Student Tips

Staying on Top of Your Work

Added on November 10, 2022 by Nicole.G

Staying on Top of Your Work

Staying on top of work can be hard, especially in High School. Falling behind in work may seem hard to avoid, but there are always ways to stay ahead. When you make the transition from Middle School to High School, you can see the difference between the amount of work you have. I'm in 9th Grade, so it is my first year in High School and it was hard for me to adjust to the amount of work there is in High School. Once I started to realize I was falling behind, I made sure to change that and started doing things that could help me. There are many ways you can stay on top of your work and even though it may take extra time, it is completely worth it because you will be stress free.

My first tip would be to always be paying attention and writing notes. If you are constantly writing notes in your classes you will automatically start to understand concepts more. Once the test or quiz comes around for that class, you won't have to cram the night before because you will already have the basic information. Not only that, but actually going over your notes after school will help you a lot. In past years I would only look over my notes once at home and then never again , and that would lead me to being stressed over the class. Once I started reviewing the concepts from the class and all the notes, I noticed how quickly it helped me. Not only that but challenging yourself and pushing yourself to work. Being in a class that is too easy for you may be less stressful, but actually pushing and challenging yourself to be in a class that is a little bit harder will be helpful, because you will actually be learning new concepts. If you do decide to challenge yourself, you shouldn't push yourself too hard. If you do then it will be hard to progress because you will be struggling to keep up with the concept. Keeping on top of all your work may take up time, but it is worth it in the long run.

 

How To Deal With Stress

Added on October 5, 2022 by Molly.M

How To Deal With Stress

As a student of Windermere Prep you are expected to strive for perfection and attain excellence, but this doesn't mean that you must be stressed all the time. With good time management you can be less stressed, get more things done, and even have some free time for other activities that you may enjoy. I used to always be stressed about getting good grades and doing all of the homework that I was assigned. I had to learn how to manage my time in order to get more things done and have free time do the things that I loved. I had tried many time management tactics, such as writing everything down in my planner, or even skipping some after school activities in order to get the best grade possible. This ended up stressing me out even more, I had to find a method that worked for me. I ended up using a time calendar. I know it sounds weird, but I got a white board and marker and would write down what I would be doing every half hour. This helped me to see exactly when I should be working on a certain assignment, or studying for a specific test. I now had seen where I had free time to spend with family and friends, and even go to all of my after school activities. This has helped me manage my time, but it might not help you. Find a system that works for you and stick with that method. Make sure to keep up with the method you choose as well. As long as the system works for you, it doesn't matter how weird it seems.

 

Volunteer!

Added on August 24, 2022 by Alfred.Y

Volunteer!

Whenever you are lonely, whenever you are bored, and whenever you are nervous, one of the best activities to do is volunteering. The fact that you are helping someone out for his or her benefit, not yours, gives you a thrill and happiness. When you are volunteering, you are also giving something back to the community, the community that gave you the environment to grow to what you are now.

Volunteering can also help you build new skills or even build on an existing skill that you are working on. For example, volunteering at a golf tournament may help you understand golf and volunteering at a hospital may help you understand how patients are treated and how the hospital runs during the day. Each time you volunteer, whether it is fun or not, you learn a valuable lesson, and the lesson you learn can be used for your future decisions and actions

For me, volunteering is quite fun, although I encounter new skills and activities that I might not even use in my life, just learning the new skills makes it fun for me. I volunteered at a golf tournament January 2016, and from there, I learned how the scoreboard runs during a golf tournament, and many other management skills that run a golf tournament. I even met many famous people there too! Furthermore, I am going to volunteer at the Orlando Regional Medical Center and I am looking forward to volunteer! I will be able to not only go around the hospital, but also have a chance to look into details where patient is being cared of, and other great opportunities!

All in all, one of the best ways to learn and go out into the world is by volunteering. The current world requires us to have as many skills and volunteering can cover most of the experience we need. Plus, just why not volunteer? Volunteering, in my opinion, is better than any phone or computer games and many other home activities. Most volunteering activities are held outside, which means that you can also get your daily walking done while outside. So to have fun and volunteer!

