Dear SOS!,
I am at a complete loss with my time-management skills. I feel like I'm back in sixth grade, minus the braces, Smashmouth CD, and butterfly hair clips. In this brand-new environment, I don't even know where work begins and play time ends. Puh-lease help me find a balance to this see-saw known as college!
SincerelyTimed-out Teen
Dear Timed-out Teen,
Have you ever had a crazy pet that goes absolutely wild when given an excess amount of open space? What about a neglected balloon that floats off into the distance? A phlegm-infested relative that leaves his dirty tissues all over the house at Thanksgiving?
Well, as is the answer with all of the aforementioned situations, the key to time-management is quarantining.
Once reserved for rabid dogs, quarantining is a method that has proven extremely useful in actually getting work done. Such separation can take place in the library (the reading room is always a good option, and it's open until 3 a.m. some nights), the Davis Square Starbucks (ample seating room!), or even your dorm floor's lounge (given that there isn't a late-night Chinese takeout sesh in full swing).
What's important is to distance yourself from any possible distraction: namely, the Internet, friends or Season One episodes of "The OC."
Take a second to determine where your social hub is located. Do you tend to do most of your socializing in your dorm? Friends' dorms? The dining halls? Frat house basements? Once you have determined the prime area of social contact, you must now make a pact with yourself not to attempt any form of academia within a five-foot radius of that locale.
However, all locations which you have not deemed to be a danger zone should remain as viable study place options. (FYI, even if you answered "no" to socializing at frat house basements, I still do not recommend busting out your laptop in the middle of a game of beer pong. If it spills on the keyboard, you're screwed).
Once you have chosen a prime spot for schoolwork completion, you need to find a time that not only fits into your schedule, but also synchs with the pinnacle of your scholastic acumen. In other words, find a time to study when you're not: a) ravenously hungry, b) falling asleep, or c) insanely hung over.
The best way to ensure sufficient task completion is to work while the information is still fresh in your mind (i.e., within two hours of your class' conclusion). This way, you can complete the bulk of your recently-assigned work, then review it later before class for a quick refresher.
Although most students don't claim to be "morning people," waking up an hour or so early can often be the solution to efficiently finishing all last-minute assignments. And that way, you have the whole night free to bother your studying friends who chose not to read this article.
The final factor to take into consideration is your studying "aura": how and what you choose to study with, mixed with the environment in which you've chosen to do it.
Many people claim their studying aura encompasses the use of music, whether for focusing purposes, or just simply to block out surrounding noise. However, upon discovering that I could ONLY study to Johann Sebastian Bach's "Allegro Concerto" and The Strokes' "Room on Fire," I often opt for complete silence.
Another factor in the study aura is liquid refreshment. Because I am currently eating a Hodgdon tuna salad wrap whilst writing this response, and thus having difficulty in completion (of both the response and the tuna), I do not recommend eating a meal at the same time as you are trying to work.
With that said, though, I do strongly support the consumption of hot beverages to bolster the studying aura. The liquid approach can go two ways: high caffeination (i.e. grande soy vanilla red-eyes from Starbucks) to jumpstart a long period of cramming, or zero caffeination (i.e. mint tea with milk and honey from Brown and Brew) to mellow out during a low-key review session. Drinking liquids will keep you hydrated, alert and on-task.
Just remember to drink the right ones - which further proves why you shouldn't study in frat house basements.
To get advice for all your problems, contact Charlotte at Charlotte.Steinway@tufts.edu.
