Homework Tips?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm hopefully going back to college soon, which means that I'll once again be up against my number one meltdown-inducer, homework.

HELP.

Seriously, I will hugely appreciate any advice you can give that will make homework even the slightest bit more bearable. Even homework related to my special interests can cause me to melt down if there's too much of it. It should be easier now that I'm on ADHD medication, but I'm still terrified at the thought of having to deal with it again.

do it right away and break it up into small chunks. read for 15 minutes, listen to a favorite song, read for 15 more minutes. eat some fruit, read 15 more minutes. you get the idea.

I do the breaking up thing too, but I separate it longer. I'll watch an entire episode of a TV show before going back to my work. It seems to have worked for me so far.

If it was reading, I got it all done Friday night. I'm a very fast reader, so that was never a problem.

That way, assuming no research papers, I'd have the entire weekend free. If I knew at the beginning of the class that a paper would be a considerable part of my grade, I'd figure out how many words I'd need to write per day before it was due. I'd leave a weekend for editing and finalizing citations, giving it a cover page, putting it in a presentation portfolio, and I'd be golden. For me, the idea of a 30 or more page paper was scary, but it became a lot less scary when I broke it down to simple paragraphs or individual pages.

For memorization based stuff like new facts, characteristics of things, or vocabulary words, I found the key for me was notecards. I don't know what it is about notecards, but for me they're like magic.

1. Try to find your optimum time of day to do homework, e.g. morning, afternoon, evening, or late at night. The time of day can make a big difference in how well you are functioning mentally. For me, I learned that midnight 'til 3AM was best for me. At other times I would need at least twice as much time to do homework.

2. Do homework ASAP, the same day it is assigned if possible. That way if you are stuck on something you have more time to work it out.

3. Sometime the issue is simply too much work to do. It might be an option to consider dropping a class to lighten your load. This might be made up by taking summer classes, or just adding another semester or two. The important thing is to be successful. If more time helps, then so be it.

I hope this helps some. Good luck!

I have developed a large number of techniques during college for dealing with my work. Hopefully you will find something in here that will help you.

The first thing I have found helps me is finding and acknowledging my limits. This counts for work overall and what you can do day to day. It is the basis of many of the decisions I make about how to do my homework.

I only take 12 credits in a semester and try to avoid more than two labs at once because I know that to do more would cause my grades to suffer (if you can, you want to aim for an overall average of at least 3.0, which is a good minimum for interested employers or continuing into graduate programs).

I would expect this first semester to be one of the hardest for you because you do not know your work limits nor the expected work load. Try to figure them out and structure your work schedule on this. I know that I usually need a 20 minute break for every hour that I work and after working for 3 hours, I need at least an hour for myself, sometimes more. I do not try to push myself past these limits because I know to do so will leave me stressed and reduce my capacity to work.

When taking these breaks, I make sure to do something that has nothing to do with class work. The point is to let my mind rest, whether it be through watching T.V., reading a book or going for a walk. This allows me to come back refreshed and ready to continue what I was doing beforehand.

Also set dayly limits for yourself. For me, it's usually 7 - 8 hours a day (including classes) or by eight at night, since I don't function well afterward. The rest of the evening after Eight is my time.

Something else that I do is try to develop habits that allow me to take in as much of what I need to learn as quickly as possible. Rather than having to cram for an exam, try to take in as much information as you can when its presented to you. I have multiple in class habits for this. One is alternating between pens that use different colored inks from day to day, because the contrast allows me to absorb information better. I also create a shorthand so that I can take most of the notes that are presented (the short hand may prove critical for some courses). Remember that it only has to be understandable for you. I find the spot in the room I am best able to absorb the information (which for me is front and center).

Outside of class, I also do the readings (when I can), highlighting things that I know will probably be important.

Something else that is critical is being able to prioritize what work is the most important. I am not always able to do all of the work assigned to me, especially around exam time, so I prioritize. If I have three classes that I have similar grades in, there is an exam that's worth 40% of my grade one a class, A paper that's worth 25% in another and a quiz that's worth 5% in the third and all are do at the same time, I am going to put a majority of my efforts into the first and possibly not even study for the third at all, depending on the situation. Since the middle of October, despite working seven to nine hours a day and six to ten on weekends, I haven't been able to find the time to do all the required readings, do to the tests and assaignments do during the week.

Once you have acknowledged what you can do and do it to the best of your abilities, don't regret what you could not have done. Accept that you did your best.

I hope there is something in this that you can apply to help you with your own college work. Good luck figuring out how to get that work done.