 

Note Taking

Added on November 1, 2019 by Ryleigh.R

Note Taking

Taking notes is an incredibly important part of learning especially in high school. Although I did not attend WPS for middle school, I have heard that it was pretty easy. At my old school we would often just get an outline or notes already taken for us that we would review in class a lot so we didn't have much to study at home.

Notes are used both in class and at home studying and without them you will not know what to study. Almost as important as the content of the notes is the layout. Notes should have everything you need to make the connections content wise but I find that having a good set of colored pens, markers, or highlighters can help a lot. Not only will your notes look better but when they are neat and structured well, they will be easier to study.

Some teachers are really good about taking structured notes for you copy down from the board, a slide show, or a google doc. If not following a few of my tips listed below should get you off to a good start.

Title :

At the top of the page have a detailed yet concise title that is larger than the rest of the text on the page. It should be about the topic directly.

Subtitles

These should be larger than the rest of the writing that should follow it. They should also be concise. The content of a subtopic should be something along the lines of an essential idea to the topic or a description of the topic.

Headings:

This should be the name of the subtopic.

Subheading:

Slightly smaller than a heading, this could be a sub-category under the subtopic.

Sub Subheading:

The smallest of the headings and can be anything like a word that gets defined directly after. Something less "big picture" than the topic, subtopic, or subcategory but more important than a regular sentence.

Normal text:

This should be the descriptions of everything that is listed above.

The style of your notes in completely up to you but underlining important words in sentences, highlighting topics, using different colors for different sections and including diagrams will really help with note taking.

Although it is "old fashioned" it is definitely helpful to take your notes by hand. It is scientifically proven that taking notes by hand helps to remember what you wrote down plus you want to always be able to take notes and some teachers no longer allow computers to be open during a lecture and handwritten notes don't need wifi.

 

Research at UCF

Added on July 16, 2019 by Shailee.S

Recently, I had the opportunity to do some research at UCF ( University of Central Florida). This experience gave me the opportunity to work in a more formal setting and see what the STEM field looks like at the college level. I worked with a UCF graduate student on noble metal dichalcogenides, NMDs. These are the combination of the noble metals and chalcogen groups. The combination of these elements can be used to create advanced parts in electronics. Much of my time spent there was reading and analyzing papers, along with, working on projects involving the creation of graphene. If you would like to see and experience what it is like working at the next level in STEM, then becoming a volunteer in a lab is a great place to start. If you reach out in March/April, many professors will be able to help you set up a project for the summer.

Linked here is a presentation I created about NMD's. If you have any sort of questions regarding research or professors please don't hesitate to ask.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AFpksVtJ9llF9Fe_rS49-vrUjG9skC8z48Gi_O0JWl8/edit?usp=sharing

 

Transitioning to High School

Added on February 1, 2019 by Grace.A

Transitioning to High School

As you transition from middle school to high school, you start to get more work with due dates closer together. It's important to know the best way to study for tests and the best way to turn in assignments. One important tip is to know your teacher and figure out how they do the tests. Some give you practice tests, and for some, you may have to go up and ask the teacher. I have both of those cases this year as a freshman and it's important to know your teachers, tests and the material. Another important study tool that I learned is to not over complicate the question and just break it down, really understand it.

An important study tip I learned, is to also prioritize your time. This helps especially because if you have a very tight schedule and you think very little time to study for tests or work on assignments its very important you prioritize your time. Something I have learned this year is when I am stressed, the 2 hours that I have to do homework, I need to shut off my phone and just go and get it done. If you really try and just sit there and focus for a solid 2 hours, you could get the work done you would typically do in 5 or more.

 

A Junior's Guide to The College Application Process

Added on October 30, 2018 by Jenna.B

A Junior's Guide to The College Application Process

If you're a junior, you know that practically everyone has begun breathing down your neck about college. 11th grade is the year where you research, visit and begin to decide upon which colleges you want to apply to. The college search process can be daunting, especially when you don't know where to start. Here are some tips from a senior who just applied to three schools today!

What Should Matter in The Search Process?

