TIPS FOR STUDENTS 7

1. Set Study Goals

There is lots of credible research suggesting that goal setting can be used as part of a strategy to help people successfully effect positive changes in their lives, so never underestimate the power of identifying to yourself the things you want to achieve. Just make sure to ask yourself some key questions: Am I setting realistic goals? Will I need to work harder to achieve those goals? If you’re happy with the goals you’ve set then you should aim to develop your study plan for the year ahead with your goals in mind. Which, as it happens, leads us to Tip #2!

2. Make a Study Plan

Time is precious. Nobody is more aware of this than the poor student who hasn’t studied a thing until the night before an exam. By then, of course, it’s too late. The key to breaking the cycle of cramming for tests is to think ahead and create an effective study plan. Not only will this help you get organised and make the most of your time, it’ll also put your mind at ease and eliminate that nasty feeling you get when you walk into an exam knowing that you’re not at all prepared. As the old saying goes, fail to prepare and be prepared to fail.

3. Take Regular Study Breaks

None of us are superhuman, so it’s important to realise that you can’t maintain an optimum level of concentration without giving yourself some time to recover from the work you’ve put in. This can take the form of a ten-minute walk, a trip to the gym, having a chat with a friend or simply fixing yourself a hot drink. If it feels like procrastination, then rest assured that it’s not: taking regular short breaks not only help improve your focus, they can boost your productivity too.

4. Embrace New Technologies

Studying no longer means jotting things down with a pen on a scrap of paper. The old handwritten method still has its place of course, it’s just that now there are more options for personalising study that ever before. Whether it’s through online tools, social media, blogs, videos or mobile apps, learning has become more fluid and user-centred. If you want to try a new learning technology,  GoConqr’s free platform is a great place to start, even if we do say so ourselves!

5. Test Yourself

It’s a strange thing, but sometimes simply entering an exam environment is enough to make you forget some of the things you’ve learned. The solution is to mentally prepare for the pressure of having to remember key dates, facts, names, formulas and so on. Testing yourself with regular quizzes is a great way of doing this. And don’t worry of you don’t perform brilliantly at first – the more you practice, the better you’ll become. Don’t believe us? Then just take a peek at what the experts have to say.

6. Find a Healthy Balance

Take this opportunity to evaluate yourself both physically and mentally. Is your engine running on low? Instead of  complaining “I never get enough sleep” or “I’m eating too much convenience food” take control and do something about it! Make the change and see how it positively affects your attitude and study routine. This should motivate you to maintain a healthy balance in the future.

7. Be Positive

Your attitude has a big impact on the level of study that you get done and the effectiveness of your learning process. If you keep saying that you can’t do it and won’t commit to the idea of learning, attempting to study is only likely to become more difficult. Instead, focus your mind on positive outcomes and on how you can use your own individual strengths to achieve them. When you think positively, the reward centres in your brain show greater activity, thereby making you feel less anxious and more open to new ideas.

8. Collaborate with Study Partners

At this stage of the school year, you should know your classmates pretty well. This is a good point in time to select a couple of study partners who you know you work well with and are motivated to achieve good grades also. Don’t worry if you can’t meet up too often, you can use online tools such as GoConqr’s Groupstool to communicate and share study notes with one another.

9. Turn lessons into stories

Everybody likes to read or listen to a good story, and with good reason – not only do stories entertain us, they help us to understand and memorise key details too. You can apply this to your studies by weaving important details or facts into a story – the more outlandish and ridiculous you can make it, the better (since you’ll be more likely to remember a particularly crazy story).

10. Establish a Study Routine

Your study routine is comprised of more than planning what to learn and when. One of the main concerns is your study environment.

Find a place to study that is quiet and with few distractions. Alternatively, you could also try switching it up by sitting in a different place in your school library every day and seeing how this works for you.

There really aren’t any hard and fast rules to play by when it comes to best times for studying or how long you should work for. Everybody is different, so the best way to establish a routine is to try different things and see what works best for you, then modify your routine for maximum learning effectiveness.

