How do you stay on track at school?

Question

My grades all slipping reallyyyy bad. I get distracted real easily. I've been trying to keep up on my work, but it's hard. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. <3JAY

Answer 1

The only way to stay on track is to do your assignments every night and try to review regularly so that you don't have to cram for exams. Look at your schedule of classes and work and then schedule specific study/homework time EVERY day (yes, even on weekends). If your grades are already slipping, you should talk to each instructor to see what you can do to bring up your grade. You might be able to do an extra paper or presentation for extra credit points, which should help.
If your grades are slipping because you don't understand the material, ask your instructor to suggest a tutor or some additional reading material that might help. Some schools have free tutoring available, but if they don't see if you can work the cost into your budget. It is also important to have at least one "smart" friend in every class (and share phone numbers/email addresses). Agree to copy (or make a carbon) of your class notes when your friend misses class, and ask him or her to do the same for you--carry a few sheets of carbon in the back of your notebook (yes, carbon paper really does still exist). Also, when either of you get stuck on a question, you can check with each other for ideas--the old saying, two heads are better than one is true. I once had a statistical problem at work. I knew what I was getting did not pass a sanity check, but I could not find my error, so I had my not very bright student aide go over the numbers with me. I had been inverting two numbers, which was throwing off the result. She knew nothing about statistics, but noticed when I reversed the numbers--I even did it when I said them aloud.
As for the distractions, get rid of them. If the TV is distracting, turn it off. If your will power is not strong enough, get rid of the TV. If your music is distracting you, either don't play music or play something different and at a relatively low volume. Instrumentals are usually more conducive to concentration than songs with lyrics. Also, music without too strong a beat is better, but don't get anything too soothing if it is apt to put you to sleep. If phone calls, text messages, instant messages, etc. are bothering you, turn them off during your scheduled study time. Let your friends know your study schedule and that your phone, etc. will be off during those times--they will eventually stop trying to contact you during your study time.
Don't try to study too long at a time. When you find yourself starting to get sleepy or not concentrating, stand up and stretch. Walk around a bit, get a drink of water, etc. If you happen to live with a bunch of others, a short conversation break is fine, but keep it short. The best stress busters I ever experienced in college were our joke parties in the dorm during finals. We would meet in someone's room and start telling jokes. Sometimes we would listen to part of a Bill Cosby album. We would laugh, giggle, etc. for a few minutes. That seemed to re-energize us so we could go back and get some productive studying done.