Let’s talk Time. One thing that I cannot stress enough is how you use time. Take it from me time is against you. Especially if you are working on a major goal like getting a degree. I think I am talking to the choir when I say that we never seem to have enough time in the day to get all that we want finished. So here are a few helpful hints that you can use.
1) Plan out your study time.
This may seem simple, but if you work, have a social life, and go to school; sometimes getting all three done is tough. What usually happens is homework and studies get shoved aside and (possibly) forgotten. Take a look at your day, and pick a time, even if just an hour that you know you are not going to be as easily distracted and plan that as your core time to do homework. So for example back in the day I knew that I could get a lot of my work done from 10pm till 11pm. That is when I did most of my “busy work” type homework. Now a days I plan on using my mornings from 9am till 12pm to get my work done.
2) Allow for minor disctractions.
It is inevitable that you are going to be distracted. If you study at home you may have some chore that needs done. If on campus you may have moments where your brain wanders. If your homework is on a computer you have the entire universe of LOLCATS or worse as a possible distraction. My suggestion for dealing with this is to build in some time to allow for them. If you plan your study time, plan for down time too. When I work on a paper I will plan for an hour on, and thirty minutes off, then an hour back on classwork. This way I can take a mental break, get a bite to eat, do chores, surf the net, whatever. One additional suggestion for those who are always connected online. Turn off the wifi, and/or unplug the ethernet. If that seems extreme, then simply do not start up any application that you know will suck your attention away from the work at hand. If you need to use the net to research, then do that first, then disconnect and work on classwork.
3) Learn to say no.
Ok, this one is hard to do, but sometimes you have to get classwork done and a friend or family member wants you to join them for something or another. Remember they most likely don’t know that you are swamped in classwork. This is where you have to just say no. Be polite and let them know why you cannot join them. Unless they are a total jerk (which why would you go anyway) they will understand. That and once your done you can have as much downtime as you want. It all works out in the end.
So, there you have it, a few more helpful tips that I the quentensensial non-traditional student can offer you.