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 6

18 Good Study Habits Explained

1. Best time of day

When do you work best? Are you an early bird, night owl, or something in between? Find your rhythm, then plan to study at your most productive time.

2. Plan

The next day, week, term or semester. Whatever time frames you use, time you invest to plan will pay for itself many times over. Speculate to accumulate.

3. Ask questions

Of all the good study habits you can develop, this one is key.  Just ask. If you don’t tend to do this, remember: success is defined by the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have.

4. Get, then stay, organized

Arrange your space, stuff, time and technology so they help, rather than hurt you. Once you learn how to get organized, make sure you stay that way.

5. Lower your resistance

One of the biggest time wasting ‘enemies’ you face? You! Part of you knows you should study, but another part of you wants to have some fun now. Using this Quick Win method daily can make all the difference.

6. Practice the law of the farm

Stephen Covey suggested that it’s better to study in the right season of time rather than cramming it all in at the last minute.  A farmer can’t cram with crops. It has to be done in it’s season. Cramming may or may not get the grades, but it won’t get you an education.

7. Manage your time-wasters

Wasting time online often leaves you feeling bad afterwards. Software such as rescuetime is good for managing it, but the worst thing to do to stop is to try and stop it completely.

Give yourself permission to waste time within limits.

8. Look at your goal

One simple but highly effective habit is to constantly remind yourself what you’re studying for. Your dream grade, posted on the wall next to your bed or computer means you’ll see and think about it daily. In fact, of all the tips on setting goals, this one's a 'must do'.

9. Do the worst first

Each day, break off a bit of your hardest task. First thing is often the best time to do this. It limits the effect of the task on your mind if you do it early. You also get to feel good all day because it's done.

10. Isolate yourself

Turn your communications off when you study. Even better, put them out of site. If your phone rings or an email announces itself, what happens?  Many people struggle with managing interruptions like these, and work grinds to a halt.

11. Finish wanting more

We all crave completion on anything, so leave yourself ‘high and dry’.  If you stop working at a natural break, it’s nice and neat, but harder to start up again.  Finish in the middle of a sente...

-- and you'll want to come back to it --

...nce.

12. Time box it

Give a task a block or 'box' of time to get it started. It needs to be short enough not to put you off, even if it’s a few minutes.  Often, the thought of starting is the problem. But once you do, it’s easier to keep going.

Enough time boxed sessions will mean you finish it. Learn how to avoid procrastination by time boxing.

13. Use capture tools

Capture thoughts, ideas and concepts before they vanish into the ether.  Good study habits depend on time management tools that are simple to use, easy to access and consistently work as a way to capture information that would otherwise be lost.

The key word there? ‘Use’.

14. Drink water

Stay topped up with enough to concentrate fully. Keep a bottle nearby, because good study habits depend on hydration.

15. Add on

Tack on a pre-study task to prepare yourself. The more your senses engage with this, the more effective it is.  This is especially true with the sense of smell.  

A certain odour (preferably pleasant!) can become a powerful anchor for developing good study habits.

16. Sell it to yourself

Thoughts become things or, to put it another way, we do what we think about. The see-your-goal example above is a simple way to start the process of marketing to yourself. Visual images, such as posters, have an impact, as does your language.

If you’ve ‘got‘ to work, it’s less than appealing than if you ‘decide’ to.

17. Practice selective listening

Listening is tough.  When you do listen, do so really well. Identify the 20% of what's said that matters, and take it in. Use whatever capture tool you like -- just do it.

18. Do something for someone else

Help someone else, and you reinforced your own understanding.  Ideally this will be with another student, but it doesn’t have to be. You could even explain it to yourself in the mirror.

