One of the hardest adjustments for most incoming college freshmen is the workload involved in their academic studies. Because college assignments and work are definitely harder than in high school, some students get overwhelmed and give up in their first semester. However, the key to success in college courses isn’t always how smart you are. It sometimes comes down to how smart you are at managing your time and workload. There are five essential guidelines to creating a study schedule that can help you succeed.
The first thing to do is to actually get a planner with large spaces for each day. Try to plan our your academic schedule at least one week in advance. Write down what assignment is due on each day. By actually writing down what needs done, you will know what is expected of you in the next week. If you see that you have two long essays due back to back, you will know to plan accordingly. Also, cross off each assignment as you complete it. Seeing your planner with accomplished tasks will motivate you to keep working.
Secondly, with your planner, you will know what days have the most assignments. This can help in planning when exactly to study. If you have a lot of work due Wednesday, then Tuesday will probably need to be your designated work night. Know that your schedule can change week to week. There will be weeks when you have more work due than time allotted. This may be when you have to change your priorities. But rest assured, there will be weeks when you barely have any work.
The third guideline is to manage your priorities immediately upon starting college. Since you know what needs to be done that week, you can decide if you have time to attend a football game or social event. Some students spend their entire weekend partying and then must play catch up on Monday. There usually isn’t enough time to give the assignment the attention it deserves. Try to designate one weekend day that will be set aside for studying. For most students, a Sunday afternoon works well.
Fourthly, pick a place to study. This may not seem important but it usually is. If you know that your roommate is loud and always distracting you, it will take away from your study efforts. Rather than sit for hours with several interruptions from her, go to the library or even an empty classroom and take two quiet hours to devote solely to the assignment. You can later return to catch up on her gossip knowing that your homework is done.
The fifth guideline to follow is to be flexible but also rigid. Know that you may have to adjust your personal schedule to accommodate for your academic studies. But also know that it is occasionally okay to adjust your academic study schedule for your personal life. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself by studying all of the time. Just know your priorities and create a balance that always weighs more heavily on academics.
The key to getting the 4.0 GPA isn’t always how intelligent you are. If you are intelligent enough to create a study schedule that fits your personal needs, than you will be one step ahead of most of your classmates. Go into each week well aware of what is expected and complete every assignment to the best of your capabilities. As the semesters continue, you will eventually see that by allowing yourself quiet time, you are actually increasing your chances of getting an A.
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