“Focus People Focus!”
That’s the phrase I hear running through my mind every time I set my desire to do something, and find myself getting distracted.
This too is the phrase I remember hearing the Drama Director shout when I kept messing up my theatrical lines in the production “Spunk” while in graduate school at Lehigh University.
“Focus People Focus!”
This is the phrase that I want to tattoo on your mind, for it is the root cause for low academic performance and sub par school grades. It’s also the foundational reason successful people are successful – they know HOW to focus.
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The time has come! No more sleeping in. No more relaxing. It’s time for new routines, structured schedules and hard work. The school year has started – again. To achieve success in school this year, these simple but strategic habits must be developed.
1. Set Your Academic Goals and Review Them Everyday
Dreams don’t come true – Goals do. Before next summer rolls around again, what academic goals do you want to achieve?
Set academic goals to achieve, write them down and post them in a place where you can look at them everyday. You should first sit down with your family and discuss the desired goal and then set your academic goals. Make those goals positive, personal, and in the present. Then, write down your goals and make them visible in four key places: (1) the bedroom, (2) the bathroom, (3) the kitchen, and (4) in your notebooks.
Click here for a MP3 download on how to set and achieve academic goals.
2. Develop a Daily Routine
Now that you have determined your goals you must develop a plan to achieve them. Come up with a systematic routine that you can follow every day to achieve your goals and write it down. Include necessities like breakfast time, dinnertime, fun time, chore time, sleep time, social time and of course study time. Remember, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
3. Study During Peak Performance Time
Identify the period of day when you are most alert or “wired up” outside of school. This should be the time YOU study. Traditionally, the pattern for *study time* has been right after you get home and change out of your school clothes or right before dinnertime. (Remember school clothes, church clothes, and play clothes?). After spending 6-9 hours in school, it may be wise to incorporate naptime or refresher-time before studying. Studies have shown that students perform poorly when they are mentally tired, drained or unfocused. Whatever time you are most alert outside of school, make that your study time. I guarantee you will see an increase in academic performance.
Read More of this Academic Tip Post a comment (0)The time has come! No more sleeping in. No more relaxing. It’s time for new routines, structured schedules and hard work. The school year has started – again. To achieve success in school this year, these simple but strategic habits must be developed.
1. Set Your Academic Goals and Review Them Everyday
Dreams don’t come true – Goals do. Before next summer rolls around again, what academic goals do you want to achieve?
Set academic goals to achieve, write them down and post them in a place where you can look at them everyday. You should first sit down with your family and discuss the desired goal and then set your academic goals. Make those goals positive, personal, and in the present. Then, write down your goals and make them visible in four key places: (1) the bedroom, (2) the bathroom, (3) the kitchen, and (4) in your notebooks.
Click here for a MP3 download on how to set and achieve academic goals.
2. Develop a Daily Routine
Now that you have determined your goals you must develop a plan to achieve them. Come up with a systematic routine that you can follow every day to achieve your goals and write it down. Include necessities like breakfast time, dinnertime, fun time, chore time, sleep time, social time and of course study time. Remember, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
3. Study During Peak Performance Time
Identify the period of day when you are most alert or “wired up” outside of school. This should be the time YOU study. Traditionally, the pattern for *study time* has been right after you get home and change out of your school clothes or right before dinnertime. (Remember school clothes, church clothes, and play clothes?). After spending 6-9 hours in school, it may be wise to incorporate naptime or refresher-time before studying. Studies have shown that students perform poorly when they are mentally tired, drained or unfocused. Whatever time you are most alert outside of school, make that your study time. I guarantee you will see an increase in academic performance.
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Taking great notes in the classroom is very similar to writing down an important phone number; If you don’t get all the phone digits, you will be unable to speak with the person you desire to talk to. Same is true for note-taking. Check out this video to understand how to take better notes in high school and college classroom.
For more on this subject matter of taking notes, see http://playingyouragame.com/note-taking
![How Well are You Listening in Class? [Video]](http://playingyouragame.com/wp-content/themes/bigfeature/library/timthumb/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/listening.jpg&w=532&zc=1&zcp=1)
If you think about most of your day, the majority of your time is spent listening. Listening to your professor…listening to a lecture… and listening to the class conversation. Listening consumes most, if not all, of your day in the classroom.
So how effective are your listening skills? For more infor about visit: http://playingyouragame.com/listening-skills
I just recently shot a crazy video, giving you a sneek peak on some of the things I listen to:
If you can not see the above video, you can also see it on youtube, vimeo, or blip.
The other day, one of my best friends called me and updated me on her most recent final exams. She told me how well she did, and how she had been applying the tips and tricks she learned to play her “A” Game. She was so excited that she now believes she will be getting an “A” in that college class.
Then with disgust, she mentions that while she was taking her test she heard two students talking during her final exams. She looked at them, but could not understand a word they were saying – they were speaking another language.
As she sat there, another student too witnessed these two men talking during the final exams. What were they talking about at this crucial time? They were cheating!
Should they turn these students in or should they let this pass?
“Tell or don’t tell? That is the question!
Read More of this Academic Tip Post a comment (1)The other day, one of my best friends called me and updated me on her most recent final exams. She told me how well she did, and how she had been applying the tips and tricks she learned to play her “A” Game. She was so excited that she now believes she will be getting an “A” in that college class.
Then with disgust, she mentions that while she was taking her test she heard two students talking during her final exams. She looked at them, but could not understand a word they were saying – they were speaking another language.
As she sat there, another student too witnessed these two men talking during the final exams. What were they talking about at this crucial time? They were cheating!
Should they turn these students in or should they let this pass?
“Tell or don’t tell? That is the question!
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Have you ever been stuck when studying for those big tests? Have you had challenges preparing for the weekly quiz? Don’t know where to start, or how to go about preparing for those final exams? Here are some simple ways to be better prepared on school tests, exams, and quizzes.
1. Ask the Instructor.
When preparing for test be aggressive and ask the instructor what to expect. Ask questions like… “What material will be covered?” What should you concentrate on?”, “Will the test be objective or essay?”
2. Look up past copies of exams or quizzes.
Take the time to search out old exams if they are available in the library. Also check with other students who took the class the previous year or semester. These tests can give you an idea of what your exam may be like. Use them as a study tool, but don’t rely heavily on them.
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Taking test, preparing for exams, studying for midterms, and studying for final exams traditioanlly give students challenges. With so many things taking place before test time, there seems to be a rush of adrenaline to the mind containing fear, stress, overload and anxiety. I have experienced these same symptoms before test time, until I learned a few key ways to prepare for test.
Understanding how to prepare for test or exams is a vital academic skill that every student must develop.
Yes reviewing your class notes regularly can make studying for exams easier and more efficient, but here are some other key ways that you can prepare for those exams. These may seem easy and simple, but they are very effective.
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Every Sunday in the fall I normally do two things – go to church and watch NFL Football.
One thing that is apparent about every football game is that both teams come with a STRATEGY to beat their opponent.The determination of the winner is based solely on who carried out their strategy with the least amount of mistakes.
When it comes to academic success, preparing for test, succeeding as a college or high school student; studying is a skill you must develop This skill will definitely help your daily regimen
Here are some simple guidelines you can use to better your reading-studying strategy, as well as make the post of your time spent studying.
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