Lele's Declassified School Survival Guide
A fool-proof guide to crush it as a student.
Time Management and Scheduling Strategies
Note: Do you prefer a PAPER calendar, Online/Phone, OR BOTH?
- USE AN HOURLY PLANNER
- Daily/weekly planners were made for people who don’t have a schedule.
- Learn how to be intentional with your time.
My recommendations;
- for paper preference: passion planner or hourly printouts
- for online preference: google calendar, apple calendar, or google sheet
“Flexibility isn’t waking up and deciding whether or not you feel like working. Flexibility is designing the schedule that works best for you, and FOLLOWING THROUGH.”
Put EVERYTHING into your calendar, not just class or work.
- Having only SOME things in your calendar gives the illusion that you have more time than you actually have. You might THINK that you have all this free time, but when you count meal times, homework, friends, appointments, laundry, etc, you have a lot less time than you thought.
- Budget your time.
- Put notifications on EVERYTHING. There is SO much to keep track of, let your phone remind you of what to do or where you should be.
- Download the Calendar app on your phone, too, so that you always know where you should be.
Note from a rep: “I love the Canvas calendar but I’ve had some assignments that didn’t have a due date so I literally forgot about it…. you should use it but don’t forget about any others that might not be there”
USE THE TIME BLOCKING STRATEGY – AND FOLLOW THROUGH ON HOW YOU SCHEDULE YOURSELF
Keeping Track of Assignments (the EARLIER you do this, the BETTER!)
DON’T just continuously check syllabi, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks or suprise you
- Put ALL your homework, exams, essays, etc due for the semester in your planner, calendar, or an online planner to keep track of what is due, when it’s due, and how much time you should prepare to spend on it.
- This will require copying all of your course schedules/due dates/syllabi into one place. It’s just as important as building your nameslist your first week on the job. Spend the time doing it once a semester and your future self will thank you.
- Having everything all in one place will make deadlines less likely to sneak up on you.
MyStudyLife.com
- You can input all of your classes and tasks due for this semester, organized by class or due date.
- You can input how much of your assignment you have left.
- You can view all of your exams for the semester.
- This has less features than MyHomeworkApp, but is more user friendly and simple to use.
- This is available online and on the phone
MyHomeworkApp.com
- You can input all of your classes and tasks due for this semester, organized by class, type of assignment, due date or priority.
- You can view your assignments on a calendar to see how many assignments you have due per day.
- You can set notifications for your assignments.
- You can earn coupons for doing your homework on time.
- You can export your assignments on to Google Calendar
- This has more features than MyStudyLife, but is less user friendly and more complicated to use.
ANOTHER GREAT IDEA: GOOGLE SPREADSHEET
- Note: you can’t get notifications from this technique, but it is BY FAR the simplest option of the three.
Manage Yourself
“5 things” Tip
5 things to do in a day (no more, no less): You can set the number yourself, but the idea is to not do more OR less than the standard you set for the day.
- Eliminate overworking and underworking
- Decrease stress and overwhelming feelings
- Take things one step at a time
More Tips:
- Use the activities that you want to do as a motivator for the activities you’re not interested in.
- Ex: do the homework that you are the least interested in first.
- Value vs interest: writing about things that are applicable and expandable
- Find ways to connect what you are learning to your own life and interests. Create value within your assignments.
- Ask yourself: what do I like to do?
- Natural motivators: if you do your homework more quickly, you can do the activities that you actually want to do sooner; if you don’t do your homework, you will get behind and be stressed; if you don’t do your homework, will you feel guilty?
- Rewards/External Motivators: Create rewards for yourself when you finish your work.
Understand the Difference between Time, Motivation, and Energy
Create a plan for yourself. Your time, motivation, and energy are 3 different things.
If you’re struggling with time management:
- Block off your schedule. I prefer passion planners, but google calendar is another great choice if you like having notifications on your phone (or a combination of both).
- It might not be 3 demos a day for you. It might be some all-out demo days and some days where you do less demos and focus on other things.
- Plan in advance what the next month will look like for yourself!
- Go into your school schedule with some demos already on your schedule. Don’t wait to start selling until you’re settled at school. Your school schedule will be the same. the whole semester. If anything, your first week at school is the easiest because it’s mostly just syllabus review.
If you’re struggling with energy management:
- Take care of yourself
- Eat healthy, work out, drink enough water, and GO TO DAMN BED!
- Very few successful entrepreneurs sleep in more than 1-2x a month. WAKE UP!
- This might sound like pretty basic tips, but have you really been doing all of these things? What do you look like when you’re physically at your best? What is the gap between where your energy is now, an where your energy needs to be?
If you’re struggling with motivation:
- Do what others won’t now, so you can have what others can’t later. Success demands what most people are capable of giving, but what very few are willing to give.
- What is more important to you… temporary comfort, or long-term success? ASK YOURSELF: How will you feel when you see pictures of all your friends on an all-inclusive Caribbean vacation.. while you’re at home freezing through fall break?
- Communicate with your manager when you’re struggling. Let them hold you accountable.
- Get an accountabili-buddy!
Extra Tips
Leverage your network.
- You might feel like you’re on your own with online classes, but by now you now the power networking can have on your success.
- Create genuine connections with both your professors and your classmates.
Create a productive work space for yourself
Let your manager and team hold you accountable– multiple reps have been doing their homework on zoom to put themselves in a productive environment.
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