As college students, we have all been there. Midterms and finals all seem to hit at one time, and the stress radar goes from “Ugh, this sucks” to “HOLY SHIT I’M SCREWED!!!” and “I have so much work to do, and I have no time!”
But if you rewind the term by a few weeks, many students miss opportunities to avoid the midterms/finals meltdown.
Yet, here we are. College students pounding energy drinks and throwing stress balls at annoying roommates while trying to figure out why our final paper refuses to write itself.
The answer to why is extremely simple: procrastination. Texting, Facebook or the total inability to pull ourselves away from watching that squirrel trying to jump from branch to branch outside the library window.@@nice image@@
Being at a quarter-system school like Oregon, classes move at a fast pace. But at the beginning of the term and right after midterms, most students have a brief lull in their workload.
Most students use this time to recharge, claiming that resting now will leave them energized for the rush of finals.
But in these periods of downtime is an opportunity to get valuable work and research done, so when midterms or finals roll around, you have that much less work to do. Though motivation is hard to find when nap time calls and you have a bit of freedom in your schedule, if you take the right steps, you can save yourself a lot of trouble.
To avoid getting sidetracked, the most important thing to do is plan out your time. Factor in breaks and be realistic because it is vital to stay on track with the schedule you set.
When working, go somewhere without cell service. The Knight Library is perfect for this because it is virtually impossible to receive a text message in the bowels of the building, which has outer walls thick enough to be a bomb shelter.
Also, if you do not need to use the Internet for research while you are working, turn off the wireless on your laptop. Mr. Zuckerberg@@http://www.facebook.com/zuck@@ may be furious enough with your absence to install yet another update during your study session, but you’ll benefit from the solitude and get more work done.
The most important part of getting work done in order to save yourself time later is to stick to a plan and reach your daily goals. It is hard to work as much as you can when you don’t necessarily have the requirement to do so — but in the end, you will be glad you have the task out of the way.
If you go to the library with the intention of writing two pages of a research paper, don’t leave after completing one page just so you can watch Snooki@@http://www.snookinicole.com/Snooki/HOME.html@@ put on make-up for 30 minutes. Get your work done — you’ll be glad you did. (Plus, you don’t have to listen to any guidos talk about fist-pumping for an entire show.)
By all means, use your free time to enjoy yourself and take a break from school. But having balance in your schedule is an essential part of being a college student, and getting ahead when you have the chance is well worth it.
When you glance at your syllabus throughout the term, make a to-do list of things you want to accomplish before finals week. As you cross things off, you will feel less stressed and be able to focus on other subjects.
And challenge yourself to leave “procrastinate” off that list.
Parness: Plan your time now, thank me later
Daily Emerald
November 9, 2011
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