Kerensky's Guide to Studying and Self-Improvement
Ok I'm pretty serious about this stuff as you probably can tell from my posts and such. Now a lot of people are beginning to realize the importance of studying and good grades. Lik has done an awesome favor for us by bringing this issue into the light. Now I'm going to outline how to create a winning plan you can follow and apply to every part of your life. Tweak it here and there as circumstances allow, but generally, this will not fail you.
1. Write down EVERYTHING you want to accomplish in a certain time period - Just jot down in a list all the stuff you want to accomplish in a week, a day, the next 5 hours, etc. This doesn't all have to be studying. You can put in music, an hour of gaming, etc. Just write down what you wanna do in a set time period. The key is a set time period.
2. Categorize and Prioritize - Divide the items in your list into categories like important, urgent, or individual subjects (depending on which one you need help with most). Now you have your priorities set. Obviously, here it is up to you to be serious with yourself and put studying or guitar practice before gaming.
3. Set the Time Frame - By now, you have all your tasks split up into categories and/or by importance. Now you need to set the time it should take for each one. Here, estimate how long it would take you to complete a task and multiply that time by 1.5. For example:
-->I think it will take me 1 hour to finish reading 45 pages in my book. I will record down 1 hour 30 minutes on my sheet instead because I multiplied 1 hour by 1.5
Why 1.5? Because usually we think too highly of ourselves and procrastinate somewhere in the middle like go eat or surf sosuave or go call up a buddy. I used to think I could finish all my history in 1 hour, but I was wrong. This messed up my whole schedule and before you knew it, I abandoned by royally screwed up plan. When you give yourself that extra time, you are MUCH more likely to stay on schedule.
4. Organize - Now, according to your prioritizing in step 2 and the time frames set in step 3, make a list of what you want to complete and put the tasks in the order you want to do them. This may seem like a repeat, but I assure you, it is not. You know what is important and what is not from step 2. Now you need to see how you can combine things so you have a few minutes of rest in between sessions and so you can switch things up. Rest doesn't mean go watch TV for 2 hours. Rest means going to workout to run or maybe grab a bite or practicing an instrument. Something productive.
5. Do it - Now you have your list. All you need to do now is to actually do everything. With the list to guide you, and your self-determination to succeed to fuel you, nothing can stop you from conquering your weaknesses and obtaining your goals. Check things off your list after you complete each task. You don't know how great it feels to cross of the last thing and realize how much time you've saved by sticking through it all. It's early, you're doing with your stuff, and your buddies are going to look like crap from an all-nighter tomorrow morning while you're being happy and energetic pulling chicks left and right attracting all with your energy.
Listen here my friends. This is a big problem. Procrastination and laziness is a disease. This is the cure. You must be committed. You must be willing to sacrifice your games, your indulgences, and your comfortable lazy ass lifestyles.
I tried to be motivational, but I know that stuff doesn't last too long. I'm tried even harder to be practical. Follow this outline. It won't be easy. No one said it would be. It's always hard changing old bad habits into good ones and you may feel like giving up or uncomfortable. But I am going on this journey with you.
Vincent, High School Forum Moderator, has given his approval for starting study logs in the forum to help us realize there is more to this world than women and to track your own progress. Please take advantage of this and good luck.
