Online Student Survival Guide

By making a few small changes to your daily routine, you can get more accomplished in the same amount of time than you do going at it haphazardly. First, you need to take an inventory of where your time goes, then get deadly serious about where it should be going. Time is finite; once it’s gone, you don’t get it back, nor do you get a ‘do over’ without losing more time, so the trick is to get the biggest bang for the buck, investing your time where it is most likely to give you the biggest return.

If you’re twenty-something, your college degree will probably add at least a million dollars to your income over the next 30-35 years. So how much is it worth to you to be a slave to your cell phone? Or reminisce the next day about Jay Leno’s monologue or Dave Letterman’s top ten or stupid pet tricks? You need to be concentrating on getting your education, and focusing on your reading assignments, not keeping up-to-the-minute on all the gloom-and-doom, hysteria, and wild-eyed speculation. Trust me! We are NOT going to die from cow flatulence, a rock the size of Rhode Island falling out of the sky, and you and I are powerless to prevent it if it was plausible. What is real is that exam you have coming, and those papers you have to write.

To begin the process of adding more accomplishments to your day, you need to ask yourself a few crucial questions: What are my priorities for today, for this week, for this semester? Is the way I currently spend my time consistent with those priorities?

For example, at the beginning of each course, I go over the syllabus, particularly the schedule of readings and tasks, so I’ll know what to expect, and can adapt my schedule to important dates and deadlines. I put these dates on my desk calendar so I won’t forget them and deadlines won’t sneak up on me. I don’t have any kids, so I don’t have to schedule little league games, school plays, etc.; but I do schedule in recitals, community events and other commitments.

Along with those priorities, you’ll be setting personal goals and deadlines, so you might as well assign yourself an appropriate reward while you’re at it – a night out, a CD, take in a movie, whatever you choose. I think it’s imperative to formally put these in writing.

If you can increase your reading speed, obviously you’ll need less time to get through your reading assignments. If you can increase your keyboarding speed and accuracy, obviously you’ll have more time for the all important rewriting, editing, and proofreading. If you can improve your notetaking skills, obviously you’ll have an easier time mastering the material and particularly when it comes time to review for exams.

Life happens! So expect the unexpected! All sorts of interruptions and distractions will come along sooner or later, but, generally, if you establish a routine for avoiding the more mundane interruptions, most people will deal with it more readily than being pressured and rushed to bring it to a quick conclusion. My advice is to shut off your cell phone, and let the answering machine pick up calls; don’t waste time checking your e-mail more than two or three times a day – and there is nothing ‘wrong’ with taking the day off from e-mail altogether now and then. If you have to, go in another room and close the door when you’re studying.