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 5

Advice for Students: 11+ Ways to Make this Your Best Semester Yet

1. Get organized! Pretty self-explanatory, that one. But here’s a few things you an do to make that vague advice a little more practical:
   • Write everything down. Get a Moleskine notebook and a packet of Post-It “Durable Tabs”. Divide the notebook into sections for your todo list, projects (stuff that takes more than a step or two to finish, e.g. research papers, club activities, etc.), and notes. Stick that and a nice pen or mechanical pencil in your pocket, purse, or backpack. Carry it everywhere. Use it. Religiously. Write down assignments, appointments, trips to the library, shopping lists, phone numbers, classroom numbers, everything and anything that crosses your mind. I keep todos on the right-hand page and notes on the back of the left-hand page. Or figure out some other system — use index cards, a DayPlanner, a PDA, whatever works, but use it.
   • Review your lists regularly. Weekly, if you can. Bring your todo list up to date. Write down your upcoming deadlines. Copy your notes into a OneNote or EverNote file on your computer. Transfer email addresses and phone numbers into whatever software you use for contacts. Make sure you haven’t forgotten anything important, and brainstorm your ideas for the coming week.
   • Have an inbox. Pick a place in your dorm room or apartment or wherever you end up living and put all your new stuff (assignments, papers, books, things you bought at the store) there. Go through it every day and put everything where it belongs — into your todo list, in a desktop file box, into whatever drawer or closet it belongs in.
   Organized doesn’t necessarily mean “clean”, just keep a general system so you know that what you need is somewhere you can fin it. Remember that you need ideas, too — write them down and keep them safe!
2. Know your professor. Check out your professors’ bios on their departments’ websites. Google their names. (Use “firstname lastname” in quotes, then try “lastname, firstname”, also in quotes. Try with and without their middle initial, if you know it.) Look them up in whatever research databases your school’s library makes available to you. Look them up on Amazon. Pop in for a chat during their office hours. You don’t have to get creepy — don’t go through their garbage or anything like that. Just find out something about their work, what their research interests are, what sort of stuff they’ve written, what their teaching philosophy is (many profs post that kind of stuff). Find out where your interests intersect with theirs, and what they have to offer you that might be outside the scope of whatever class you’re taking.
3. Find a mentor. Seek out someone (or more than one, if you can) whose success as an academic, researcher, administrator, business person, artist, or writer inspires you. This may be a professor, but may well be someone outside the university altogether, too. Contact them. Tell them who you are and ask if you can meet with them some time. Offer to buy them a cup of coffee. Tell them why you admire them or their work, and ask if they have any advice for you. Offer our services as an intern or employee. Build a lasting relationship. You may well find a lot of jerks this way — stop admiring those people so much. Move on.
4. Visit the writing center. Or whatever other tutoring resources your school offers. Sign up for a writing workshop or study group. Take some flyers. Regardless of how well you think you write, you can always write better. Skilled writers are rare and in high demand — become one. Use whatever resources are at your disposal, including your school’s writing center. They’ll be more than glad to see you!
5. Join something. Join a club or sports team, a gaming group or a knitting circle. Join the theater group, or sign up to hand out environmental flyers in the student union. Nominate yourself (or ask someone to nominate you) for class president, or treasurer of whatever student group interests you. Check if your school offers a service learning program, and sign up. Volunteer. Develop leadership qualities by leading. Connect with as many people as you can, both because it’s smart networking and because it’s damn good fun. And you might change the world.
6. Speak up. Maybe you were shy in high school. I was. Stop that. When the professor asks a question, raise your hand — regardless of whether you know the answer or not. Give speeches in the student union or on the quad during lunch time. Step forward whenever the opportunity arises. Give presentations in class, even if there’s an alternate assignment. Join Toastmasters. Become a self-confident and able speaker.
7. Read for pleasure. No, seriously. This means two things: 1) learn to find pleasure in the reading you’re assigned, and 2) read stuff that isn’tassigned. Pick a topic that interests you and check out a book a week from the library. Read 10 novels this semester. Read literary magazines. Subscribe to RSS feeds, print out stories, and stuff them in your backpack for the random quiet moments that happen between classes, during meals, standing on line, or waiting for an appointment with a professor. Cultivate a thirst for knowledge above and beyond the subject matter of your classes.
8. Set goals. What do you hope to accomplish this semester? Forget about grades — grades are bunk. What is it that would satisfy you, as a person, if you achieve it this semester? What do you hope to get out of your classes? Make a list of goals, both short-term (this month, this semester, this class, before Thanksgiving, etc.) and long-term (during college, over the next year, within the next five years, etc.). Look at what you’re doing with your time; is it helping you reach those goals? Is it detracting from them? Of course, not everything has to contribute to helping you reach your goals for your life at 50, but if too much of what you do today seems to be at odds with where you want to be tomorrow, it’s time to re-examine either your goals or your actions.
9. Start something. Write a play or a novel. Organize a theater group or a weekly movie night. Curate an exhibition of your friends’ art work in the library’s lobby, or start a musical group and hit open-mike nights. If your school doesn’t have one, start a humor magazine; if it does have one, start a better one. Put together a rally at the book store opposing the use of sweatshop labor in school logo sweatshirts. Start a business delivering late-night snacks during study weeks.
10. Fail. While I realize you are firmly under the thumb of the tyranny of grades, and would not advise jeopardizing your GPA if you can help it, a little failure is often the best lesson you can learn, at school or elsewhere. Go out for activities you have no talent for, or that frighten you. Undertake Quixotic missions of protest against the administration, the school’s catering contractor, or the city government. Rally behind an unpopular candidate, whether for class secretary or for US Senator. Ask out a student that’s way out of your league. Apply for a job you have no qualifications for — without irony. Push yourself to do things that are well beyond your comfort level, if for no other reason than to assess the distance you’d have to cover to succeed at them.
11. Find balance. When mid-terms are done, have a drink (assuming that’s legal). Call home. Hang out. Play guitar. Schedule goofing off time, if you have to — you’re not only earning the right to waste time, but you needto if you’re to be at all successful. Remember, you’re here to grow as a person, and that means doing things that are personally satisfying even if they don’t come with a grade, paycheck, or certificate attached. Figure out now how to balance work and play, because it’s going to be easier now than when you’ve got bills up to your backside, screaming kids, and a micro-managing boss looking over your shoulder.

