SPRINT TIME!
My students fall into three categories at this time of year: (a) college students who are heading into the first week of spring session (100-metre sprint!), (b) high school students who are finishing up the academic year (final sprint!), and (c) students who are on academic break–working, reflecting, taking time off.
This week–The Spring Session Sprint. First, if you are just off exam week, I hope you have had time to catch your breath, celebrate, and capture, for a few days, the uplift of spring. Then, regroup and gear up for the first days of the spring session. This is the time to check out of the work pace that worked well for a four-month course, and check into the work pace for getting the same work done in less than half the time! Staying ahead of the game every day is the only way I know to keep from being snowed under with not enough time to dig yourself out.
My pointers from a couple of years ago for the first days of a six-week course hold true. This week:
- Read the syllabus. Schedule the assignment deadlines. Schedule the prep time. Allow for wiggle room. Allow downtime. Allow time for R&R.
- Make sure you can use the on-line tools that may be new to you, and may be new to your instructor.
- Form your group and schedule your group work sessions for group projects. Allow for some flexibility in scheduling.
- Line up and reserve resources.
- Plan to set up meetings with the instructor to discuss your plans for hand-in work or group work.
Your mindset needs to view time available as half the time to get the same amount of work done as you had last term. You are running double time. What does this involve in practical terms? Some examples:
- If a course such as the one you are taking usually involved two hours of prep for each hour of class, budget four hours of prep for each hour of class.
- Instead of a weekly review of progress, review where each project or assignment is on a daily basis.
- Each day, look ahead to the end of the next week and to the end of term.
- Look ahead to see what you can get started on early.
- Multitask where this is possible–move several projects ahead as soon as you can, rather than waiting to start project D for when you’ve finished project C.
- Schedule your nonacademic life around your sprint course. This is especially necessary if you are taking more than one sprint course. Call on extra help and accommodation from family. Schedule any part-time employment realistically–this is not the time to volunteer to host the company barbecue.
- And of very high importance, know what counts most from the syllabus and the instructor’s comments in class. If you are in doubt, check in with the instructor. Allocate your time so that you do not spend a lot of time on less significant work and run short on time for the work that counts the most.
- Sprint courses do offer the chance to boost your GPA, to take courses that are of interest but fall outside your prescribed program, and to shorten the length of time before you gain your diploma or degree. So endorse yourself for taking the challenge . . . On your mark, get set . . . the starter’s gun has fired! Off you go!
Connect with me to share your own tips and successes, or to plan spring session: [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.