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| Last week we talked about that big dark shadow, fear of failure. The first step to overcoming it, we said, is to face it. Name it to tame it. What exactly are you afraid of? Define it. Then, secondly, focus on what you can control, and thirdly, take action. This week we pick up there: what kind of action should you take? In this moment of your life that has only one answer: study. If you’re going to build a house, you need to lay the bricks. In working towards your degree, you need to pile up the hours, hours of effective study. So, in the next few newsletters, we are going to concentrate on that: effective study. (We covered some of this material in newsletters in September and October last year. It is absolutely fundamental. Even if you have reaBeatingd it before, it will serve you well to think about it again.) Your biggest enemy is called procrastination. You know the feeling: “This is too big and overwhelming, I’ll start tomorrow. Or the day after. Or next week. Not now. Now I’ll rather be on social media/hang with friends…” That is absolutely natural. Your brain is trying to protect you against the stress caused by the big task you have to complete, PLUS when you do something nice, it releases dopamine which makes you feel good! But: The work still needs to be done, and tomorrow you have one less day to do it in. Soooo…. You have to start. Now. Today. Two things can help to counter the temptation of procrastination: Have a plan; and Break up the task into smaller units. |
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| Have a plan |
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| We said this when we talked about time management in February: being a full-time student is exactly like having a full-time job. You have to spend about 40 hours a week on your studies. If class time comes to a total of about 15 hours a week, you have to schedule another 25 hours of study time. That means about four hours every day, six days of the week. A full-time course is structured to fill that amount of time. If you don’t put in the time, you are not going to get the results. Remember that statistic: |
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| So: if you haven’t yet done so, make a schedule of all the days of the week, and block out at least three and a half hours every day for study. Evenings are easiest: 7 – 9, and 9:30 – 11. Stick up your schedule above your desk. From now on, think about this like the Ten Commandments in the Bible: it is set in stone. Especially your study hours are sacrosanct, untouchable. Do not reconsider it. Sit down at your table at five to seven, and start. |
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| Break up the task |
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| To make it feel more doable, break up your blocks of time by using the “pomodoro technique“. (Pomodoro means tomato in Italian. The guy who came up with the technique had a kitchen timer that looked like a tomato! Click here to watch a video.) It works like this: decide on the task, set a timer for 25 minutes, work with total focus till it goes off, relax for 5 minutes, and repeat the process. After four pomodoros, take half an hour for coffee with a friend, or a run, or chatting to your mom – but set your alarm, and after half an hour, back to your desk. Then start over: 25 minutes, 5 minute break, 25 minutes. It works like a charm. |  |
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| Remember, the brain is not a bucket to be filled but a muscle to be trained. The more you study, the fitter your brain will become to accept and work with new information and skills. Take your brain to gym. Happy studying The GRAD team |
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| GRAD – your guide to university success is a partnership project of Ruda Landman, StudyTrust, Van Schaik Publishers and Capitec Bank |
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