By Jake Pellegrino SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
If you’re anything like most college students, the beginning of the semester always seems to sneak up on you. While we have only been in school for a few weeks now, it feels almost as if we have been here for an eternity, and the freedom and relaxation of winter break is long gone. However, you don’t need to let the semester become so stressful. There are ways that us college students can manage our time and workload in such a way to make it work for us and not the other way around.
- Let your academic life live online: You know that smartphone that you have in your pocket? Well, you can use it for a lot more than playing games and texting.
You have a powerful organizational tool at your disposal. The built-in reminders app is a perfect place to input all of your homework and exams. Simply create a new list, pull out all of your syllabi and type in all of your assignments along with their due dates, and then sort the assignments by those dates. Do the same thing for all your upcoming exams. The great part about this is that your phone will automatically recognize the due dates and you can choose to set alarms according to those dates.
The system will also synchronize this data with the cloud so you can stay on top of your assignments on your tablet or computer, in case you leave your phone at home.
- Plan your week ahead: Sunday nights can be stressful; we know that another school week looms ahead although the last one just ended. But Sundays can be an invitation to get organized. You have a big test on Thursday, and a project due on Wednesday and, oh yeah, you promised to go out with your friend on Tuesday. While this may seem overwhelming at first, if you break it up into chunks it can become manageable.
Write down what you need to do and what is due each day and figure out how many days you will need to complete these tasks and then use this data to make a schedule for your week and follow it.
- Keep track of dates: If you’re walking around campus and you see an advertisement for a club that sparks your interest, keep track of the date of the meeting by inserting it into your online calendar or whatever method works best for you. This will prevent the date from getting mixed up among all the other things you have going on in your life and ultimately forgetting about it.
- Divvy up textbook readings: When you attempt to read an entire textbook chapter in one sitting, you may find yourself losing interest, and this can actually be detrimental because you will not absorb the material as efficiently. Instead, divide the reading into smaller chunks and take breaks. This will allow you to better understand the material.
- Set time aside for yourself: After a long day of studying, you should be rewarded for it. Whatever this may be – your favorite dessert, playing video games or even something as simple as watching Netflix – know that you deserved it and that relaxation is also an important part of your life.