“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.
Today I had the opportunity to spend time with friend and author G. Clarice on Inspire Me radio. She asked me to tell my story about my “mess” as a child and how I used that to not only lead to success but use it to empower other students.
This powerful conversation lead us to talk greatly on overcoming adversity as student.
You can tune in at your leisure at Blog Talk Radio by visitng www.blogtalkradio.com/inspiremeradio.
”There I am, waiting behind stage in my dressing room for the producers of the Oprah Show to call me on stage. As I nervously wait, I reflect on what got me to this point in life. The point where Oprah desires to interview me, Kantis Simmons, an Academic Success Coach, Speaker & Author.”
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