How To Stay On Track This Semester

By Jessi Stickel on August 6, 2016

If this is your sophomore year or higher in college, you most likely already know how overwhelming college can be; however if you are an incoming freshman, you may not know what you are getting into.

College is so much more intense than high school and the workload can get difficult to balance and keep track of when the semester is in full swing.

You will have homework, papers, tests, and projects thrown at you from all different directions. If you are not on top of everything within each of your courses, it is easy to fall behind without even noticing what you are doing.

Here are seven tips to follow in order to keep on track this semester.

1. Daily & weekly to-do lists

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In college, you normally take four to six courses per semester, which can be an intense workload. You will be assigned homework, papers, projects and readings throughout the semester and then quizzes and tests on top of that. Keeping track of everything you have to get done on a daily and weekly basis is a challenge for pretty much all college students.

This is where making to-do lists comes in handy. First, write a list of everything you have to do for the week or two with their due dates next to them. Then you can use sticky notes or a planner to decide what things on your list need to be completed on which day. You can do this every Sunday for the week to ensure you get every assignment done and turned in on time.

2. Prioritize

With the many papers and projects you will be assigned, there will be times you will have to work on several different things at once in order to complete everything in a timely fashion. You have to make sure you are doing the assignments that have an earlier due date first. To be a successful student, you will need to master prioritizing all of your schoolwork, while still managing to have a social life.

3. Set deadlines

Not only do your professors set deadlines, but you should set deadlines for yourself as well. If you have three assignments due on one particular day, you want to plan ahead and set different days to complete the assignments, so you are not trying to do all three at one time. This will keep you in check with all of your work, along with making sure you are not cramming at the last minute to study or to turn something in.

4. Create study groups

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Sometimes it’s best to create study groups from your classes to make sure you are keeping up with the class and understanding the information. You can study for quizzes and tests together and even help each other with projects. It is also a great way to meet people and make new friends on campus.

5. Schedule work/study time

If you are a person with a busy social schedule, you may want to schedule time out of each day for studying and/or working on assignments. This way it will be more difficult to blow off valuable time to get your work done. It will also allow you to do a little work at a time, rather than sitting at your desk for hours on end, trying to finish your paper before 11:59 p.m.

6. Minimize staying out late

If you are a college student who likes to go out a lot, you are going to need to minimize how many nights you stay out late and pass up time to get assignments completed. You cannot expect to get A’s in college when you are not putting in a lot of time and effort in your work and staying out late every night. Even if you find time to do your work, if you are staying out late and not getting a good night’s rest on a regular basis, this can affect your work output.

7. Stay organized

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Staying organized is key when you want to keep up with your assignments and earn high grades. A weekly planner is probably the best thing you can purchase to help you keep track of everything with school and your personal life.

A planner can remind you of a final exam and your aunt’s birthday — everything an OCD person can ask for! If you take paper notes (not on your laptop), try using a 5-subject notebook, as this way you’ll only need to carry around one notebook and you’ll never get them mixed up.

Digital reminders are also a way to stay organized with college. You’ll always have your phone with you, so those extra important events can be entered in your phone and pop up when you need to know about them.

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