Bonus tip: Keep reading lifehack.org for advice and tips throughout the school year.

Bonus tip two: Know yourself. Learn your strengths and apply them. Learn your weaknesses and overcome them. College offers a unique time in your life when you can focus exclusively on self-improvement and personal development. Take advantage of it.

Obviously you won’t want to do every single thing I’ve mentioned here, but use these tips as a guide to build relationships, skills, and self-awareness, ostensibly the things you’re in school for (well, that and the beer, but I think you know where to find that already, right?).

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 4

31 Money Saving Tricks for Students

Keep in mind that the key to financial success is being aware of how you’re spending your money and cutting out the bad habits.

Do you have fine wine tastes on a cheap beer budget? It’s ok – most college students are living on a budget. If not, they’re likely students getting themselves into a cycle of debt.

While neither is fun or easy, you can become smarter about the way you spend your money. Keep in mind that the key to financial success is being aware of how you’re spending your money.

Also, know that there’s a difference between being cheap and having spending savvy. There’s nothing wrong with living within your means, rather than beyond.

Stretch your dollar further with the following money-saving tips:

1. Buy or rent used textbooks and sell last semester’s books back. 

2. Don’t make impulse purchases. 

3. Never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry.

4. Limit the number of times you eat out monthly.

5. Cut out vices – smoking and binge drinking are terrible for you and expensive.

6. Always pay bills on time to avoid late fees.

7. If you have a credit card, pay it off as quickly as possible. (It’s good to establish credit, but a bad credit score follows you everywhere.) 