The school you attend will be your home for the next four (possibly more) years. You'll want to consider whether you'll be happy there. One factor you should consider is the location and atmosphere of the school. How far away do you want to be from home? You have the opportunity to move somewhere completely new. Do you prefer living in the city or in a more traditional style campus? You'll also want to consider the people that attend that college and the professors. Could you see yourself making friends and lasting connections there? Also, consider the dorms that the school offers. Would you feel comfortable there? Another factor you'll want to consider is majors and academic programs. You are going to college to learn, after all. You'll want to look for a school that offers the program or major you're interested in and research exactly what that program entails. Even if you are undecided, are there a number of majors or programs you could potentially choose later on? In addition, you'll want to consider if the school has any athletic programs or extracurricular activities that you are interested in. Even though you are there to learn, you won't spend all of your time on academics so you'll want to look for somewhere where you can also enjoy yourself. Some additional factors that might come into play in your search might be internships in the area, study abroad programs, leadership programs, etc).

What Shouldn't Matter in The Search Process?

There are many misconceptions about what to look for in a college. Just because a college is popular or has a good reputation, doesn't mean that you should apply there. I'm not discouraging you from applying to those schools, just be sure you are applying there because you could really see yourself there and not because the college is a household name. Also, just because a college has a lower acceptance rate, that doesn't mean it is any better than a school with a higher acceptance rate. Don't apply to a school simply because their acceptance rate is 10%. Apply to that school if you feel that it is a good fit. An acceptance rate should not be a deciding factor, it is only important in showing you your chances of getting into that school. You don't want to apply to a college based on a reputation, so make sure you like the school enough to consider going there if you are admitted.

What Should You Consider?

There are many factors you should consider in the process. One of these factors, as mentioned before, is location. Do you want to stay instate or do you want to move out-of-state? My advice is that you should apply to a mix of both, if you are unsure. Another factor you should consider is the size of the school. Size of schools can range anywhere between 2,000 students to 50,000 students. The social dynamic is going to vary depending on the size of the school, so you should consider whether you want to be a part of a smaller, closer-knit community, or a larger, more diverse community? As mentioned above, you should also consider majors and programs. Some majors may be more rare, and not all colleges may offer that major. On the other end of the spectrum, some majors are offered at almost every school, so you should search for a program that stands out to you (in a good way). Lastly, you should consider the cost of the school. This is something you'll want to discuss with your parents later on, but you should be aware that depending on whether the college is private or public and whether you are paying in-state or out-of-state tuition, cost is going to vary greatly.

Where to Start Looking?

Now that you are aware of what to keep in mind during the search process, you are probably wondering where to start. I recommend starting with one factor on the list above and using Naviance or Google to find colleges that potentially fit one of those factors. If you know of a college that you're already interested in, research that college and see if you like what they offer. Later on, you should start to look into the requirements for the application process and plan to visit the campus if you can. Visiting the campus will give you a better feel for the atmosphere and the people that attend the school.

Even though you don't need to start looking for colleges until second semester (summer, at the latest), it isn't a bad idea to get a jump-start during the first semester. Don't stress out about finding the perfect college, you only need to find a list of schools that you are interested in. Most students apply to somewhere between four to eight schools, but your interest list can be much longer than that. You'll be able to narrow down that list later on when you start to apply.

Good luck with your college search process!

 

Volunteering at a Hospital

Added on July 13, 2018 by Shailee.S

Volunteering at a Hospital

This summer, I had the opportunity to volunteer at my local hospital in Dr. Phillips.  My job, as a volunteer in the ICU, was to answer phones, transport blood capsules, and organize medicines by patients' names. After finishing those tasks, I was left to observe the environment around me. On one of my weekly visits after I had finished my assigned tasks, I saw a doctor struggling to communicate with his patient. The patient was an elderly man who only spoke Spanish. His family also spoke very little English. The doctor tried to communicate with the family but he realized the patient's family couldn't understand him.  He stepped out of the room to place a call to the translator line to help him. After twenty or thirty minutes, a translator came to the room to help the doctor and the family understand what was happening. I was shocked at the length of time they waited and asked my dad, a physician, if this was a usual occurrence. He told me "oftentimes, doctors can not speak the same language as the patient and aren't able to provide the best care they can because of the language barrier." Additionally, doctors struggle to convey emotion and empathy in the same way they can with their English patients because many are forced to use Google Translate if they cannot afford to wait for a translator. This unfortunate circumstance showed me one of the major problems plaguing the healthcare community. I researched translation programs which would allow doctors to provide a similar level of patient care. 

