School Tips for Students

Introduction

There is no magic formula for staying organized, managing stress or being successful in school or on the job. Some people thrive through their stress, others crash and burn at the first sign of stress. Some people wouldn’t be able to function without agendas; others remember everything without even needing to write it down. Everyone is different, so our ways of managing time and stress have to be different. There are however, many tips, depending on your personality, that can help guide you through the difficulties of managing time. Here are some of my personal tips.

Figurative Survival Kit

Here is a list of the things I keep handy and use daily to help stay organized:

• Agenda, or some form of calendar 
• Small notebooks
• Sticky notes
• Notepads
• Pencil case
• Pencils 
• Pens
• Highlighters
• Rulers
• Binders
• Notebooks
• Clipboard
• Lined paper
• Computer paper
• Flashcards 
• Self-control app on my Macbook (Self Control App)

My Calendars

1. Computer Calendar:
   I have a Macbook, and I use the default iCal as my calendar. On this calendar, I put all my major due dates (midterms, test, essays, assignments, anything and everything that is worth a mark). I also put the times/days that I’m working, even during the summer months when I work the same 8:00am – 5:00pm, Monday to Friday. I also put my goal dates in this calendar (eg. Start essay this day, be done assignment by today, etc. etc.). This is where it can get kind of confusing, because this is where I also sync my Blackberry calendar from:

2. Blackberry Calendar:

   I sync my iCal to my Blackberry calendar through my blackberry desktop software. It can be a bit annoying, because the changes I make on my iCal don’t automatically update on my phone, but I make it work. My Blackberry shows the 3 upcoming events, so I have a constant reminder of things. The downside of this, is that if I have one thing happening on Tuesday, and three things on Wednesday, and one thing on Friday, I won’t have that notification for the Friday event until the first Wednesday event has passed. 

3. Whiteboard Calendar:
   The last day of every month, I update the whiteboard calendar that sits on the wall above my desk at home. This is a monthly calendar, so I also put all of those important dates on it. Colour coded, of course (red – midterm/essay/exam, blue – work, green – personal). This gives me an overview of my month. In the notes portion of my whiteboard, I keep a list of upcoming things due in the next month.

4. I also keep a planner with all of my due dates, but this is also where I keep my to-do list (or if my to do list is too long, the paper/sticky note with my to-do list). I find keeping it in one central location helps me stay organized. 

Motivated to be Motivated

One of the biggest hindrances to academic and organizational success is a lack of motivation. Unfortunately, like studying and organizational tips, there is not a magic formula to be motivated. Motivation is the backbone of all success. You have to be motivated to stay organized, motivated to study, motivated to go to class or work, for the end goal of doing well. Motivation has to come from within. Personally, I can’t tell you exactly where my motivation comes from. I know that I have a set list of things to accomplish, and to do well in school I have to do them. It’s a lot easier to lose motivation, become apathetic, watch a whole season of How I Met Your Mother and eat a bag of chips, but I can tell you that one of my biggest motivating factors is the feeling getting the final reward of good final grades, or a raise at work, and knowing all your hard work has paid off. But for the short run, I find a ginger molasses cookie from Starbucks or a new pair of boots for doing well, are also great motivators.

Five Stages of School Work 

Before Class Starts/Syllabus Week

Would you run a marathon, play in a sports game, or perform at a concert without preparing? Of course you wouldn’t. The same thing applies to school. It seems like the first week is the time to slack off. “I’ll start my readings next week,” or “I’ll start looking at writing that report next week”, or “The midterm won’t be for another month,” or “I don’t need to give that presentation for a few more weeks” are common phrases that just enable procrastination. Many people start feeling swamped around midterms because they used that first week as a reason to sleep or go out instead of preparing. These are some tips that I use to help combat “busy-time” stress:

1. I go through each syllabus as soon as I get them (even before, if the professor puts it online), and I write down key important dates. Midterms, tests, essays, assignments, even mini quizzes. By doing this, I see when everything is due, and I can start planning accordingly as to when I have to start each assignment or studying for each test.  
2. I then go through my calendars and make mini-goal points for each assignment, test and essay. I write down things like “have study notes completed by today” or “have rough copy done by today”.
3. I then do a weekly goal chart. This is just a loose outline of things I try to do every week so I stay on top of things. This helps me combat my mid-term/exam time stress, so I already have the readings/notes/flashcards done. I just need to study them. I also work the same shifts every week, so I also put that in my schedule. I do this so I have a rough plan as to what I need to do every day to stay on top of my school work, so when midterms come around I’m prepared. This chart also reminds me that even when I think don’t have anything to do I still have something to do. Also, for the days that I don’t feel like doing homework, or the days I’m super swamped with other obligations, these are the things that I atleast try to get done. Unless another essay/test is super-pressing for the next day, where I will focus my studying on that. Through all of my intense studying tips, it’s important to not study too hard everyday so you don’t burn yourself out. 
   
4. I assign each course a colour (as you can tell from the table above). Colour coding is very important to me. These are also the colours that the calendars in my iCal are. When I write these things on my to-do lists, I also highlight with these colours. I like being able to see how much time I’m roughly spending on each subject. 

During Class

The math is easy: pay attention + take good notes = success in class.