8. Walk, use public transportation or ride a bike instead of having a car.

9. Live with others so you can split rent and utilities.

10. Cut out expensive cable packages you don’t need.

11. Consider more basic phone packages and plans or plans that include unlimited texting with free incoming calls

12. Don’t buy the most expensive college meal plans. Figure out what you actually consume and get the correlating package.

13. Shop where they offer student discounts. There are so many places that offer discounts to students with a school ID. 

14. Look into a campus gym versus a gym in town. Many colleges offer memberships for free or at a reduced rate for students.

15. When planning meals, make dinner with friends and split the cost of groceries. Often times, you’ll be cooking too much for one person anyway!

16. Sell what you no longer use or need. There are plenty of stores and web sites, likePoshmark and Craigslist, where you can sell your used clothing, furniture or tech items.

17. Don’t buy unnecessary school supplies. Why buy cumbersome notebooks when you can type on your laptop? It’s better for the earth anyway!

18. Don’t buy books you will only need for a short period of time – check them out from the library instead.

19. Take advantage of what your campus has to offer in terms of activities, rather than spending money on going out. Many campuses have an array of museums, offer movie nights and other social events for cheaper or, sometimes, for free.

20. Skip expensive spring break and summer trips – look into alternatives, like volunteering, instead. 

21. Wait to get a pet until after college – a pet can become very expensive. Not only do you have another mouth to feed, but veterinary bills are costly. If you love animals, there are plenty of shelters that need volunteers.

22. Go to class. You’re paying for it and skipping is like throwing money out the window!

23. Drink water. It’s free and better for you, anyway.

24. Make your own coffee. While coffee shops are convenient, they charge hefty prices that really add up over time.

25. Open a savings account that earns interest. Credit unions have fewer fees and are great for students.

26. Use a free tool, like FinAid’s Student Budget Calculator or the one offered byMint.com, to keep track of your finances. It’s harder to be frivolous when you see where your money is going.

27. Never take out a loan for anything that’s unrelated to your education. 

28. Don’t buy music. Use the free services like Spotify or Pandora offer.

29. Look into class requirements and the options for testing out of classes. Why pay for a class you could easily test out of?

30. Consider becoming a resident advisor. Many get free room and board.

31. Avoid buying name brand items. Purchase generic items whenever possible. They are exactly the same item, at a highly reduced price. You can even check the ingredients to make sure!

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 3

Successful students can be distinguished from the average student by their attitudes and behaviors. Below are some profiles that typically distinguish between an "A" student and a "C" student. Where do you fit in this scheme?

The "A" Student - An Outstanding Student

ATTENDANCE: "A" students have virtually perfect attendance. Their commitment to the class is a high priority and exceeds other temptations.
PREPARATION: "A" students are prepared for class. They always read the assignment. Their attention to detail is such that they occasionally can elaborate on class examples.
CURIOSITY: "A" students demonstrate interest in the class and the subject. They look up or dig out what they don't understand. They often ask interesting questions or make thoughtful comments.
RETENTION: "A" students have retentive minds and practice making retentive connections. They are able to connect past learning with the present. They bring a background of knowledge with them to their classes. They focus on learning concepts rather than memorizing details.
ATTITUDE: "A" students have a winning attitude. They have both the determination and the self-discipline necessary for success. They show initiative. They do things they have not been told to do.
TALENT: "A" students demonstrate a special talent. It may be exceptional intelligence and insight. It may be unusual creativity, organizational skills, commitment - or a some combination. These gifts are evident to the teacher and usually to the other students as well.
EFFORT: "A" students match their effort to the demands of an assignment.
COMMUNICATIONS: "A" students place a high priority on writing and speaking in a manner that conveys clarity and thoughtful organization. Attention is paid to conciseness and completeness.
RESULTS: "A" students make high grades on tests - usually the highest in the class. Their work is a pleasure to grade. 