Day Translation: This is a medical translation service in which doctors can call and a HIPPA certified translator will translate and convey more meaningful information to both parties - doctor and patient (family). With live translation tones, pauses and dialectics are expressed more effectively than a robotic translator.

iTranslate: This is an app which will allow the doctor to speak into the phone and hear themselves speak out loud in the language they desire. This app seems to allow for a quicker method of communication while also allowing for more complex discussions and hopefully more empathy and emotion.

These two programs allow doctors to provide a similar level of care to their non - English speaking patients. Since Windermere Prep is partly international boarding students these same applications may be extremely useful to teachers as well.  To promote camaraderie in and out of the classroom students should use these apps to get to know boarding students better!

 

 

How To Stay On Top of Your Work + Study Tips!

Added on July 2, 2018 by Marya.T

How To Stay On Top of Your Work + Study Tips!

If you've ever found yourself floundering to maintain your grades, barely getting by the first week of school, follow these tips and strategies I have cultivated over my past two years as a high school student at Windermere Prep. 

Time management and Organization

When school, sports, and other extracurriculars get crazy, time management is key to maintain a good learning experience. As a high school student, or a student of any grade, you need to recognize what needs to be done urgently and what can wait. The best way to do this is by finding a system of organization. Whether it be a planner, Google doc, or a notebook, find a place where you can organize everything that needs to be done into categories: mandatory work, extra work, questions you might have, due dates, reminders, notes, etc…This will let you know exactly what you have to do, when, and what's coming up. 

Talk to your Teachers

As much as you don't want to believe it, your teachers are here to help you! Don't hesitate to ask them for help after school or during SRT. A key piece of information worth remembering is that when you actively invest in your education, your teachers will notice this and think of you more often, finding ways to help you and always keeping in mind what you might need. They will come to you with more detailed suggestions and resources. 

Review, Review, Review!

The best way to lighten up on studying for a final, midterm, or even a test or quiz, is to constantly review. Create a system where you review your classes, whether it be 15 minutes daily for each class, or a couple hours on the weekend. Doing this keeps the knowledge fresh, which will ultimately help you study effectively for big cumulative tests or exams. This will also keep you from cramming, giving more time to process the information. When you do this, studying is truly just review, not relearning!

Prepare for Classes

Another great way to stay on top of classes, especially challenging ones, is to introduce the next topic to yourself with some light textbook (or whatever resource is best for the class) pre-reading. This sets up the unit for you and puts you at an advantage. Don't worry if you don't understand at first, when you begin learning with your teacher and other students, your questions will be gone! This gives you more time to understand and process the concept. 

Make use of your Resources

This might be obvious, but don't overlook any resources your teachers give you! These resources are an opportunity, use them wisely! The most accessible and best ones are those added by your teacher on Canvas. One of the best and most useful resources I have found is the canvas calendar. With all your future assignments and tests listed, you can see the exact workload for the upcoming weeks and plan accordingly. If you still find yourself struggling with the class, ask your teacher for more practice or good websites. You can also do your own research and find websites and books to help.

Take Good Notes and be an Active Student

Arguably the most important of these tips is to be an active member of your class. If you have questions, ask them! They are most likely legitimate questions that everyone else also has. They also might bring up a good argument or sub topic that needs to be addressed to avoid confusion later. You might just be doing everyone a favor when you ask questions. You should also try to make connections and share ideas to the class, as this could facilitate a well-rounded discussion with your peers. Lastly, take. good. notes. Find what works best for you and stick with it. This could be hand written notes, flashcards, typed notes…anything! Good notes does not necessarily mean copy every word down. Good notes are ones that summarize main ideas and include key details. You might also want to analyze the information you have and apply it in different ways to test your understanding. 

Learn, do not Just Study

Make sure your priorities and reasons for studying are well-intentioned. Do not just study to attain the "perfect grade". Understand the information given to you, and be able to apply it. This is how you truly make use of what you learn in school.

