Excelling, as a college student, is essential for many reasons. Being a college graduate can become your ticket to earning more in the future, boosting your financial literacy, and improving your mental health. A college degree can also help you boost your happiness, increase your chances of getting married, buy a home, and help you become a better citizen.
Being a college graduate is very beneficial, but being one requires a lot of time and effort. Regardless of the degree you decide to take, you’ll have to balance your resources between studying and maintaining a social life. Your inability to handle such a responsibility can become the reason why you’ll lose the motivation to continue college. This can have adverse and long-term effects on the quality of your life.
For you to avoid college burnout, stay motivated throughout the entire semester by implementing these tips:
1.Limit Your Screen Time
Technology is vital to all college students. Having a laptop and stable Internet connection is always a must because these will make it very easy for you to access different resources simultaneously. Once used properly, having access to technology can become your edge to stand out from your class and, eventually, graduate in flying colours.
But, just like anything else in this world, going overboard with your use of technology can also result in severe consequences. Spending a lot of time online, especially on social media, may increase your stress levels, making you susceptible to common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. The things you’ll see on different online platforms will push you to compare yourself to other people and make you less confident about your skills. This is especially true for teenagers who are easily affected by peer pressure.
Finding yourself immersed in technology for long periods can also distract you from your academic responsibilities as you’ll spend more time chatting with other people on social media rather than writing academic papers and complying with deadlines.
If you don’t want to experience the drawbacks of excessive technology use and make sure that you’re only getting its benefits, discipline yourself to limit your screen time, you can achieve this goal by following the tips listed below:
- Stick to a schedule: Setting up a schedule is important as it can help you focus better and ensure that none of your responsibilities are compromised. By coming up with a realistic schedule and making sure that you actually stick to it, you’ll avoid going in circles, plus it would be so much easier for you to accomplish tasks on time.
Depending on the number of tasks on your plate, you can set about two hours every day for your screen time. You can lessen or add more hours to your screen time based on your academic requirements. After you’ve set up a schedule, consider placing your gadgets on the opposite side of the room so you won’t be distracted when you’re studying printed materials or reading your notes. Receiving notifications from your gadget can easily entice you to spend time on social media instead of studying.
- Schedule some days free from screen time: The advent of technology makes it very easy for students like you to know the latest news in your area and know more about the developments in different parts of the world. By simply scrolling up and down your screen and clicking some buttons, you’ll be able to gain new knowledge. Although beneficial, the use of technology isn’t the only way you can update your knowledge. You can always engage in conversations with your friends and spend some time outdoors.
Another way to limit your screen time is to schedule certain days of the week when you will not be using your phone. You may schedule your weekly detox every weekend or other days of the week when you have lighter loads.
- Please get involved in extracurricular activities: More often than not, college students spend a lot of time on the Internet because they don’t have anything else to do. Instead of being bored in their college dorms, they would choose to browse online.
If you think you will be living the same way once you start college, consider signing up for extracurricular activities. This will keep you distracted from using too many of your devices while improving your mental and physical health. Joining extracurricular activities is also a great way to meet new friends and expand your social circle.
2.Create A Good Study Environment
Your ability to study in college can make or break your success as a student. It’ll be challenging for you to grasp lessons and excel as a student if your dorm room does not provide a conducive environment for studying. How can you review all of your handwritten notes if you can’t even find any of your stuff around because of too much clutter? How can you memorize all of your lessons for an upcoming test if your roommates are too noisy? Earning poor grades in your quizzes, exams, and oral recitations can become the reason why your entire college life will become a challenge.
You can prevent all of these from happening by exerting time and effort in creating a good study environment. Regardless of the size of your dorm room and the number of people you’re living with, you should be able to prioritize this task as this can significantly affect your performance as a college student. If possible, you should revamp your dorm room before the school year starts.
To help make this process easy, here are ways on how you can create a good study environment as you start your journey as a college student:
- Dedicate a specific space: Not having any space to study will demotivate you to study. Not having a study space the moment you need one can become why you’ll lose interest in studying. Finding a specific space when you need to study can be very demanding, especially if you live with several dorm mates.