The "C" Student - An Average Student

ATTENDANCE: "C" students are often late and miss class frequently. They put other priorities ahead of academic work. In some cases, their health or constant fatigue renders them physically unable to keep up with the demands of high-level performance.
PREPARATION: "C" students may prepare their assignments consistently, but often in a perfunctory manner. Their work may be sloppy or careless. At times, it is incomplete or late.
CURIOSITY: "C" students seldom explore topics deeper than their face value. They lack vision and bypass interconnectedness of concepts. Immediate relevancy is often their singular test for involvement.
RETENTION: "C" students retain less information and for shorter periods. Less effort seems to go toward organizing and associating learned information with previously acquired knowledge. They display short-term retention by relying on cramming sessions that focus on details, not concepts.
ATTITUDE: "C" students are not visibly committed to class. They participate without enthusiasm. Their body language often expresses boredom.
TALENT: "C" students vary enormously in talent. Some have exceptional ability but show undeniable signs of poor self-management or bad attitudes. Others are diligent but simply average in academic ability.
EFFORT: "C" students are capable of sufficient effort, but either fail to realistically evaluate the effort needed to accomplish a task successfully, or lack the desire to meet the challenge.
COMMUNICATIONS: "C" students communicate in ways that often limit comprehension or risk misinterpretation. Ideas are not well formulated before they are expressed. Poor listening/reading habits inhibit matching inquiry and response.
RESULTS: "C" students obtain mediocre or inconsistent results on tests. They have some concept of what is going on but clearly have not mastered the material.

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 2

Successful students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes and behaviors as well as intellectual capacity. Successful students . . .

1. . . . are responsible and active.

Successful students get involved in their studies, accept responsibility for their own education, and are active participants in it! Responsibility is the difference between leading and being led. Active classroom participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream, or sleep. Or you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience. Either option costs one class period. However, the former method will require a large degree of additional work outside of class to achieve the same degree of learning the latter provides at one sitting.

2. . . . have educational goals.

Successful students are motivated by what their goals represent in terms of career aspirations and life's desires. Ask yourself these questions: What am I doing here? Is there some better place I could be? What does my presence here mean to me?Answers to these questions represent your "Hot Buttons" and are, without a doubt, the most important factors in your success as a college student. If your educational goals are truly yours, not someone else's, they will motivate a vital and positive academic attitude. If you are familiar with what these hot buttons represent and refer to them often, especially when you tire of being a student, nothing can stop you; if you aren't and don't, everything can, and will!

3. . . . ask questions.

Successful students ask questions to provide the quickest route between ignorance and knowledge.In addition to securing knowledge you seek, asking questions has at least two other extremely important benefits. The process helps you pay attention to your professor and helps your professor pay attention to you! Think about it. If you want something, go after it. Get the answer now, or fail a question later. There are no foolish questions, only foolish silence. It's your choice.

4. . . . learn that a student and a professor make a team.

Most instructors want exactly what you want: they would like for you to learn the material in their respective classes and earn a good grade.Successful students reflect well on the efforts of any teacher; if you have learned your material, the instructor takes some justifiable pride in teaching. Join forces with your instructor, they are not an enemy, you share the same interests, the same goals - in short, you're teammates. Get to know your professor. You're the most valuable players on the same team. Your jobs are to work together for mutual success. Neither wishes to chalk up a losing season. Be a team player!

5. . . . don't sit in the back.

Successful students minimize classroom distractions that interfere with learning.Students want the best seat available for their entertainment dollars, but willingly seek the worst seat for their educational dollars. Students who sit in the back cannot possibly be their professor's teammate (see no. 4). Why do they expose themselves to the temptations of inactive classroom experiences and distractions of all the people between them and their instructor? Of course, we know they chose the back of the classroom because they seek invisibility or anonymity, both of which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If you are trying not to be part of the class, why, then, are you wasting your time? Push your hot buttons, is their something else you should be doing with your time?

6. . . . take good notes.