Recognize the Importance of your Education

As much as we think the things we learn in school are useless, and while we might not remember them or use them later, that doesn't mean we shouldn't learn them! The benefit of learning something "useless" is not in its content, but in the skills developed and used. These classes teach us to think critically, analyze the information, and apply it. Attaining knowledge at our level is an opportunity, so seize every minute of it, whether you think it minuscule or not. And perhaps the most important piece of advice I can give you, do it for yourself. Do it for your self-improvement, for your enrichment, and for your enjoyment. Find what makes you love learning and pursue it, no matter if it isn't the safest bet. Be a reasonable risk-taker. No matter what you pursue, if you do it whole-heartedly, you will find your way to success. Enjoy what you learn and do it to become the best version of you, to become a well-rounded and worldly citizen. And remember, grades are not the final and only measurement of intelligence. As long as you are trying, improving, and working hard, your grades will reflect that. If they don't, there might other aspects of an education that you are stronger in, and those are just as important!

 

Learning A New Language

Added on June 12, 2018 by Kim.N

Learning A New Language

Learning a new language is not all about memorization, but it is more about being passionate and creative. 

Why be passionate? People cannot memorize things that they do not like because those things will not be impressive enough to them in order to be taken into their memory. Before learning a new language, you should have positive feeling towards that language and ask yourself why you want to study it. Your reason for learning a new language can be simple. For example, you may want to learn Korean just because Korean dramas attract you. When you know your purpose, you will be able to better identify your passion. The ability to like a language so much will make the difference in the process of learning. Also, if you are passionate about something, you will spend your time on doing it frequently, thus you will improve more quickly than those who are impassionate.

After you know your passion towards the language, it's time to accomplish your goal- use the language fluently. In order to succeed in this area, you should be an active learner, not the passive one. What does it mean to be active? You should manage your own plan as well as your own method to learn. There are many ways to learn a language, and not everybody will have the same ways, the same plan. You should find the way that is suitable for you so that you can learn comfortably. Here are some tips:

For the beginner, you should know the basic vocabulary first, this can be accomplished by using the website www.quizlet.com, or you can write down words on notecards and stick them where you can see easily and frequently. These places can be on the wall at the desk, on the door, or even neat the toilet- as long as you see it frequently. 

When you know the basics, you should learn how to apply you've learned in daily life. When looking at something, try to reflect on related vocabulary that you have just learned. By doing this, it is hard to forget the vocabulary since it is already a part of your daily life.

Furthermore, you can watch movies in the language that you are learning with subtitles so that you can practice listening skills as well as your vocabulary.  

For writing skills, you can write things that you like in that language and find teachers or tutors who would be able to edit them for you. By having people correct your writing, you will be able to remember your mistake and avoid making it again.

Know -> learn -> apply. These three steps are important and useful to learn a new language. 

These are my tips. I hope that it can help you to accomplish your goal in learning a new language!

 

How To Be Successful At Studying

Added on May 18, 2018 by Megan.H

How To Be Successful At Studying

Having effective study habits can reduce time and stress that comes with schoolwork. Here are some way that can make your life easier:

#1- Learn the Way You Learn

Everyone is individual with the way that they learn. Auditory, visual, and kinesthetic are the three different ways of learning. Knowing what type of learner you are lets you study the information in a better way. You will find better results when you personalize the way that you study.

#2- Deadlines and More

After receiving an assignment, creating a schedule including deadlines and extracurriculars will help you prioritize tasks. With less procrastination more sleep and less stress will come. Having everything in the same place, like planner or calendar will make life much easier.

#3- Teachers

Learning how to talk to your teachers can be very beneficial. Most teachers are more than happy to provide extra help. Not only will this help you on your further assignments and tests, it also shows that you care about your academics. Some grades are given though work ethic so talking with your teachers can also a major grade booster.

#4- Studying for the Test

When studying try not to think of everything thing that has ever been said in class, this will add even more stress. When you start to study, focus on the most important topics. Once you have those topics and are confident with them, if there's still time before the test, you can then move on to the smaller details.

#5- Distractions Vs. the Quiet

When studying it is easy to turn on the T.V or your phone and get off topic quickly. Doing this however breaks your concentration and makes it harder to focus. With less distractions, more studying can be done and the amount of time it takes to study is cut down. If there is no place that you can study quietly, consider studying at the library. Distractions also come from getting up and getting things that you need to continue studying. Once you sit down to study, make sure you have everything you need.

