College isnever easy! For a college student who struggles to strike a school-lifebalance, there seems to be not enough time to do everything. The overwhelming academictasks, coupled with personal challenges, can triggerfeelings of anxiety and depression that, when ignored for too long, can be detrimentalto your mental health and overall well-being.
Students need agame plan that enables them to overcome a ton of challenges ranging from rigorouscoursework, a truckload of school work, and looming deadlines.
Ah, thedreaded deadlines.Meetingdeadlines takes tremendous effort and dedication. Once you accomplish one task,another comes up, barely giving you enough room to breathe. The pressure can betoo much, leaving you anxious and panicking. You risk losing your concentrationand flanking your exams and find yourself struggling to find the motivation to carryon.
Whileadministrators try to improve the situation through various mentoring programs,time management problems thwart every college student's efforts to beat deadlines.Late submissions result in penalties and risk low grades.
Unsurprisingly,undergraduate students are earning their bachelor's degrees beyond the expectednumber of years completion. The nationwide percentage for college students whomanage to complete their degrees within six years sits at 60%.
Navigate thesections in this article using our page jumps:
*Organize your coursework and requirements.* Master study methods.* Manage your time wisely.* Make plans according to your priorities.* Break your tasks down to smaller and manageable segments.* Deal with procrastination realistically* Work on the task right away.* Set simple and achievable goals.* Incentivize yourself.
Are You a Deadliner?
Do you put yourassignments on the back burner until the time's up? Have you crammed for an examand completed a 10-page paper in three hours? A deadliner is what you are!
As an urban slang for those who procrastinate, deadliners often wait until the last minute before working on or completing a task or project. Students often procrastinate—and fail to meet deadlines as a result—for a variety of reasons:
You have too much work on your hands. You keep a full-time academic load at a university and supplement your educational costs with a job on the side.
You lack focus that you can't keep track of the time.
You are a perfectionist who never gets satisfied with the outcome of your work. You write and review the same paper over and over again.
The stacks of books and lecture materials you need to read, the assignments you need to complete, and the numerous exams you need to study for overwhelm you.
You have low self-esteem and aren't confident about being able to complete the task.
You exhibit a rebellious trait and consider deadlines as a method of control. You want to defy it.
Beating the Deadline
Timing iseverything, they say. This adage rings true for college students who need tosend in requirements on time and get good grades in return.
How you respondto a deadline impacts your academic standing. The following tips can help youmeet and beat deadlines more easily:
Organize your coursework and
requirements.
As a collegestudent, you need to work on and complete what is asked of you; how you do thatis up to you!
Do you haveassignments, projects, and papers due within the week? Tracking all of themusing mobile apps can help you plan and organize your next steps. Get help fromdigital tools and apps that help you accomplish them all.
Listing down youracademic tasks the traditional way won't hurt either. Categorize them bysubject, due date, or complexity. Write down your requirements in your dailyplanner for easy access.
Doing these allowsyou to monitor your progress and deliver your outputs promptly.
Master study methods.
To beat your deadlines,you need learning styles that work for you and can be easily integrated into youreveryday habits:
Spaced-out study sessions. This method lets you focus on a topic for a short period on different days. It allows you to absorb, digest, and retain more information without overworking your brain. You can create flashcards to help you remember important details.
Self-quiz. Use flashcards to test your knowledge. Formulate test questions every time you learn a new concept. Answer each item at the end of your spaced-out study sessions.
Paraphrasing and reflecting. Merely reading your materials don't often help with retention. Try to find out how a piece of information, such as a theory, applies to your personal experience. Doing this enables you to understand the idea better and remember it too.
Manage your time wisely.
Arguably themost challenging strategy is time management. Indeed, you can only do so much.
- Stick
to your routine and schedule.
Seta time to complete each task.
Limitthe use of gadgets and social media.
Commit to timemanagement strategies that work for you, but don't take rest and sleep forgranted. Recuperate and recharge if you have to, so you are ready to take on yournext set of to-dos!
Make plans according to your priorities.
In dealing withmounting school work, you need to master the art of prioritizing.
Sort out the most important and urgent tasks and those that can wait. Create a task list, color-code them, and identify the items you need to complete first.
Break your tasks down to smaller and
manageable segments.
A single projectcan be so complicated and time-consuming you pour your time and energy into it andaccomplish nothing in the end! Breaking these types of tasks down into bite-sizedto-dos can make a big difference.
A challenging research paper is the perfect example of a job with a few simpler tasks rolled into one. You need to do in-depth research, write your findings, review and recheck the information, and finalize the paper. None of these things can be done all at once; you must take on each of the little tasks to complete the work.
Deal with procrastination realistically.
College students try to escape the procrastination trap, and it is easier said than done.
You need to understand procrastination to address it! If you're a procrastinator, here are the questions to ask:
- Do
you avoid emotional reactions to overwhelming and stress-inducing situations?
Areyou likely to undermine the importance of a task?
Doyou usually fail to see the urgency of a project?
Doyou have trouble concentrating?
Doyou suffer from a lack of motivation and self-esteem?
It takes workto overcome procrastination, and you need to make little yet positive steps fora lasting change. Shifting your outlook, getting organized, removingdistractions, and talking to those who can help are some of the ways to combat thischaracter flaw.
Work on the task right away.
Don't think youhave the rest of the week to complete a task because the truth is, you don't! Before you know it, you're up to your neck inwork! Putting off work for a later date can also lead to loss of motivation.
Set simple and achievable goals.
Simple tasks areeasy to complete. In the same manner, setting small attainable goals workswonders for a college student. Finishing a simple task promptly is definitely achievable—andmaking a habit out of it can help you zero in on your bigger academic goals.
Incentivize yourself.
Drawinginspiration from the elusive academic success doesn't work for everyone. If you'relike many college students, you'd want immediate rewards. You can createincentives for yourself!
Whenever you complete a simple task, treat yourself to a 30-minute break to check your social media accounts. When you've finished a bigger to-do, take a trip to your favorite coffee shop. Watch a good movie for which you never had the time. We live for life's little and big rewards, don't we?
Deadlines are an inescapable dimension of college life.
Take small but definite steps to beat your deadline
and reach academic success!