Introduction
In 2013, Duke Professor Stuart Rojstaczer set out to name the 16 hardest colleges to get an A in, using data from his research project gradeinflation.com. To the surprise of many, Auburn University not only made the list, but held the 5th spot on this list. This ranking is just one of many opinions which cite the academic curriculum of Auburn University as being one of the most rigorous in the nation. Many students wear this pridefully, but this designation comes at a simple price: Auburn classes are hard.
Problem
To the surprise of none, one of the hardest parts of college is simply the challenging workload. Being a student is a full time job; with a schedule of 12 hours or more of coursework, a student could easily spend over 30 hours per week on assignments, quizzes, and projects from classes. Along with this, some students must work part-time jobs to pay for the cost of their education, which adds anywhere from 5-20 hours of work to their schedule. Not even considering involvement in extracurricular activities, one can see just how intensive a student's work schedule can be. All of this constant work heightens levels of anxiety, fear, and depression in students, all evidence of decreasing mental health. So the question stands, how can students manage this workload?
Solution
There are two key elements in managing this increased workload: Finding motivation, and developing time management skills.
Finding motivation is arguably the most crucial component, as your interest in your work has great effect on your mental response. If you enjoy whatever you are studying, you will probably see it as less of a task and more of a positive interest. If you are greatly averted to a task, it will be hard to complete and will therefore take up a great deal of time. By trying to find interest in your tasks, you have potential to enjoy school more, and therefore reduce anxiety and fear towards assignments.
Developing time management skills is also important, but is a lot more dependent on the specific type of student you are. Some students are able to write down all their tasks on a list in order to conceptualize their schedule, but for some students seeing this giant list might send them into a state of anxiousness. Because of this variability, we have included a few techniques for time management which we have found personally useful below.
Finding motivation is arguably the most crucial component, as your interest in your work has great effect on your mental response. If you enjoy whatever you are studying, you will probably see it as less of a task and more of a positive interest. If you are greatly averted to a task, it will be hard to complete and will therefore take up a great deal of time. By trying to find interest in your tasks, you have potential to enjoy school more, and therefore reduce anxiety and fear towards assignments.
Developing time management skills is also important, but is a lot more dependent on the specific type of student you are. Some students are able to write down all their tasks on a list in order to conceptualize their schedule, but for some students seeing this giant list might send them into a state of anxiousness. Because of this variability, we have included a few techniques for time management which we have found personally useful below.
Techniques
5-minute plan
1. Make a list of urgent tasks
2. Work on one for 5 minutes, the rest is easy!
2. Work on one for 5 minutes, the rest is easy!
Swiss Cheese Method
1. Break up a daunting task into tiny steps
2. Continue this process until tasks are tiny enough to easily complete
2. Continue this process until tasks are tiny enough to easily complete
Worst-first approach
1. Organize tasks by scariest to simplest
2. Concentrate on the scariest one until it's simple
2. Concentrate on the scariest one until it's simple
Pomodoro Technique
1. Set a 20 minute timer, and work for just that period of time.
2. Take a 5 minute break, and repeat until done
2. Take a 5 minute break, and repeat until done