When creating a good study environment, dedicating a specific space for this purpose should be on top of your to-do list. You can use any area in your dorm room, just as long as it’s large enough for you to lay out all of your books and notes and stay comfortable. This area should be available whenever you need it.
- Try to schedule a study time: You’ll have many things on your plate when you become a college student, which is why you should always have a schedule for all of your tasks. Wearing different hats simultaneously can be very exhausting and can take a toll on your mental and physical health.
Besides creating a schedule for your screen time, it would help if you also did the same when studying. Studying for at least two hours every weekday and longer hours during the weekend can be a great start.
If you have more academic requirements for the upcoming weeks or months, spend more time studying. As a student, your topmost priority should always be studying, not partying every weekend.
- Keep things organized: You’ll use a lot of things when you study. You’ll need your notes, books, pens, and highlighters. You might even need more tools depending on the requirements of your degree. Engineering students will usually use a toolbox while nursing students need to carry a first aid kit regularly.
For you to enjoy your study area for the longest time possible, keep all of your things organized. Please put all of these items back in their original storage areas when you’re done using them. Aside from having a well-organized study area, this trick will also make it easy for you to find your study items when you need them.
3.Aim For A Healthy Balance
The maxim that states, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” remains true for college students. Sure, studying your lessons and acing your classes are important when you’re a college student, but you should also strive to create a healthy balance. As a college student, you should also know how to balance your time and energy among work (if you’re planning to work to finance your college education), school, and life, in general. It’ll be challenging to succeed as a college student if any of these is compromised or disregarded.
Balancing all of your responsibilities can be very overwhelming, especially as a freshman. When you’re a new college student, you’ll likely have difficulty figuring out what to do first and what comes next. To help you achieve a healthy balance once the school year starts, take note of these tips:
Always prioritize your classes: Your parents and guardians have invested a lot of time and money to send you to a good school to earn a college degree, so make sure that they’re not wasting any of their investments on you.
When creating a healthy balance as a college student, your classes should always be your top priority. Once the school year starts, expect that you’ll receive countless invitations for social gatherings and parties. The bigger your university is, the more invitations you’ll receive from other students.
Before you make any decision, it’s best if you pause and assess how these decisions will affect your studies. If you’re going to a party on a Thursday night, would that affect your classes the next day? Will your academic requirements permit you to spend the weekend with your friends?
Ideally, it would help if you only hung out with other people once your assignments are completed. You should also set a solid curfew for yourself when attending social events. You don’t want to show up to your class without any sleep.
- Be friends with people who are focused on school: College is an important time in your life. Besides acquiring knowledge and skills that can help you progress in the future, college is also the time of your life wherein you’ll meet new friends and discover your true personality. To create a healthy social circle, which can motivate you to stay in school, be careful with the people you make friends with.
It might be challenging to determine the individuals who are determined to earn a degree and those who are just in college to goof around, but, in time, you’ll easily spot the difference. As much as possible, avoid being too close with individuals who would rather party than study for an upcoming quiz. The people who belong to the former will likely try to bring you down to their level, and because they are your “friends,” you won’t have any other choice but to go with them.
- Make social plans in advance: You can never predict when your friends will invite you for a night out or a few drinks. Teens are very spontaneous, which means that they can basically hang out whenever they “feel” like they want to. Saying “yes” to these sudden or unplanned invitations can be acceptable in limited doses, but when done frequently, this might jeopardize your academic performance.
If you don’t want any of these to happen, plan ahead of time and accomplish all of your priorities as soon as possible. Were you invited to a party on a Wednesday night? Make sure that you’ve already finished studying and doing all of your assignments before Tuesday. However, if the invitation is made on the spot and you have more other things to do on the day (reviewing notes, preparing for an exam, meeting with a family member), learn how to turn down the offer.
Remember, you are a college student, and partying or going out with your friends all the time isn’t your priority.
Earning a college degree is not a piece of cake, but it can always be done. Aside from following the tips presented in this article, you can also stay motivated if you’ll start the semester with a positive outlook. Having this mindset will make it very easy for you to see the good in every problem. Also, make sure that you use the experiences you’ll be gaining along the way as an avenue to learn.
