How to catch up when you slip behind

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it has been over a year and a half since I last blogged. I think we know where my commitment lies. With study of course! I'm still powering along with my double degree and contending with my children. I've found that maintaining my commitment for blogging has been hard, particularly when the assignments are piling up. Anyway, apologies for my (extreme) tardiness!

Now on to the matter at hand, how to catch up on your studies when you're slipping behind. In the past year I have raised my number of units to 3 per semester plus an additional unit over the summer holidays. This means that over the course of a year I am only 1 unit short from being a full-time student. This is all going well, however, when it comes to that time of semester when assignments are due some things slip by the wayside. I abandon my lectures, tutorials and textbook readings in order to get those assignments done. This strategy works for me but what it means is that I end up with WEEKS of lectures and readings to cram before exams. I suspect that I am not alone. It is quite stressful when you submit your last assignment and realise that you may not have time to catch up before exams arrive. So what is my solution?

The Revision/Catch Up Plan. Once you know what you have to do and how you are going to achieve it your stress levels go from extreme to non-existent (with the exception of your normal exam stress). Here's my plan for this semester. I think I really need to work on it's title. It's not groovy enough. Suggestions for a new title are warmly welcomed.

I've actually been ticking off the tasks that I've completed on my printed copy. Anyway, you get the idea. The steps to create a catch up plan like this are:

1. Type a list of everything you need to catch up on.
2. Create a table in MS Word (or your equivalent program of choice) and set the dates leading up to your exams down one side.
3. Highlight your exams or give those dates a different colour so they stand out like a beacon.
4. Start cutting the work you need to catch up on from your list and paste it into your table. Add bullet points so you can tick off each task as you achieve it (alternatively you can just cross through it as you go).
5. SAVE this precious document and PRINT it. Keep it somewhere visible and refer to it every day.

Some tips when adding tasks to your Catch Up Plan:

• Be realistic. Consider the time that you have free each day and plan accordingly. That is, don't set yourself an unachievable task of reading 3 chapters and listening to a lecture on Monday if you know that on Monday you are out of the house all day and entertaining friends that night. 
• Try to mix it up a bit. I like to alternate my units as much as possible so I'm not dragged down with a whole week of statistics lectures!
• Read your text one night and listen to the corresponding lecture a day or two day later. This may not work for everyone but it works for me. I find that this helps to retain knowledge. Just as I begin to forget what I've read I listen to the lecture and it is fresh in my mind again. There are studies that show that this type of strategy helps with knowledge retention.
• Allow time to write notes. These are what you should be looking over the night before your exam and while you sit waiting for your exam to begin. Alternatively, if you are given notes by your lecturer then make sure you have these collated.
• Don't bog yourself down with study the night before an exam. Have a read over your notes, look up anything that you are particularly uncertain of, and get an early night. Your brain needs sleep so it can function effectively during your exam. 
• If I have a few exams I like to set myself some light studying for each night after the exams. Just because I've finished one exam doesn't mean I can forget that I have others to study for.

So that's the way I roll and it's worked for me so far. If you have other ways of catching up or some suggested improvements for this method then I'd love to hear from you. I'm always looking for ways to improve my study habits.

Bye for now!