HODGE PODGE INGREDIENTS

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Last week, I outlined a basic strategy for finishing the term through the pressures that are often at a peak these last weeks of the term. That strategy was

  • Prioritize
  • Chunk
  • Maintain
  • Schedule
  • Reinforce and Reward
  • Review and Revise
  • Rinse. Repeat

Implementing this strategy, staying on track, and getting back on track: This, in addition to learning and study aids, is what my sessions with students are essentially about over the following weeks. Every student and every situation is different. Yet, there are some tools and attitudes that come into play again and again.

This week, I’m sharing a hodgepodge of ingredients that keep recurring in maintaining a balanced academic pace that gets students to the end of term:

  • Waste no time on “shoulda.” It takes time to form new habits–at least a semester or two. 
  • Endorse for every effort. Just the verbal self-endorsement,“Good going” with a physical pat on your own back, is a positive brain changer.
  • Reward yourself for every success. Small rewards for small successes are more effective than the big reward at the end of the term (although that’s important too).
  • What’s most important to you? What is worth the most these next weeks? How can you make it happen?
  • Set your pace. Set a pace you can keep. That means not sprinting trying to get everything up to date and ahead in the next week.
  • Avoid the temptation of skipping. Avoid skipping classes to work on projects, as classes are where you pick up the subtle or not-so-subtle instructors’ emphases that really count when you’re studying for finals.
  • Avoid the temptation to skip maintenance. Scale back and savvy up rather than completely neglecting sleep, exercise, outdoor time, social connection, meals, and spiritual grounding.
  • Know your most productive time of day, and work on your most challenging tasks then.
  • Build your own structure. Get up at the same time every day. Eat or snack at regular times. Exercise and go to bed at regular, or regularish, times. If you miss a day, refer to your schedule and either modify it to fit or just get back on it. (See the first point on this list and waste no time on “shoulda.”)
  • Plan and schedule everything out to the end of classes. Get help with this if it seems overwhelming.
  • Schedule flexibly. Allow contingency time.
  • Be flexible about your schedule. Life happens. Unexpected contingencies arise. Again, waste no time on “shoulda.” Revise and reschedule instead.
  • Get help where you need it as soon as you can.
  • Meet with the instructor sooner rather than later if there are issues you need to address or guidance you could benefit from.
  • Waste no time comparing yourself to others. That means other classmates or other family members. Compare your now self to your former self, and to the self you want to become. Then plan accordingly,

That’s a partial list of the pantry ingredients for you to make the hodge podge that fits your academic plate. Check in with me, and let’s plan! Let’s get this done! Moving forward, [email protected].

The information in this blog cannot take the place of support from your own mental health professional or community health resources. Reach out to them. And IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS, PLEASE DIAL 911.