It is almost the end of the spring semester and all those deadlines are about to make you dead. It’s time for all of those papers to be due on the same day. Let’s focus on just papers and projects.
Like a good student you have divided your projects and papers into smaller more manageable sections, right? Many of us do not really do this. This should be our ideal method of dealing with papers and projects, but I want to focus on another method that will prevent you from writing the paper the night before.
Let’s create a scenario. You have a history paper due, a speech due, and a computer project due all on the same day, April 28. If you attempt to finish these all for the same day, you will burn out. What you need to do, is change the dates. Write down in your planner that your history paper is due April 21, your speech is due April 23, and your computer project is due April 25.
Note: I don’t suggest setting the false due date after the real due date. Although it is very tempting.
Even though the due dates are now closer, the projects now seem doable. I suggest if you know that the projects and papers will be due on the same day, or near to the same day, you should set these realistically false dates as soon as possible.
If you are a procrastinator these false dates will allow you to stay up all night before due date #1, and all night before due date #2, and all night before due date #3. Great! You will be exhausted after that week, but it is better than doing all three projects on the night before.
It can be better! Combine the false dates with a smaller arbitrary due dates and you will have a flawless method of dealing with multiple large papers and projects.
Changing the due dates will allow you to stager the smaller portions of the project. That way you don’t have to work on all three projects every Monday, but one part of a project every other day.
Now you have finished your projects the three days in advanced. You can spend your whole weekend doing whatever you feel like doing. The day before you really have to turn the projects in make sure you go over everything. It will take two hours at the most. Practice your speech one last time, read through your paper a few times, and check your project for minor flaws.
This method will simplify your end of the semester and reduce your stress level.
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April 15, 2008 at 5:21 am
Personally, something that has helped me manage my time is writing the assignment, the day it’s due, and the days left to it’s due on a white board. Udating the white board gives me a sence of when tihings are due.
April 15, 2008 at 7:58 am
@Burst
That’s a good idea. I have been wanting to purchase a large white board that I can write my schedule on. Having a notebook planner is nice, but sometimes you forget to even open it up. Having a big board screaming your schedule at you would be a lot better.
October 21, 2008 at 5:01 pm
This is a really good post. It’s insightful and helpful with university work. At the same time, you use humour to keep the post from being boring. The tips you give are beneficial to any university student, no matter which country they are from. Time and deadline management is an important thing for us as students to master.
I contribute to a blog that is similar to yours. It basically focuses on helping students from Rhodes University (in South Africa) with university work and studying and the things that that entails (time management, balance with social life, etc.). Although it is Rhodes student specific, any first year (or ‘freshman’ as you call it) can gain valuable advice about work. The tips we give are helpful and are also dealt with in a more light-hearted manner. We also offer anecdotes and humorous experiences that are academically-related. Our blog is called Headless Chickens, because that as what any first year feels like when he or she first gets to university. Our blog is here to help them to stop from figuratively running about in panicked confusion like headless chickens!
You can check it out here:
http://h-chickens.blogspot.com