I love the beginning of a semester. When a new semester begins, your grade is an A+ and you are completely on top of your work. It seems like the farther into the semester we get, the poorer our habits become. What we need to do is practice academic care to keep our habits strong.
It’s not difficult or time consuming to practice academic care. In fact, you can improve your academic health and fight the procrastination monster by focusing on one aspect every day as you study. Try using the Academic Care Week-At-A-Glance below.
Sunday: Prepare for the Week Ahead
- Look over your course calendars to see what content you will be learning during the week.
- Look ahead to plan for future exam or project due dates.
- Skim the readings for the week’s classes to familiarize yourself with the content. Look at the headlines, subheadings, images, and vocabulary.
Monday: Start Strong
- Break down large assignments into chunks that you can work on over time.
- Begin your readings, filling in information missing from your lecture notes.
- Start turning new information from your notes and readings into study questions.
Tuesday: Stay the Course
- Continue with your strong start from Monday.
- Don’t start to procrastinate! Stay on top of your notes, readings, assignments, and study questions.
- Review your study questions, focusing more attention of questions you can’t answer.
Wednesday: Look at your Progress
- You are at the midpoint of the week.
- Look at what you’ve accomplished so far. Identify the benefits of Preparing for the Week, Starting Strong, and Staying the Course.
- Focus on what you need to do for the rest of the week to stay on top of your work.
- Continue with your notes, readings, assignments, and study questions.
Thursday: Modify and Adjust
- Review your plan for the week. Are you still committed to following it?
- Identify anything that got in the way of sticking to your plan.
- Modify and adjust so that you can successfully complete your work. Do you need to change your schedule? Are you using the most effective study strategies?
Friday: Relax and Have Fun
- Make notes of important information you need to review or relearn from your classes, clinics, labs, or exams.
- Take the night off. Relax, rest your brain, spend time with family or friends. Do something creative and give the left side of your brain a rest.
Saturday: Finish, Review, and Reward
- Finish any work from the week so you don’t have to carry it over and risk getting behind.
- Review all the new content learned during the week.
- Review content learned during previous weeks and connect new information to what you previously learned.
- Reward yourself for all your hard work. Do something you enjoy, spend time with friends or family, whatever you want.