Back to School

My college's spring semester starts next week! Though I did well in my classes last semester, my time management and stress  management skills could use a lot of work. Because I'm pretty sure thoughts like,

 Oh my God, I'm going to fail this test and then this class and then my dreams will all be OVER!

are not examples of positive self-talk. I guess at least I have some self-awareness. *shrug* Anyway, I've been scouring the Internet for tips and advice to help me get off to a better start this semester, so I thought I'd share a few of the ideas I think may be most helpful.

* Schedule everything, leaving some room left for flexibility. I made a list of things

that are a priority in my life, and I'll be sure to schedule time for these things in my

calendar. Study time, grocery shopping, time with my husband, relaxation time, etc.

*Find places at the college that I can concentrate to study. Could be the library,

could be the Starbucks. Whatever works. My biggest obstacle is staying off of Facebook

and all the other sites I suddenly need to check so desperately just as soon as I'm ready

 to start studying.

* Keep up with what we're learning in class. This means making sure I really learn what 

we're covering in class, and studying each subject regularly for moderate amounts of time. This

is a big one for me because I tend to let classes go when it seems like there's not much to do,

and then I end up with a test coming up and a ton of studying to do(and the freaking out that 

goes along with it).

*Create mini-deadlines for big projects, like that paper due at the end of the semester.

Then it won't sneak up on me all of a sudden.

*Try tracking how I spend my time over a week. Then I can look at it and  see if there's 

something you could work on.

If anyone else is headed back to school this month, good luck! And I'd sure appreciate any tips that work for you guys!