A Student's Worst Nightmare

Distractions: they are a college student’s worst nightmare. Distractions get the best of every student at least once in the student’s academic career. In college, where there is anything and everything to do, it is so incredibly easy to fall victim to distractions. I sat down at 3:00 this afternoon to write this article. Right now it is 7:04. Yes, it took me 4 hours to actually start writing. Like I said, it gets to everyone. However, there are ways to conquer said distractions and one specific strategy tops all others.

Plan ahead, people. When faced with an assignment–a lengthy assignment, especially–always get prepared to do it early. Take my situation, for example. Even though I started this article so late, I still have time to finish it and look over everything before I need to turn it in. Given, I probably should have done this a few days ago, but the fact of the matter is that I will have it turned in on time since I “started” it at 3:00 rather than beginning to think about it at 7:00 tonight.

When it comes to schoolwork, one always needs to stay on top of things. If you have an exam on Friday, at least try to sit down on Monday and study a little. Even if it’s only for 10 minutes, it’s better than nothing and you will slowly be able to progress into a daily schedule of studying rather than cramming everything in on Friday, at about 3:00 in the morning. Allowing yourself to study earlier makes it a little more acceptable to get distracted. Everyone knows it’s easier to get distracted when your exam is in a week rather than the next day. But that few minutes of studying will help, even if you only remember one fact from it–you sat down and got prepared, which is most important.

Starting work in advance helps steer students away from those grade-crushing distractions. I am not saying you will not get distracted, but the distractions will have a much less devastating impact on your schoolwork if there is less work to be done the night before an assignment is due or a subject is being assessed. So students, go look at your schedule, see what you have due in the coming week, and start working!