#6-Night Before a Test

It is tempting to hold off studying until the night before. You might tell yourself that it is easier to learn more closer to the test in order to remember more. Create a schedule for a couple days before the test. Take some time review your notes and re-read important things in the textbooks. It might seem that that is a lot to do, but that lets the information sink into your brain in a way more natural way. Sleep is also very, very important. If you are tempted to pull an all-nighter you will only be hurting your chances of getting an A. With a proper amount of sleep, your brain will be in good shape on test day.

#7- Stay Positive!

Positive reinforcement is a very important and powerful thing. After finishing something for school, reward yourself. Whether that be taking a break from studying to get some food, or watching some Netflix, rewards are important. Breaks also can help improve studying, your brain can only take so much hard work at a time. It will keep your stress levels down and the information will also have a chance to sink in. With this new mindset implemented, procrastination can be cut down!

 

Time Management

Added on April 30, 2018 by Sabrina.H

Time Management

Many students dedicate a lot of their time to extracurriculars, sports, volunteer work, jobs, etc. I myself have dedicated my entire life to gymnastics, where I spend every afternoon of every week practicing for just a few moments of glory every year. Spending all of this time involved in something like this makes you realize how important time is, especially when you're involved in the IB program. After all of these years, I have picked up a few tips and tricks on time management and how balancing your social life, extracurriculars, and school work can be done effectively. I've finally learned that balancing my time would help me in the long run and would relieve a lot of unnecessary stress as well.

Firstly, realizing where your time is going helps you understand how you could be using your time better and create a more efficient schedule that lets you control where your time is being spent and how it could be spent better. Setting priorities helps you focus on activities that are most important and allows you to categorize the most important to least important things you need to get done. The best way to manage your time is to stay organized. I recommend using a calendar or planner and daily to-do list, to check off items as you complete them. I also recommend doing tough tasks first while you're fresh and alert and breaking large projects down into smaller chunks to complete these projects more efficiently. I know my main drawback when it comes to time management is procrastination. I've learned that the best ways to avoid procrastination is to set daily priorities, try focusing for short amounts of time instead of hours at a time, and attempting difficult tasks at your high-energy time since your concentration will be easier then. Don't allow interruptions, like a loud room to study or your friend's bothering you, get in your way or else juggling your work may seem much more difficult than it actually is and you'll just become more discouraged. These few tips and tricks may just save you from a sleepless night of studying in the future.

 

The Importance of Sleep

Added on March 23, 2018 by Anavi.U

The Importance of Sleep

Lack of sleep always wins. Don't make the mistake of underestimating it.

As you get farther into high school, the amount of homework you have and the number of activities you are involved in will keep increasing, and your time for doing anything else (including eating, sleeping, and breathing) will steadily decrease.

But don't make the mistake that I did.

As a sophomore, I'm currently taking some of the toughest classes offered at WPS, including AP European History and the first year of IB HL Math. I'm also on the swim team (which has practice for two hours every day), I lead the school's Astronomy Club, and I am on my grade's SGA. When I started staying up till 1:00 am almost every day starting from the second week of school, I knew something was wrong. I began to feel nauseous from lack of sleep, and my constant tiredness only caused me to stay up even later some nights.

After an already exhausting week, four tests on one day near the end of the 1st Quarter was my breaking point. By the time I got to my 7th period math test, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I could tell that the questions on the test weren't that difficult, but I just couldn't remember how to solve them.

That test tanked my math grade to the point where I barely scraped an A for the quarter. That time I didn't have to pay for my lack of sleep with my GPA, but that doesn't mean that it can't happen.

Don't cheat yourself out of a good grade. Make sure that you try your very best to go to sleep by midnight every night. Even if you feel like you'll do better on a test if you just study for just one more hour, that one hour of sleep will cost you much more than you will gain with one hour of extra studying.

And besides a lack of sleep hurting your grades, it also hurts your overall health. A 4.0 GPA isn't going to help you if you ruin your health by not sleeping enough. Sleep is more important than perfecting your English essay or doing every single math problem in the textbook. You can't always be a perfectionist, which is something that I never really understood until this year.

So all you perfectionists and overachievers out there, please get some sleep. You know you need it.

