Admit it, you hate cramming. Or rather, you hate what you feel when you do. The need to be up and about, the spike of adrenaline, and the worry of having little time for the amount of things to accomplish. Later, you feel the inevitable – stress for having to do so much in little time.
All students cram and no matter how much you tell yourself you’ll start studying two weeks before the exam or writing a paper days ahead, you still end up cramming.
How to quit being a crammer and get things done effectively? Here are some insights:
Tackle school work in increments
Before you start anything, you have to prioritize academic tasks based on deadlines and difficulty. Once you’ve listed the things you need to do, meaning you’ve arranged a schedule, doing things in increments will be an effective strategy.
For example, you have three tasks for the week. One is a paper, another is an examination, and a homework.
1. Before your week starts, determine your breaks and how much you intend to allocate for school work. Your daily deadline must be before the time you sleep.
2. Start with the most difficult and tackle it first. If research for your paper takes the most time, do it on the first day. Make sure that you’ve made substantial progress before leaving it and starting another task. Work on at least two tasks a day.
3. For your exam, study one to two topics each day. Do not schedule the longest review time on the day before the exam and make sure an ample amount of sleep comes in between.
4. On the second half of the week, review your progress on each task so you can adjust and reschedule. If you don’t, you might find yourself getting a writing service for your essay because you missed some things or that your study time is not enough as you expect.
Working on increments works. Try it.
Doing things in advance is still the best strategy
Many students find it difficult to advance school work simply because of the absence of pressure. But, it’s the most effective strategy to avoid cramming and probably the most overlooked. Do it no matter what.
Is it your break in the next two hours? Spend half of it doing something. Start planning your essays due at the end of the month, study the next Biology chapter, or collect term paper resources in the library.
In case you don’t have any pending academic work within the month, consult your classes’ syllabus. Most classes, especially those from the arts, have final projects. You will find the details in your syllabus if your teachers haven’t discussed them in class yet.
Trust me, there is always something to do.
It’s really just a matter of perspective
I’ll share with you a secret in being able to deal with tons of school work: it is a matter of perspective.
When I was on my freshman year, I had to take a class in geography which bored me to death since I’m a literature gal. But I was also starting to like traveling then so I tried situating my future adventures in the things I learned in class. The result? A no-stress final project finished just in time.
Try to look for one marvelous thing about each task. Get yourself excited in learning more about it instead of dreading it and delaying the work until you’ve traded sleep hours for it.
Try to do these things and if you ever have to cram again, well, don’t stop until you find what works for you or try harder.
About the Author:
Savannah Elwood is a literature student, writer, and an ex-crammer. She has managed to insert work in her schedule to finance her travels. Follow her on Google+
Read this Article in: Français (French)
