What defines an extraordinary student? Is it how many classes you take? How many A's you have? The truth is you decide how extraordinary you want to be. Some students are able to flow through school with little to no effort, but for some, it will take resilience, determination, and endurance to get to where you want to be.
The secret to becoming a extraordinary student is to create habits that will help you attract success and excellence. However, it's important that you stick by them. In the past, studies have shown that it takes 21 days to form a habit, when it actually varies from 18 days all the way to 254 days.
Persistency is key!
An extraordinary student is someone who works ”smart” to achieve their goals. However, it's easier said than done. Here are five habits that you should do to become an extraordinary student.
1. Be Organized
As a student, it is very important to stay organized. As you find yourself taking multiple classes, it’s crucial that you keep organization at the forefront. Being organized allows you to keep track of assignments and their respective deadlines. Additionally, it allows you to remain stress-free with any upcoming graded work and to save time organizing in the future.
Practical Application:
Invest in binders, folders, post-its, index cards etc. as a way to be organized with all your physical work.
If you want to stay organized on a laptop, create folders for each class, and place all corresponding material in each folder. Doing this will enable you to be aware of all your classes and their material.
2. Have a Clean and Quiet Study Area
In our last blog, we mentioned how focus is important and, oftentimes, the distractions that are around prohibit us from doing just that. Having a quiet study space enables you to focus on the task in front of you and do your best work. When looking for your designated study area, ensure that it is clean. Studies have shown that dirt induces psychological stress. Working in a cluttered environment takes away from the assignment at hand and puts all of your attention on everything around you.
Practical Application:
Find an area, perhaps in your room or at the dining room table, that is both quiet and clean. If it's too noisy, try purchasing some noise canceling headphones, and if it's too cluttered, try tidying up the space. #
3. Take Breaks
Allow your mind to breathe.
Taking breaks while studying is vital to your success and learning retention. Studies show that cramming or having all-night study sessions can lead to a significant decrease in academic performance and, in some cases, serious health concerns like anxiety, insomnia, and depression. With the pandemic and remote learning, students spent long periods of time in front of a screen without any breaks. Studying without breaks will cause you to lose focus because your mind will be filled with so much information at once that will then become harder and harder to retain. On the other hand, studying with breaks allows your mind to feel rejuvenated.
Practical Application:
Set time intervals in between each study session. It could be 30 minutes, 1 hour, or even 2 hours. You decide what works best for you.
4.Set Goals
As a student, goals are the key to success. Goals will enable you to be strategic in planning your future. It will also give you something to work towards. A perfect guide to goal setting would be through the use of SMART goals. A SMART goal is something that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time sensitive.
Below is a format you can follow:
S (Set real numbers with real deadlines)
M (Mark your progress)
A (make sure that the goal is Attainable)
R (be Realistic about what you’re capable of reaching)
T (set a reasonable Time frame)
SMART goals put actions to your statements and are beneficial, not only to maximize your time as a student, but will help you achieve more in life.
5. Develop Solid Time Management Skills
Having time management skills is extremely important. As a student, if you participate in extracurricular activities as well as work a job, it can be difficult to distribute your time evenly. Oftentimes, it feels that we have no time or that 24 hours in a day is simply not enough. However, there are some things that you can do to manage your time effectively.
Practical Application:
Plan out your week and your day in advance.
Recognize the work that needs to be done and prioritize what is most urgent.
Then, focus on the things that can get done but can also wait a bit longer.
For example, you may have to complete a homework assignment due in a few days, an essay to submit tomorrow, and practice for a game the next day. One way to manage all of your responsibilities is to create an outline for your essay and start the introduction and one to two paragraphs. You can then take a break, practice for an hour or so and then finish up your essay. Because your homework assignment is not due until a few days away, you can start working on that after your game.
After you complete the work that needs to be done, you can indulge in your recreational activities. What makes you extraordinary is how you manage your time. You can get a lot more done in 24 hours than you think.
Share this article so more people can learn about the habits that turn a student into a extraordinary student.
Sources:
#positivity #extraordinary #successful #reading #positiveattitude #positivethroughpandemic #remotelearning #remotelearningtips #becomeabetterstudentin2022 #focus #student #successful
Contributors:
Delia is a dedicated member of the Solomon Tutoring Writing Team. She is pursuing a degree in business, and enjoys reading, singing, dancing, and being around nature.
Tunisia Solomon, founder and CEO of Solomon Tutoring enjoys sharing educational tips to help students reach academic excellence. She believes that anyone can achieve their dreams with access to the correct information, a growth mindset, belief in oneself, and "smart" work.
Comments