The night before, lay your clothes out.
Seriously. It will keep you from pandering around, wondering where your clean socks and unmentionables might be, saving you an enormous amount of time.
Think ahead and plan breakfasts.
Coffee
Make coffee the night before, and let it cool in the fridge if you like iced coffees, or just warm it up for hot coffee.
Breakfast Meal
-Consider making a big breakfast casserole or a huge pot of yummy oatmeal for breakfast that can feed you all week!
For the breakfast casserole:
If you can eat eggs and dairy, shred or cube potatoes, any veggies, and sautee for a few minutes: meanwhile, whisk together 7-12 eggs with pepper, salt, garlic powder, cheeses, pop in a buttered casserole pan or pyrex dish, and bake in oven for an hour or so at 350, until the eggs are just set.
If you can't, no problem! Make a casserole of shredded/cubed red and sweet potatoes mixed with other veggies, soy or coconut cheese, and your choice or tofu, bean curd, or meat. Bake in an oiled pyrex or casserole pan, and bake until ready.
Make a Study Plan ON a Weekly Planner or Daily Planner Sheet
Or however you like to keep yourself accountable.
Don't have a weekly planner or daily planner sheet? Find one online. There are tons. Once I figure out how to attach things to this blog, I will upload two one-page printable daily and weekly planner I've made for myself to share with you guys. Block out times on your planner. Turn your phone off. Let people know you are studying and to leave you alone. Or, if you work best with a buddy, set a study time. Or go to the library, wherever you study best!
Have Concrete Goals Every Day.
This can be super overwhelming. How do you possibly remember to get everything down? When do we possibly have TIME to get this done?
2-3 weeks before exams begin, set aside half an hour to an hour or so (using a timer) and make a list of what needs to be done per class. This may take one day, or even three days. Most importantly, try not to overwhelm yourself. Do one class at a time to avoid getting distracted.
Once you figure out what needs to be done, assign 2-3 main study goals/tasks per day leading up to exams.
These need to be concrete goals, like these below:
"I will read pages 123-145 for XYZ course, and do questions 1-17 in my workbook, from 2:30 pm-4:30 pm on Friday, Nov. 15th"
"I will get through Unit 1 for ABC course from 9:00 am-12:00, take a break, then from 1:00 pm -4:00 pm , I will work through lectures 12 and 13 of LMN course on Saturday, Nov. 16th"
"From 8:00 am-9:30 am, I will review the study guide for course QRS course and from 10:00 am-11:00, I will try to re-do question 1-15 of the study guide from memory, as best as I can, on Monday, Nov. 18th."
Don't forget, timers can be SUPER handy!
Most importantly, don't overcommit or overbook your days. Plan for breaks. Plan for times for you to go for a 10-15 minute walk in a park or your neighborhood (of course, plan 30 minutes or 40 minutes: time it takes to drive to the park, get out of car, etc).
Reward your efforts.
Watch a mindless show on Netflix at the end of the day. Call your friends or family. Get some fresh air. Stretch, do yoga, destress.
Sleep at a set time, if possible!
Try to get to bed by a certain time if you can. Practice some breathing exercises if you can't sleep, and remember! NEVER BRING WORK TO BED!
Try to keep your sleeping space for sleep and sex only. Bringing work or food in there will make it SUPER hard to sleep and will keep you even more stressed out. You need to sleep well! Any info you read will solidify after a good night's rest!
-Get right to work. Don't dilly dally and check emails, etc. You'll be floored how much you actually remember from the day before!
All the best, everyone!
Sam
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