Successful students take notes that are understandable and organized, and review them often.Why put something into your notes you don't understand? Ask the questions now that are necessary to make your notes meaningful at some later time. A short review of your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps your learn more. The more you learn then, the less you'll have to learn later and the less time it will take because you won't have to include some deciphering time, also. The whole purpose of taking notes is to use them, and use them often. The more you use them, the more they improve.

7. . . . understand that actions affect learning.

Successful students know their personal behavior affect their feelings and emotions which in turn can affect learning.If you act in a certain way that normally produces particular feelings, you will begin to experience those feelings. Act like you're bored, and you'll become bored. Act like you're uninterested, and you'll become uninterested. So the next time you have trouble concentrating in the classroom, "act" like an interested person: lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the professor, nod occasionally, take notes, and ask questions. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and professor may also get more excited and enthusiastic.

8. . . . talk about what they're learning.

Successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words.Talking about something, with friends or classmates, is not only good for checking whether or not you know something, its a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most direct path for moving knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. You really don't "know" material until you can put it into words. So, next time you study, don't do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, readings, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, organize an oral study group, pretend you're teaching your peers. "Talk-learning" produces a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.

9. . . . don't cram for exams.

Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.If there is one thing that study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You'll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Friday's exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever, huh?

10. . . . are good time managers.

Successful students do not procrastinate. They have learned that time control is life control and have consciously chosen to be in control of their life.An elemental truth: you will either control time or be controlled by it! It's your choice: you can lead or be led, establish control or relinquish control, steer your own course or follow others. Failure to take control of their own time is probably the no. 1 study skills problem for college students. It ultimately causes many students to become non-students! Procrastinators are good excuse-makers. Don't make academics harder on yourself than it has to be. Stop procrastinating. And don't wait until tomorrow to do it!

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 1

7 Time Management Tips for Students

1) What do you have to do?

The first stage of improving your time management is to list absolutely everything that you have to do. This may sound obvious, but speaking from experience, most students tend to leave important tasks until the last minute, which can impact on the quality of their work and their overall grade.

Include any university deadlines as well as any shifts you work on the list, and make a note of how much time each priority will take out of your schedule.

2) Create a life schedule

Whether it’s a pin-up planner, a timetable or a calendar on your phone, find an organizing tool that works well for you and add your list of priorities to it. Also, think about when you are most alert, so that you can plan your study periods around these times.

Find time for socializing, but also make sure that you get enough sleep. Most people need between 7 to 8 hours sleep every night to remain focused and alert during study periods.

3) Be flexible but realistic

Typically, allow around 8-10 hours a day for working, studying, socializing and anything else practical you need to do.

As a full-time student, you’re expected to dedicate 35 hours a week to university studies, including the time you spend in seminars and lectures. If you only spend 15 hours a week attending tutor-led learning, you should use the extra 20 hours for independent study.

It’s also important to remember that things often take longer than expected. So, allow a little extra time in case you spend longer on a task than you thought you would.

4) Allow time for planning to avoid repetition

Taking the time to research, plan and think about your work is crucial for good time management. Allow yourself the time to process new information and plan how you are going to use it, as this can help you to avoid having to re-read and repeat any research.

One way of effectively planning before researching is to make a list of everything you want to find out, so that you can make notes below each subheading as you go.

5) Avoid procrastination and distraction

One way to avoid procrastination is to think about the different places you have been when studying – where were you the most focused? Where were you most distracted?

Remember, what works for one person might not necessarily work for you.  For some, studying with friends can limit their productivity. But for others, studying in groups can help to increase motivation and avoid procrastination.

6) Exercise to clear your head in between study sessions

Believe it or not, exercise works in the same way sleep does. It can focus your state of mind, helping you to clear your head in between study sessions. If you’re new to exercise, aim to fit in a 10-minute run here and there, steadily increasing the amount you do as you go on.

7) Has your organization been effective?

Constantly reviewing and reassessing your schedule can help you to recognize whether you need to make any changes in order to help you complete any university tasks and also have time to relax and spend time with friends and family.