single time!

i belong to a sorority, and so far it has not been a huge time commitment. next year i eat lunch every weekday at the house, and on monday nights i have dinner & a 45-min. chapter mtg. at the house. we are required to do at least 4 hrs. of service per semester, but other than the meals, the meeting, and the service, everything else we do is fun activities, like sisterhood things and mixers! it has not been a huge drain on my time, even during pledgeship.

[33girl]

4 words: Live near the library!!

My 1st 2 years I lived in a dorm and my grades were not that great. Sure, there was a "study room" on each wing, but it often turned into a chat room instead....

The last 2 years I lived in my sorority house, which was a block from the library so we went there all the times. Grades went up!!

The piece of advice I wish I'd had the most - don't be afraid to drop a class if it's causing you problems or you find you've overscheduled. You can always make it up later or in summer school (summer school is also a great grade booster, plus you get to see your college friends all summer!).

[PenguinTrax]

The best advice I can give is to get a calendar and use it. For example, schedule your study time and stick to the schedule. If you must attend another event during the time you've set aside for study, reschedule the study time, don't just skip over it.

In addition, schedule 'me time' so that you can take an hour out of the day to rest your brain, body and soul.

This hint also works well for those of you with offices in your GLO. Schedule an hour or half hour each day for paperwork, e-mail, phone calls and office-related tasks.

Barb
(the wise not-so-old alumna)

[mwedzi]

Eli, I also didn't study much my first couple of years because I was at a school where classes were not that difficult and I took easy classes, so it was not necessary. Then I transferred and started taking upper division courses and it became very necessary.

sketchball, your idea is great. I once heard that you have to treat school just like it is a job. During my last two years, from 8 to 5, I was always in class, working, or studying. And the studying often extended into the night so that average hours per day for outside of class study were about 3. And I still feel like I could have done better (4 a day would have gotten me a 3.9, I have no doubt).

And about the paper thing. Start them as soon as you can. As soon as you get the assignment, if possible. It will save you stress and your grades will be better.

[This message has been edited by mwedzi (edited August 04, 2000).]

[SilverTurtle]

Unfortunately, I've always had terrible study habits (even for my more difficult upper-level major courses). I'm the kind of person that if the topic interests me, it just sticks. The down side is, if it's not interesting, I can barely remember it after studying for an hour.

So my advice:

• GET A PLANNER, USE THE PLANNER, LIVE BY THE PLANNER!! I scheduled everything (and still do), meetings, classes, study times, work hours, fun activities, time to spend w/ friends, "me" time, etc.
  
• Make sure you have time to study alone.. as much as your friends want to help, sometimes they can just distract you. The library is good for this (better than a dorm room where people come in at all hours looking for fun). Make sure you tuck yourself away, though. If you sit 10 feet from the main entrance, you're going to see lots of your friends and not get much done
  
• Study groups. (I know, I just said to study alone, but you have find how each method benefits you and then balance the two). You will find that, the more difficult the class, the more people in it will want to get together and study, especially for big exams and midterms. I was a communications major, and group projects were a popular thing among our profs, and many study groups evolved from these projects. There are some tests that I know I did better on because someone taught me a different way to understand or remember a theory.
  
• Balance. Make time to study and for classes. But also make sure you are making time to relax a bit and have fun, enjoy college. Your mind needs to rest sometimes, too. (There was 1 semester that I had a full course load and 3 jobs, and I still managed to hang out with my friends AND keep the GPA up).
  
• Stay health, drink lots of OJ. This sounds weird. But especially if you live in the dorms (where sickness attacks an entire floor), try your best to stay healthy. It can hurt to miss too much class. And being sick makes it harder for you to focus. I was a fiend about drinking OJ w/every meal. (Even though my friend, a nursing major, told me that it doesn't really keep you healthy, your body just gets rid of the excess Vitamin C). I was sick once my freshamn year, and after that I started eating better and exercising more. And, even though the nursing prof said that OJ keeping you healthy is an old wives' tale, I never got sick once the next 3 years at school

I wish I would have done better at following some of my own advice, especially my 1st year

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SilverTurtle@greekchat.com
Phi Beta Fraternity
Phi chapter

[This message has been edited by SilverTurtle (edited August 04, 2000).]

[FlyPhi]

I think that the 9-5 thing is a great idea. Think about it, whenever you fill out an application most pple list thier job as student. So treat it as a job. You normally work from 9-5 and then the left overtime is used for other activities. I tried to apply this last year and for the most part it worked. It just took some time to get used to forcing myself to do it.

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Don't look to the future
or dwell in the past
But live for the moment
and long it will last

[decadence]

BUMP! Bumping because this is an excellent thread and in case anyone has any further tips. God knows I'm going to need them all next semester!!

P.S I realise this is an academics thread but it was here and it contains great tips so I'm bumping it.

[MeLikey]

Make a To Do List whether it be for the individual day or the week. One of my sisters hung up To Do Lists in her room every week and she was always on top of things.

If you're a busy girl like me, you have to make every minute count. I'd study my notes in between classes if I had a break.