By: Tara Stanzione –
Staff Writer;
The last month of classes can be extremely stressful – full of last minute tests, papers, projects, and other miscellaneous tasks all right before final exams. Not only that, but all of this work is assigned right when the weather gets warm enough to go to the beach, walk along the cliff walk, or go on day trips to town with friends. How do you stay focused on school work when there is so much of it and at such an inconvenient time? I’ve created ten useful tips to help!
- Do assignments as soon as possible. When homework is completed not only does that give students time to hang out with friends or relax, but it also gives them a sense of relief at the end of the day. Many work better in the daytime when they are in “school mode” than at night when they want to unwind.
- Stay organized. I use my agenda for everything. Writing down daily homework assignments along with knowing when exams are and when important papers are due are all extremely important in a busy college lifestyle.
- Make sure there are no distractions. When working from a computer resist the urge to pull up social media sites, like facebook and twitter, in an alternate tab. Turn off anything else that could be a disruption including a television, radio, and yes, even cell phones.
- Go to the library. Going to the library to work on assignments is helpful in many ways. First there is no temptation, like there would be in a dorm room, to lay back and fall asleep in a nice comfy bed. Second there are many resources available there to assist students and being in an organized, clean, and spacious area is incredibly useful to most in preventing procrastination.
- Do the shorter assignments first. I personally find that whenever I finish an assignment and get to cross it off my to-do list it gives me the motivation to continue on through the list until everything is crossed off and accomplished.
- Set a certain amount of time to complete work. “What keeps me focused on my homework is setting a period of time to complete it in,” Emily Burgess, a current freshman, explains. When homework has to be finished in a certain amount of time this gives students the inspiration to work faster and do the assignments as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Focus on one task at a time. When students do multiple assignments at once they tend to not do as well on them than when they focus solely on one at a time. Same goes for studying. People are less likely to remember information if they are studying for completely different tests at once.
- Make flashcards. Though this doesn’t work for everyone, I find flashcards to be immensely helpful when it comes to memorization. There are also websites like http://quizlet.com/ that allow anyone to create flashcards online as well as look through sets that others have created in the past.
- Set rewards for yourself. “What keeps me focused is when I set a goal or reward to receive after I finish that specific assignment,” states Kathleen Blais. Tell yourself that when you finish your homework you can go to the Global Café in Wakehurst with friends to eat and relax, watch a movie on Netflix, or read a book. Many times this is the only thing that will get me through what I need to accomplish.
- Ask for help. Sometimes when students are stuck on something, or they aren’t sure how to start a project, they put it off. This is not what should be done. Asking for help could be as simple as asking a friend to help you brainstorm ideas, meeting up with a tutor, emailing someone from class, or contacting a librarian through phone, email, or even text message at 401-324-9LIB.
