Saturday, March 21, 2020

Top Tips for Doing College Homework

Top Tips for Doing College Homework In contrast to the academic requirements of high school, college courses present a much heavier, more consistent workload. And with everything else that college students have to manage jobs, personal life, relationships, physical health, cocurricular obligations it can sometimes seem like getting your homework done is an impossible feat. At the same time, however,  not  getting your work done is a recipe for disaster. So, what tips and tricks can you use to get your homework done in college? Tips for Successfully Doing College Homework Use these tips to create a process that works for you and your personal study style. Use a Time Management System Put all major assignments and their due dates in your time management system.  A key part of staying on top of your homework is knowing whats coming; no one, after all, wants to realize on Tuesday that they have a major midterm on Thursday. To avoid surprising yourself, make sure all of your major homework assignments and their due dates are documented in your calendar. That way, you wont inadvertently sabotage your own success simply because youve mismanaged your time. Schedule Homework Time Schedule times to do homework each week, and keep those appointments.  Without designated time for addressing your  to-dos, youre more likely to cram at the last minute, which adds to your anxiety levels. By putting homework on your calendar, youll have the time allocated in your already-too-busy schedule, youll reduce your stress by knowing when, exactly, your homework will be done, and youll be better able to enjoy whatever else you have planned since youll know your homework is already taken care of. Sneak in Your Homework Use small increments of time whenever possible.  You know that 20-minute bus ride you have to and from campus every day? Well, thats 40 minutes a day, 5 days a week which means that if you did some reading during the ride, youd get more than 3 hours of homework done during your commute. Those little increments can add up: 30 minutes between classes here, 10 minutes waiting for a friend there. Be smart about sneaking in small bits of homework so that you can conquer the bigger assignments piece by piece. You Cant Always Get It All Done Understand that you cant always get all your homework done.  One of the biggest skills to learn in college is how to gauge what you  cant  get done. Because sometimes, there really is only so many hours in a day, and the basic laws of physics mean you cant accomplish everything on your to-do list. If you just cant get all your homework done, make some smart decisions about how to choose what to do and what to leave behind. Are you doing great in one of your classes, and skipping the reading one week shouldnt hurt too much? Are you failing another and definitely need to focus your efforts there? Hit the Reset Button Dont get caught up in the get-caught-up trap.  If you fall behind on your homework, its easy to think and hope that youll be able to catch up. So youll set a plan to catch up, but the more you try to catch up, the more you fall behind. If youre falling behind on your reading and are feeling overwhelmed, give yourself permission to start anew. Figure out what you need to get done for your next assignment or class, and get it done. Its easier to cover the material you missed when youre studying for an exam in the future than it is to fall further and further behind right now. Use Your Resources Use class and other resources to help make doing your homework more productive and efficient.  You might, for example, think that you dont need to go to class because the professor only covers whats already been addressed in the reading. Not true. You should always go to class for a variety of reasons and doing so can make your homework load lighter. Youll better understand the material, be better able to absorb the work you do out of class, be better prepared for upcoming exams (thereby saving you studying time and improving your academic performance), and overall just have a better mastery of the material. Additionally, use your professors office hours or time in an academic support center to reinforce what youve learned through your homework assignments. Doing homework shouldnt just be a to-do item on your list; it should be an essential part of your college academic experience.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

5 Glaring Signs Your Coworkers Are Untrustworthy

5 Glaring Signs Your Coworkers Are Untrustworthy You don’t have to be best friends with your coworkers. We know some of you want to keep the personal and the professional separate, and that’s totally fine. But at the very least, you should be able to trust your coworkers. You certainly wouldn’t want to find out that someone else in the office has been taking credit for your hard work or passing along things you say in confidence to the wrong people. So it is wise to take note of when a colleague may be less than honest. Here are 5 signs that will help you weed out the untrustworthy.1. You’re the subject of gossip.Have you ever suspected that a coworker was whispering behind your back? And do you suspect that the coworker is whispering about you? Are things you said to that coworker in private getting around the office? These are all warning signs that someone is gossiping about you. And you can never trust a gossip.2. You’ve been robbed.Did you ever have a great idea that you mentioned to a cowork er who then went ahead and passed off that idea as his or her own? That’s not so much a warning sign as a great big flashing red light alerting you that he or she is not honest. It would be ideal to work in an environment in which having your ideas or work stolen is not a concern, but sometimes it’s best to keep your best ideas close to your chest.If this does happen to you, don’t be shy about having a private meeting with your manager to talk about the issue and how you should handle it in the future.3. You’re being left out.Ever find yourself left out of important meetings or email threads? Maybe these are just a harmless oversights, but finding yourself chronically left out might indicate that a coworker is jealous of your abilities and does not want you to shine by participating in crucial office confabs. If you find that it’s always the same coworker who is â€Å"accidentally† leaving you out of those meetings of minds, that coworker mi ght have an axe to grind against you. Again, please don’t feel out of line by reporting this type of behavior should be reported to management.4. You’re the scapegoat.Do you sometimes get blamed for mistakes you didn’t make? Do you feel fingers pointing at you behind your back? Then someone might be trying to turn you into the office scapegoat. This may be random harassment, or someone might be trying to cover up her or his own blunders by making them yours. If you regularly find yourself taking the heat for someone else’s screw-ups, that someone might be the culprit behind your scapegoat status.Always stand up for yourself and  get everything in writing. Even if you have to shoot off a quick â€Å"just confirming what we discussed at my desk this afternoon† email, do it. You can never be too safe.5. You’re the victim of sabotage.Did a project you worked hard on end up getting lost or a well-organized presentation end up mysteriously turni ng into a mess? Then someone might be deliberately sabotaging your work. Yes, it seems juvenile, but these things do happen in the adult work world. Just be sure that there is strong evidence that a particular coworker is sabotaging your work before making any accusations. You don’t want to falsely accuse anyone or mistakenly blame a coworker for your own errors. Then your coworkers might start thinking that you’re the one who isn’t completely trustworthy.