Tips for Success

• Get to know your professors
  • Go to office hours, attend class regularly, speak up in class, ask questions
• Take advantage of campus resources:
  • Office for Student Success, Academic Commons, Academic Advising, Writing Center, Career Services and so much more!
• Study a bit each day
  • Rewrite your notes within 24 hours of hearing it
  • Change up your study locations
  • Put away your phone when studying → in your backpack, across the room, turn it off, disconnect notifications from your computer
  •  Join a study group with classmates
• Take care of yourself
  • Take study breaks when needed
  • Stay hydrated
  • Reward yourself for success
• Stay Organized
  • Check your email often
  • Set up blackboard and email notifications
  • Be prepared for class
  • Keep a daily to-do list and/or planner to keep track of assignments and tasks
  • Go through your syllabi and put important dates into your calendar and/or planner
• Attend class regularly
• Get involved on campus
  • Join study groups or check out tutoring
  • Attend Neighborhood Success workshops
  • Join student organizations / clubs

Additionally, feel free to view and print the following strategies for:

Time Management

Even though plans change, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make plans at all. There are many ways you can do this to be successful, so it may take some time for you to determine what works best for you. Many people find it helpful to take a few minutes every night before bed and put together their agenda for the next day.

One of the most effective time management strategies is to plan out your day.

Take a step back from your list to decide the who, what, when, where, what, why, and how of any intricate responsibilities you have tomorrow. Make sure you leave a few open spaces on your daily calendar as well. This will prepare your mind for the next day’s workload and also allow you to accept additional assignments, if necessary.

Add time in schedule for bigger long-term goals

Along with your planning sessions, you should identify the priorities for upcoming days, weeks, and even months. Keeping tabs on future tasks will allow you to disperse your workload in a way that avoids making you overly busy or stressed. You’ll be able to establish a more structured routine for your daily goals and remain productive throughout the week.

Figure out the time of day you’re most productive

Figure out when you work best at certain tasks, and use that time to do the most important things

Remove Distractions

When in meetings, in class, doing homework, studying etc. Even if it’s temporary, put your phone out of reach for an allotted period of time and do the things you need to do. Make a list of things that distract you so you’re aware of it.

Use a timer

As crazy as it may sound, using a timer might be one of the best time management techniques out there. Setting a timer can be an effective way to remind you of breaks, set time limits, and even make you more productive. Timing out portions of your day for breaks is an urgent part of any workday as they give you time away from your desk and a chance to clear your mind for a short time before getting back to work.

Break bigger projects into pieces

And then assign the pieces of the project to be things to do in a certain allotted time in a day.

Make a to-do list

In addition to tracking assignments, make a to-do list for your day and if needed rank your priorities of the things to get done first, second etc.

Use the one minute rule

If it takes less than a minute to do, do it now. Throw in the load of laundry. Get the glass of water. Put the groceries in the fridge. Send the email. Take stuff off of your plate this way.

Finish what you start

When you start working on a task, try and finish it (within reason) before you put it away or do something else to keep yourself focused. On the same token, bigger tasks (like taking massive note sets, writing a paper etc can and should be done in chunks to give yourself a recharge break).

Think positive

A positive attitude is a great motivator for success. Being in a good mood and telling yourself you can (even if you don’t believe it) is a great help. Make notes for yourself to remind you you’re awesome and you’ve got this.

Ranked To-Dos

Make to do lists of your weekly and daily goals, rank them in order or importance for each. 

When you make time to study, figure out ahead of time how you’re going to spend that time. Reviewing notes? Flashcards? talking to prof? break it down into manageable chunks.

Diversify

Try out a lot of different study spaces until you find one or two that work for you. 

Diversify your tasks, so that when you feel unmotivated in reading you can work on your art project. Keep your tasks arranged in a way that keep you feeling fresh.

Prioritize

Make priority lists, plan in advance when your fun times are going to be. Fun on Saturday planned out? study now. Set alarms in your phone to remind yourself when it’s time to prioritize something else.

If a student is over-involved, have them sit and think about what they are most interested in. 

Make specific times allotted to study in your schedule during the day. Think of it as a 9-5

Reward yourself

When you meet your goal. Eat a snack, take a walk etc. Choose good rewards (a snack) and not ones that will get you off track (watching a movie).

Keep records

Make a note of things that work/don’t work for you. Places, times, ways to study, etc. Also make notes of why you’re feeling less than productive if that is what is happening etc. Keep a journal. 

Communicate

With your friends, family, and people you want to hang out with when you’ll be studying. If you can, sync your study schedules to keep yourselves on track. All work at the same time and have a reward to hang out when you finish. Work during business hours whenever you can.

Control your Calendar

Controlling your schedule and your distractions will help you to accomplish your goals. If you are in control of your calendar, you will be able to complete your assignments and stay on top of your coursework. The following are steps to getting control of your calendar:

On the same day each week, (perhaps Sunday nights or Saturday mornings) plan out your schedule for the week.Go through each class and write down what you’d like to get completed for each class that week. Look at your calendar and determine how many hours you have to complete your work. Determine whether your list can be completed in the amount of time that you have available. (You may want to put the amount of time expected to complete each assignment.) Make adjustments as needed. For example, if you find that it will take more hours to complete your work than you have available, you will likely need to triage your readings. Completing all of the readings is a luxury. You will need to make decisions about your readings based on what is covered in class. You should read and take notes on all of the assignments from the favored class source (the one that is used a lot in the class). This may be the textbook or a reading that directly addresses the topic for the day. You can likely skim supplemental readings. Pencil into your calendar when you plan to get assignments completed. Before going to bed each night, make your plan for the next day. Waking up with a plan will make you more productive.

Stress Management

Get comfortable with doing nothing

Waiting in line, don’t look at your phone. Let your mind wander. Waiting for class to start, same thing. Etc. 

Don’t forget the basics

Eat at least 2 meals a day, get enough sleep (aim for about 8 hours), exercise when you can. try and make healthier food choices if you find yourself sapped of energy,

Find your outlets

listen to music, go for a walk, draw for 30 min a day, do something that makes you happy and can calm you down when you need it.

Organize your life

less clutter leads to better performance. try and keep a minimalist study space free of distractions

Use positive thinking

Tell yourself you can do it, you’ll make it, and believe in yourself and your ability to get through what you have to do. If you don’t believe you can your confidence will be shot and you won’t accomplish what you set out to. If you don’t believe it, fake it til you make it. Tell yourself you can until you don’t need to anymore.

Balance

Find one fun thing each week to look forward to as you work.