<p>I am a freshman at a good school just finished with my first semester where I got a 3.0. I'm really disappointed, and I intend to work harder next semester. I'm a prospective pre-law, so I really need to work at my GPA from now on, and I realize that. It's just that I procrastinate a lot. I tend to feel sleepy a LOT of the time, and that works as an excuse. Or, even if I go to the library, I have to take my laptop with me for the homework, and then I instead end up spending time on facebook. Any tips on how to deal with that?</p>
<p>2)Also the thing is, this semester, I had intended to take it easy with respect to activities and campus jobs in my first semester and leave time for meeting as many people as I could and easing myself into college, and so, I didn't take up any of those this semester. But next semester I really want to get involved in one activity and also take up a parttime job to make up for the expenses. At the same time, I also don't want to be a complete loner with mo friends whatsover. I'm wondering whether anyone has any suggestions on how I should work this through? Should I leave off the activity for another semester? </p>
<p>My current plan looks like this:
4 classes, each taking ~9 hrs of work per week (3 hr class+1hr section+office hrs+self study)
Meal times (when I meet friend group in dining hall): 3 hrs
on campus Job: 5-8 hrs a week I suppose?
Activity (either theater/debate): Am not too well acquainted with how long they'll take me-- say 5 hrs a week if not a bit more?
Sleep: 8 hrs/day</p>
<p>3) Last question-- need I buy books for each class? I ended up spending a LOT on coursebooks this semester, and some of my classmates were like, why do I even need all my books. Some of them didn't buy ANY this semester. :S How do these people cope without a book?</p>
<p>You aren’t the only one who drifts off into Facebook, I have a bad habit of doing that as well. The only way I can remedy it is to take a quick break when I need it and then devote all my energy to the project/paper at hand. You should also try finding a study group, you will meet new friends and get better grades in the process…this was quite helpful for me las semester.</p>
<p>I’m practically in the same boat as you. I procrastinate to the point where the paper is due the next day or the test is the next day … It’s pretty bad. I also work better during the night and I sometimes take naps in the daytime because I’m always so tired! D: But I’ve realized that I’m tired BECAUSE I work in the nighttime and sleep late which equals less time to sleep since I have 8AM classes. I also venture off hours on my laptop doing useless things like FB, YT, Y!, and CC … Haha, whoops. </p>
<p>This time, I plan to do a complete 360 and change my bad habits. I was really disappointed with my first semester GPA and I’m going to use that against me to motivate myself to do better. I’m going to make a giant list (resolutions) and hang it up on my wall so I can stare at it everyday to get it through my head. I plan to do the work assigned to me as soon as I get it and spend some time each day in every subject.</p>
<p>When you get to the library, log on to facebook for 10 minutes. Then click the little X in the upper right hand corner and don’t reopen it until you get the work finished that you planned to do. If necessary, turn off you cell phone, too.</p>
<p>One thing I recommend when studying is not to burn yourself out - what I’ve noticed about myself is that if I try to study for 2 or 3 hours on end I’ll really drift off and even if I don’t end up on facebook while at the library I just can’t concentrate. What helps me is that after maybe 30 minutes or 45 min of studying I give myself a quick 5 minute break to check FB and stuff. That helped me become more productive when studying.</p>
<p>8 hours of sleep a night? I don’t know anyone who gets 8 hours of sleep a night…5-7 is way more typical for the average college student. And honestly, if each of your classes really take 9 hours of work a week, wow that’s a lot for being a non-hard-science/engineering major, even if your classes are more challenging than average. Maybe you need to allocate your time more efficiently. I have a 20 hour work week, am e-board member of a club, take 4-5 classes etc. and am still able to have a ton of free time. You should definitely not leave off the activity - if you leave it off, you’ll never get around to doing it. Often times you’ll find the busier you are, the more efficient you allocate your time just because of necessity. Even if you need the 8 hours of sleep and the 9 hours of study/homework per class, you still should have more than enough time to do what you want. After all, 9 hours x 4 classes = 36 hours. That is less than a full-time job. And adults with a full-time job still find time to exercise, eat, socialize, take care of kids etc. </p>
<p>A couple tips - start your day early. If you are waking up at 10am everyday, most people have had 2-3 hours of productivity before that. Make the effort to be productive at 8am, even if you don’t have classes - exercise, do homework etc. For homework - say you have 50 pages to read for one of your classes. Don’t read all 50 pages…read the introduction and conclusion paragraphs, read one body section to get the jist of the argument and skim the rest unless the reading is really interesting to you. Otherwise you are just wasting your time reading filler material that will never be brought up in class. If you are sleepy all the time, caffeine? If coffee doesn’t work, there are a ton of other caffeinated drinks out there that can help you. No it’s not good for your health, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Also, procrastination gets the best of us. Some common methods of avoiding procrastination is deactivating facebook, studying with a (studious) friend that will help you keep on track, and maintaining a detailed schedule/to-do list of the things you have to accomplish each day to keep you focused and goal-oriented. </p>
<p>And you definitely don’t need to buy your books early…that’s just wasting your money. Wait until class starts to buy your book (unless your prof emails you early to say that you need the book on the 1st day of class). Based off what the professor says he might say that the books are “required” but then in actuality just look at the syllabus or talk to students who have taken the class before- half the time you don’t even use most of the book material. I tend to buy them online, share/split the cost with friends in my classes, or don’t even buy them at all and just use google-books to read the available pages.</p>
<p>If you have a Mac you should get the program Self Control (google it) so you can block your computer from accessing certain websites you choose (like facebook!) for the time of your choice (15min-24hr) while you need to be productive. I put Self Control on every time I go to the library.</p>
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<p>this made me smile :).</p>
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<p>for generic courses like calc and physics, you don’t need a textbook (unless you are assigned homework from those books). These subjects are so generic you can have Google as your source, not a $200 piece of 10 lbs brick. But more specific classes are taught based on the textbooks.</p>
<p>Thank you so so very much everyone!! CC really is a great resource of wonderful, helpful people. All the tips made me so happy; I promise I’m going to try following at least some of them through. Thank you again :)</p>
<p>Have your friend change your facebook password and make them promise not to tell you what it is until you’ve finished [studying for midterms/whatever].</p>
<p>Or just deactivate your facebook. Go to bed at the same time every night, and tell yourself that “I want to finish my wrk by x o’clock every night” and then bend backwards to make it happen. Try different study habits – studying for nine hours per class seems really inefficient; don’t be afraid to experiment.</p>
<p>If you have a Mac, Get SelfControl… It will do wonders for your work ethic.</p>
<p>visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/</p>