College v2

If your like me, right now the semester is drawing to a close and the work is piling up. As my posting calender will tell, I havent had too much time to do anything but work. But lately I have been trying free up some more time and here are a few things that may help:

1. Get an extension

Seems obvious but asking for an extension on a few assignments may help the burden out. And you will be surprised how many professors will tell you yes without a thought. Keep in mind they have stacks of papers and lab reports to grade. They probably won’t get to yours anytime soon anyway.

2. Cut back on the extra curriculars.

If you have a 5-page paper due and a meeting to attend for the Chess Club, do the smart thing. Politely tell the club you can’t make it. Because if you fail your classes, you cant be in the club anyway. Also if you take a step back and see some of the little things that take up your day you may be able to free up some hours. Stop compulsively checking your email or take a break on that long term project you have been working on.

3. Dont multi task

As a recent Time Magazine cover stated: young people are kings of the multitask, or so they think. Reality is you get a lot more done when your not chatting listening to music and writing at the same time. Sure these things may break the monotony, but would you rather have 60 minutes of multitasking or would you rather bang out that paper in 20 minutes?

4. Lock your door

In dorm life it is easy for someone to just drop by and ask you to do something. Usually this is ideal, but if you find yourself under the burden of school lock your door and dont answer. Besides if you DID go play Frisbee instead, your mind will be still dreading that paper you have to do. Just don’t be anti-social, there is a balence.

5. Just dont do it.

If you find yourself bogged down and your grade is decent, you may just want to take a day-off. Relax and recharge your batteries, and let those little time consuming assignments go. You’ll be more productive when you return.

If you do anything special when the going gets tough, drop it in the comments.

[tags]too much work, college productivity[/tags]