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It's the same every semester: At the beginning you are full of motivation and optimism.
You resolutely go to the first lecture, get all the relevant books and work on the most important content at home.
This time you want to do better.
You will not start your exam preparation too late again.
You make a plan, do not postpone anything and stay on the ball - for a maximum of four weeks.
Then the initial euphoria is gone.
You fall back into old, unproductive patterns and turn your back on your studies for the time being.
Perhaps you will visit one or the other university event, but extended learning units are becoming an exception.
You push the upcoming examination phase out of your thoughts until reality has caught up with you: You are late again;
one more time you didn't start studying in time.
That means lack of time, pressure and stress.
In addition, an optimal test result is a long way off.
However, you can take precautions to prevent this from developing.
You can set the course for success early in the semester and head for a relaxed and successful exam phase.
Well-balanced time management during your studies doesn't have to be complicated.
It just takes a smart strategy and a handful of sturdy cornerstones to keep you going.
These tips should help.
Make a conscious choice
Most students start studying too late because they don't know what they want.
They have not made it clear what their priorities are and for this reason are not able to use their time optimally.
Instead of concentrating on their studies, they prefer to spend their time at the Playstation or go around the houses every evening.
There is basically nothing wrong with that, but such a division of time does not fit high study goals.
Of course, everyone who signs up for a degree wants to be successful.
But good grades and the standard period of study have a price.
And if you're not ready to pay that price, it would be stupid to speculate on the grand prize anyway.
Make it clear to yourself what you want to achieve in your studies and make a conscious decision.
Get an overview
Modern courses are complex.
It is hardly possible to concentrate on one or two important exams per semester.
Your course of study is probably structured in such a way that you have to do five to seven exams per semester.
In addition, there are often block seminars, term papers or internships that you have to deal with during the lecture period.
With this multitude of challenges, you must not lose track of things.
You have to know all the obligations of your current semester at all times and know when you have to do what.
Without this overview you get lost, set the wrong focus and almost automatically start learning too late.
Therefore, create a plan with all deadlines, exam dates and other dates that are important to you.
Write down your goals
After you know what is in store for you in your current semester, you go one step further and determine a specific goal for each challenge.
Goals help you stay focused and motivated.
Without a goal, you act chaotically and waste your time.
But once you have defined a goal, you can focus your concentration and energy.
You get less distracted and you stick with it.
It is particularly important that you write down your goals - in the classic way on paper.
This may seem like a small, insignificant step, but only written goals unleash their full driving force.
So take something to write about and start: Passing the Statistics I exam with a grade of 2.0.
Or: housework on November 31.
submit.
Plan your exam preparation from day one
For many students, exam preparation begins shortly before the actual exams - practically and mentally.
These students only start studying a few weeks (or days!) Before the exam date.
They prefer to watch Netflix beforehand and don't waste a single thought on their exams.
But with this approach, time constraints are inevitable.
Make it clear to yourself that your entire semester has only one goal: to prepare for the exams.
From the first lecture you have to be fully there.
Even if the pressure is not noticeable at this early stage.
You have to remind yourself that you are in the preparation phase at any point during the semester.
This mindset alone means that you do not neglect your learning activities.
Create a study plan
Do you want to make sure that your learning units run efficiently and are meaningfully coordinated with each other?
Fine, then create a study plan.
A learning plan is the framework for your exam preparation and shows your future learning units in a structured and chronological form.
The sooner you come up with such a plan, the better and more pleasant your work will be.
With a learning plan you determine the path and the individual steps of your preparation.
It doesn't matter which exam it is, because a learning plan is a flexible multifunctional tool that you can design and adapt according to your individual needs.
He is a guide.
A common thread that helps you to stay focused and that prevents you from getting bogged down in learning and setting the wrong priorities.
Find your sore point
The best organization is of no use to you if you don't follow your plan and fall back into old patterns at the first difficulties.
Because of this, it is important that you stop for a moment and find out what is blocking you.
Why do you often put off important tasks?
Why have you started learning too late so far?
What's your sore point?
Only if you face your inner demons can you prevent them from taking you by surprise and ruining your goals in the future.
Each of us has strengths and weaknesses.
But if we know our weaknesses and know how to deal with them, we are halfway there.
So be self-critical, question your previous strategy and change what you need to change.
Set fixed dates
Do you know why exam dates are so motivating?
Because they are tied to a specific point in time.
Only because your exam on Wednesday, April 2nd
takes place at 10 o'clock, you give full throttle the week before and learn what your gray cells can do.
Only an impending deadline ensures that you increase your efforts and reach the limits of your capabilities.
For this reason, you should work with your own deadlines well before the actual exam date.
Make appointments with yourself and block specific times in your calendar.
Set fixed times when you will study and don't allow yourself to deviate from this plan.
Find a study partner
Social obligations are even more motivating than having your own deadline.
In relation to your studies, this means: Find a learning partner and meet this person regularly to work together.
As soon as you have entered into this agreement with another person, your learning units take on a whole new dimension of commitment.
Simply skipping is no longer possible - you would let your learning partner down.
Moving appointments?
Difficult because you have to coordinate with each other first.
The probability that you stick to your study plan increases many times over when you team up with your fellow students.
You can motivate each other and grow together.
Link rewards to your learning units
Instead of positive pressure, you can also use rewards to start learning on time.
To do this, you determine something in return for each completed learning unit, which you can look forward to and work towards.
For example, you could reward yourself with an episode of your favorite series for two hours of concentration or go to the movies once the lecture summary of Chapter 2 is complete.
From the moment you have set a concrete reward for your learning activities, you develop a much more aggressive dynamic and work much more focused.
The reward doesn't even have to be particularly large or expensive.
It is only important that it awakens in you the deep inner desire to want to achieve the set goal under all circumstances.
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