Pay Attention

Paying attention is the first key to doing well in class. To pay attention, limit your distractions. If you can, avoid using your computer or tablet in class. If your professor posts the power-points before class, print them out and take your notes on that. If you need to take your notes on a computer or tablet, look into some apps you can use to limit distractions. I really like to use SelfControl for MacBooks (Self Control App), which allows you to block yourself from websites, mail, or anything on the internet, for a period of time, to help keep you focused on your task(s). Also, find a good place to sit in class. Avoid sitting near people who talk (either to you, or around you). 

Another good way to enable paying attention is coming to class awake and ready. Try to avoid rolling out of bed 20 minutes before your class starts. Get up at least an hour before your class. Drink your coffee, exercise, do a Soduko (basically anything that will get your body and brain ready for the day). Avoid the rush to class, because that can make you feel stressed out, and make it more likely for your mind to wander.

Taking Good Notes 

Now that you’re paying attention to the professor, you need to make sure you absorb the material while in class. When taking notes, it’s important not to write everything down. If you’re too busy trying to write down everything, you’ll miss the most important parts of the lecture. It’s important to identify, and write down the key ideas.

How do I know what the key ideas are?

Read the textbook before the lecture. If the professor assigns a chapter to read, chances are they will be talking about the assigned reading.Watch what the professor does. If the professor/lecturer writes a word on the blackboard/whiteboard, they’re taking the time to emphasize that specific word. If it’s a powerpoint, and something is done to make it seem like it stands out (different colour, bolded, etc) it is also a good indicator that that word is important. Take note of that. Generally pay attention. if you know what’s going on in the lecture, you’ll pick up on the key ideas really quickly.

How do I take good notes?

Writing notes is something I’ve always struggled with. I used to try to write down everything (more accurately, tried and failed) for a long time. These are some of the things that I do to take notes:

• I read over my textbook notes before the class, to refresh my memory of exactly what I took notes of 
• If there are powerpoints for the class, depending on the professor’s lecturing style, I either print them out beforehand and take notes by hand, or take my class notes in the powerpoint file 
• All of my other notes I take in a notebook (the same one I take my textbook notes in)
• I come up with abbreviated ways to write things down the professor may say a lot (example: because = b/c, William Shakespeare = WS, and = &)
• With a professor’s permission, I use a recorder and then during that lecture, I can focus mostly on absorbing the information, only writing down the key words/topics. This way, I can go back and fill in the supplemental information after, using my recorded notes.
• If it’s possible, I always try to rewrite my notes onto a lined piece of paper right after class while the information is still fresh in my head. According to William J. Rapaport, “the very act of copying [notes] is one of the best ways of studying them! Further study of your class notes can then be done from these "cooked" ones that are neater, more legible, more organized, and more complete”.

Studying/Assignments/Essays

Sometimes it feels like you won’t have anything due for a few weeks and then in the matter of three days you’ll have three midterms and two essays due. These are some of the things I do to help combat those stressful situations:

1. I try to begin studying for my midterms at least a week beforehand. Sometimes more in advance if it’s a midterm I know I will struggle with. And when I say studying, I actually mean studying. Not finishing readings, not making flashcards. I mean, condensing my notes into study notes, going through my flashcards, doing extra problems, everything that is actually studying. 
2. About two weeks before my first midterm, test or essay that’s due, I make a schedule of what to study when. I do this for the reminder of the term, since sometimes I’ll have two weeks between midterms, essays, or tests. When this happens I only tackle my study schedule for what’s concentrated for those three or so weeks. I go through each syllabus and break my studying into chunks (usually chapters or lecture number), and set goal dates to have certain things done. Or I will copy the goals that I made at the beginning of the term (sometimes these goals need to be adjusted based on my other classes). I take note of the harder midterms and parts of courses, and schedule extra study times for those chapters. The calendar below shows some examples of this.

Studying for Finals

Studying for finals is very similar to how I study for midterms. As soon as I get the exam schedule, I start writing this study schedule. Since I’m in English, I also have many final essays that will be due the last day of lectures, which is usually only a few days before my first exam. I usually start organizing this schedule a month before exams are done, sometimes even earlier, depending on how much work I have done when the schedule comes out, and how much difficulty I know I’ll have with each exam.

During exams, you’ll have the whole day off instead of also having to go to class. During my first year, I found myself wasting a lot of the time in the morning, and then staying up late, completely messing up my sleeping schedule. My don suggested that I print out a schedule, and then colour in what I spend doing each day. This way you can see how much time you really have in the day, and then see how much time you’re wasting.  An example of this is below. I found this to be very helpful.

Summary

This may seem like a lot to take it at first, but if you’re a little overwhelmed from these tips take what you think will help you, and alter them to fit your schooling. You may find that reading the textbook before class does not really help, but recording the lectures does. It’s all up to personal preference, and what works for you. If you’re stuggling in a class, it also does not hurt to make a relationship with your professor; going to a professor’s office hours can be very beneficial. But if you’re finding that you still need some help, uWaterloo’s Student Success Office has many resources for students. Their job is to help you to succeed. They have many different workshops for students, and success coaching. 

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References

Most of the things I have listed above are studying tips I actually practice, but listed below are some links of other good studying tips that I had read before and starting incorporating the tips into my study habits, or articles I read while researching for this article. 

Intense Studying Tips (The College Prepster)

Study (Wikihow)

How to Study (Computer Science and Engineering, University of Buffalo)

[Study]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://australiaonlinecourses.com/wp-content/uploads/Study-Skills-course.jpg