ok im in first year this year and am seriousy stressed about uni. There's so much workload especially if your in a science program. I'm having trouble trying to get on top of things. there's assignments to do, prep for labs, quizes, reviewing lecture notes, and hardest are all those readings from textbooks. Can anyone with good experience in time management really tell me how I can do all the tasks of the day. oh and I do the assignments, quizes, lab stuff but I have trouble with finding extra time to review notes and do extra readings. thank you in advance!

Just transfer into socsci.

Originally Posted by luna

ok im in first year this year and am seriousy stressed about uni. There's so much workload especially if your in a science program. I'm having trouble trying to get on top of things. there's assignments to do, prep for labs, quizes, reviewing lecture notes, and hardest are all those readings from textbooks. Can anyone with good experience in time management really tell me how I can do all the tasks of the day. oh and I do the assignments, quizes, lab stuff but I have trouble with finding extra time to review notes and do extra readings. thank you in advance!

You should post up a sample weekly schedule with the amount of time you spend on doing things.

Advices then can be personally tailored to your specific need instead of the general stuff that might not work for you.

Oh I feel so badly for you! :( I wish you had posted this thread yesterday because today CSD (Center for Student Development) had a workshop for time management. CSD has these kinds of workshops all the time, however, about a multiple of different thngs, how to study effectvely, take better notes etc. I suggest you go there and find out what other worshops they offer. They're only an hour or two long and really help. CSD is in the basement of MUSC.

how did this get here i am not good with success..

Maybe telling us what courses you are taking this semester might help us understand the situation better?

welcome to university.

Isolate yourself from the world...tends to help.

Im not in Science but...Ive never read any assigned readings for any of my courses. I'll only read the book when im studying for tests/exams and am lost on a part.

My notes...are useless to me. The only reason I take em in the first place is case I find I remember better when I write stuff down. After that, it just gets stored in a binder. Only time I go back to them is if I forgot how to do something or need to look at examples.

Also....what time do you wake up/sleep on weekdays/weekends.

I find the best way to go about things is to prioritize work. Stuff like textbook readings are helpful but a good percentage of the time it isn't necessary unless the prof tells you they'll test from the book. So don't spend hours pouring over every page when you can just skim and use the time on more important material. Also don't study one subject for hours on end, continuously switch course material to help memory.

Go to class and pay attention! When it comes to crunch time, it's so tempting to skip class but in the end the benefit of going far outweighs the time saved by not going. Gradually learning a topic over a term is much better than cramming everything the night before a midterm. In the long run, you'll end up a lot less stressed when it comes to studying when you don't have a mountain of material you haven't seen before.

Also get a decent amount of sleep.

Originally Posted by Mickel

I find the best way to go about things is to prioritize work. Stuff like textbook readings are helpful but a good percentage of the time it isn't necessary unless the prof tells you they'll test from the book. So don't spend hours pouring over every page when you can just skim and use the time on more important material. Also don't study one subject for hours on end, continuously switch course material to help memory.

Go to class and pay attention! When it comes to crunch time, it's so tempting to skip class but in the end the benefit of going far outweighs the time saved by not going. Gradually learning a topic over a term is much better than cramming everything the night before a midterm. In the long run, you'll end up a lot less stressed when it comes to studying when you don't have a mountain of material you haven't seen before.

Also get a decent amount of sleep.

Obviously you don't know how to cruise control.

My theory is that first year is essentially designed to screw you. If you consider the number of tests/assignments/quizzes you have in combination with the fact that you're coming from high school where they essentially spoon feed you into a place where you have to learn to do things almost completely independently, you will realize that this is just a recipe for disaster. I think this is true of all the bigger universities in first year, its designed to be a time when they try to "weed out" the people that can't handle the pressure, and it sucks.

In my opinion, having doomed first year then really picking it up in subsequent years (I do mean it, I went up 4 grade points in my average from first to 2nd year and I've maintained an A average since 2nd year), here's my suggestions:

1. Don't bother reading the textbook. Almost exclusively everything you will be tested on WILL BE IN THE LECTURE NOTES! Profs may say you need the textbook, but unless they explicitly say that you will be tested on stuff from the textbook that is not in the notes, don't bother reading the textbook, its a waste of time unless you need clarification.

2. My secret to success...go to lecture to learn rather than scribble meaningless notes. Record the lecture, then go back and listen to it. You may think you don't have time but eventually you'll get good at this and it will take no time at all. You'd be amazed at how much you miss while you're sitting in class trying to take notes. Also the human attention span is not so great, so I honestly don't beleive it's possible to sit in class and listen attentively for the full 50 minutes, let alone taking notes in addition to that. Invest in a good digital recorder.

3. Learning time management is hard, and this is part of what first year is about. But take things slowly, do quizzes/assignments as they are released and take your time with them, but also learn to prioritize. If you have an assignment worth 5% due soon but you have a midterm worth 30%, focus on the midterm if you're tight on time and leave the assignment for later. Prioritize.

4. Finally, this is something I didn't learn until 2nd year and I think its especially important for science, don't focus on memorizing stuff. Really try to understand. Everyone says biology is all about memorization but if you really try to understand the material you'll see there's very little you actually need to memorize. I find this holds true even for my 4th year molecular bio courses, which you would think require sheer memorization, but understanding is the real key to success.

Anyways, that's just my opinion and some of the things that have worked for me .

time management, along with the ability to deal with the stress is the point of university, more so than the content anyways. if you truly want to be here you'll figure out something that works for you....or not.

*oh and hardwork really does go a long way. how do you get a good work ethic? have a goal in mind, do you have a clear idea of what you want to do in life?

Originally Posted by xxsumz

....
My notes...are useless to me. The only reason I take em in the first place is case I find I remember better when I write stuff down. After that, it just gets stored in a binder. Only time I go back to them is if I forgot how to do something or need to look at examples...

Likewise. In every way.. I don't even go back and look at notes, even though I save them from every course.

Try not to be so stressed. Easier said than done, I know, but here are some comforting facts....

-You have the whole Reading Week in February to fall back on, if things get really crazy this semester and you find yourself slipping behind. The catch-up time was really valuable for me last year.

- First year university is the worst. I think the reason they put you through this hell is so you'll learn what works and what doesn't. Like, I learned the hard way that waking up at 7:30 every Saturday and Sunday morning and spending 12 hours studying chemistry does NOT work.

Life becomes so much more bearable in second year. When I was in first year and upper years told me that, I was like "wtf, how could it be, Kajiura said that the workload DOUBLES EVERY YEAR OMG" but it's true. You'll be learning about stuff you actually care about, the testing is generally more fair, you'll be more accustomed to university life, and you'll hopefully know yourself a lot better. All you have to do is make is through this semester - and you'll be a stronger person for it.

(sorry for the lack of time-management advice... I'm still trying to figure that out myself... just the 'stress' part caught my attention cause it basically ruled my life last year)

My second year avg is currently double what my first year was.