 

How to Procrastinate

Added on March 2, 2018 by Skylar.M

How to Procrastinate

1. Don't write down any reminders or set any alarms about when the assignment is due.

Does a recently received assignment seem too difficult or tedious? Simply don't put any measure in place to remind yourself about it. Out of sight, out of mind! This is an important first step to procrastination, as it allows you to remove the assignment from your present conscious and reduce the current amount of stress in your life.

 

2. Take frequent and lengthy breaks from your work.

Once you've settled in to your desk or other preferred workspace after school, feel free to play a few rounds of 2048, browse the internet, or check social media. After all, if you never took breaks, you would quickly become overworked and your work quality would suffer. Take breaks whenever you don't feel motivated to work: you need them!

 

3. Don't set aside time dedicated solely to working.

It would truly be a shame if your work was regimented in constricting blocks of time. Your workflow is arrhythmic, and trying to 'plan' motivation would make you even less motivated than you already were. Therefore, don't make any schedules or timetables. In this way, you'll never have to work on an assignment until you truly want too. The inspiration will strike you when you're ready!

 

4. Do less challenging assignments (and complete other obligations) first.

If you don't want to start that 4-page essay, you can easily put it out of your mind by doing simpler work first. Complete small assignments and do chores so that you aren't forced to cope with the difficulty of writing the essay, At least you're doing something productive, right? The essay can wait until tomorrow while you do this work.

 

5. Fulfill every requirement for you to work optimally.

If you find that the assignment you're working on is becoming dull and your quality of work is suffering, it's most likely because something is preventing you from working well. Perhaps it's because your room is unclean—the aura simply isn't right. To put yourself back in the right frame of mind, clean your room for now and work on the assignment later. While you're up from your desk, be sure to make your bed, eat a snack, watch some TV, and play a few games of table tennis. Once you've gotten all of that out of your system, you'll certainly be able to work much more efficiently on your assignment.

 

6. The assignment is due 8:00AM tomorrow and it's 10:00PM? Take an all-nighter.

Plenty of people, from mathematicians to musicians, write out their most influential proof or greatest opus in one long, uninterrupted, feverish session. What separates you from them? You need to get this assignment done somehow, even if it costs a few hours of sleep. Why not work through the night and ensure the assignment gets done.


(Bonus!) 7. Turn in the assignment late—or don't turn it in at all!  

If you're truly opposed to doing this assignment, you don't have to finish it before the deadline—or at all! For the former, it's easy to postpone working on an assignment if a teacher only takes off 2% for each day late, or better yet, doesn't deduct points at all if you turn it in shortly after the deadline. For the latter, there's no easier way to procrastinate an assignment than if you never actually do it. So omit summative work that's difficult yet takes up a small percentage of your grade, and omit formative work entirely.


Conclusion:

As you may have guessed while reading through the above list, I don't actually advocate that anyone procrastinate. Procrastinating is an unhealthy and unsatisfactory habit, but it's one that is remarkably easy to slip into. Because of this, everyone procrastinates to some extent. In fact, I procrastinated writing this very blog post. Since many people procrastinate, it's important to note some of the factors and justifications that contribute to procrastination. As such, the "How to Procrastinate" list is an exercise in looking at some negative actions we take so that we may see what not to do. Instead of tackling the difficult assignment, which requires effort and focus, many of us would rather resort to doing something from the list. However, it's critical that you recognize the true stress that procrastinating generates, and avoid the items on this list as you see fit. I find that in general, it's beneficial to take the opposite actions of those on this list, and the quality of your work will increase while the amount of work-related stress will decrease. Take all of this with a grain of salt though, as something that works for me may not work you, and vice versa. But no matter how you conquer procrastination, doing so is certainly advantageous

 

  • Items Per Page: 
  • 1 All
  • Page: 

Search

 

Recent Posts

 

Archives

 

Categories

 

Alumni

community service

Dance

View All »

Fresh Ideas

View All »

homework

View All »

Honors, AP, and IB

View All »

Latin

Nord Anglia Education

View All »

Performing Arts

View All »

Poetry

View All »

Research

Sports

View All »

Student Tips

View All »

Tap

View All »

Teacher's Perspective

View All »

The Juilliard School

Transfer Student

View All »

Uncategorized

View All »

Volunteering

work

Writing

View All »

Tags

 

RSS Feed