One big difference between high school and college is that college professors don’t waste any time diving into the source material. 

In high school, it’s typical to have at least a week of little to no work to keep your stress levels low and allow you to adjust to your new schedule. But in college, the assignments begin your first or second class, and you may feel immediately bombarded with work. I am here to offer some advice on how to create an effective schedule for completing that work, and the best places to do so.

Your first year is the best time to kick that habit of procrastinating assignments and saving them for mere hours before they’re due. The best way to do this is to create a schedule that allows assignments to be done at least a day before the due date. 

My class schedule has two Monday and Wednesday classes and two Tuesday and Thursday classes. So, I planned to do the work for those classes on the day I didn’t have them. For example, if I was assigned a worksheet on Monday, due Wednesday, I would complete it on Tuesday. This sort of schedule of completing work made it so my work was always done a day ahead of its due date.

Another important piece of the schedule-creating puzzle is choosing what time to do work. My advice is to start that work right after your last class ends for the day. This way, your brain is still in that hard-working focused mode from class, and you don’t have to try and re-motivate yourself hours later.

Doing work right after class also means you will probably have a lot of free time in the late afternoon and at night. This allows you to have time to see friends and socialize as well as attend any club meetings you may be interested in, both important aspects of enjoying your time in college. 

Not doing your work late at night will also allow you to keep a good sleep schedule, which is essential to your success in college as consistent sleep helps with improved focus, better productivity and less risk of illness.

Now that you’ve established a proper schedule, you need to choose the right place to complete your work.

For me, that place was the High Library. It’s quiet with minimal distractions and lots of comfortable seating to avoid back pain from hunching over a laptop for two hours. If you prefer a place with a little background noise, you may opt for the Blue Bean. You may find your dorm to be an unsuitable place to study since other people in the hall, your roommate or even the loud air conditioner may be distracting. 

Whatever your preference may be, there are places on campus to study that can give you everything from total solitude and silence to loud chatter and background music.

College will seem daunting at first, and you may feel as if you’ve been thrown into the deep end on day one. Little things like creating a suitable schedule to complete assignments and finding your ideal place to study will help ease your nerves and assure you that the classwork is not as strenuous as it seems.

Remember, professors and peer mentors are always there to help you if you feel overwhelmed.