Collegeyellowpages - Shit’s Tuff Babes

Things I wish I already knew going to University

Here are some reminders to myself. Hopefully, they are also helpful to some freshmen or anyone who’s curious:

1. University is not school.

You can’t shilly-shally around, take your sweet time and expect to just roll with it. Trust me, you will be in for a rude awakening. Find a goddamn studying method early in and stick with it. Flashcards and quizlets, whatever works for you. The deadlines and exams will draw closer faster than you think they will.

2. Your profs are not decoration.

Ask. Questions. Seriously. And go to office hours if you have any particular problem to resolve. Make use of that time. A lot of them will actually be thankful anyone is showing up. Against popular belief, professors indeed do make a mental note of a lot of their students. Don’t be one of those 20 people standing infront of their office for the first time a week before the exam.

3. Get as much work as possible done until noon.

It’s 12 and you have already studied for three and a half hours? Amazing. Look, I know, I am not a morning person either. But at least try it out. Get your sleep schedule in check. It will feel so much better than to procrastinate until evening and then you HAVE to do it anyway.

4. If you can explain it, you have understood it.

Done studying? Bet you’re not. Try explaining yourself the material loudly like teaching it to a clueless person. Or get yourself a study buddy and explain your subjects to each other. It’s even better if you don’t have the same majors. If you are able to explain the topic and have the other person understand it, you actually know the topic. If not, you now know where the shoe pinches. It’s also great practice!

5. You may feel a bit lonely at first.

Okay, I don’t want to scare anyone. I did find a lot of friends. Especially at first, everyone is your friend. Because everyone is scared of missing the boat and feeling left out. There will be so many people around you. Still – or maybe that’s the reason – you will probably feel a bit lonely at first. I want to tell you that this is normal. It’s because everyone is still a stranger to you and maybe you’ve just moved out! Maybe you are far away from home for the very first time. I’ve struggled with this. That’s fine! Everything will be fine. You will feel at home eventually.

I hope everyone is doing well. Take care! :)

I recently read How to Win at College by Cal Newport, and it has super helpful tips for college, so I thought I would share the complete list of chapters/tips.  I recommend this for anyone in college or going to college!  I will bold my favorites :)

Don’t do all your reading

Create a Sunday ritual

Drop classes every semester

Start long-term projects the day they are assigned

Make your bed

Apply to ten scholarships a year

Build study systems

Befriend a professor

Become a club president

Read a newspaper every day

Do one thing better than anyone else you know

Avoid daily to-do lists

Learn to give up

Never nap

Sign up for something your first week

Always be working on a “Grand Project”

Take art history and astronomy

Blow the curve once a term

Ask one question at every lecture

Jump into research as soon as possible

Pay your dues

Study in fifty-minute chunks

Schedule your free time

Dress nicely for class

Decorate your room

Start studying two weeks in advance

Write outside of class

Eat alone twice a day

Find an escape

Take hard courses early on

Don’t study in your room

Don’t study in groups

Join an honors program

Do schoolwork every day

Attend guest lectures

Exercise five days a week

Stay in touch

Tack on an extra major or minor

Meet often with your advisor

Don’t get a normal job

Use three days to write a paper

Don’t undersleep, don’t oversleep

Relax before exams

Make friends your #1 priority

Don’t binge drink

Ignore your classmates’ grades

Seek out phenomenal achievers

Learn to listen

Never pull an all-nighter

Laugh every day

Use high-quality notebooks

Keep a work-progress journal

Seek out fun

Inflate your ambition

Get involved in your major department

Care about your grades, ignore your GPA

Always go to class

Set arbitrary deadlines

Eat healthy

Volunteer quietly

Write as if going for a Pulitzer

Attend political rallies

Maximize your summers

Choose goals, explore routes

Don’t take breaks between classes

Don’t network

Publish Op-Eds

Use a filing cabinet

Find a secret study space

Study with the Quiz-and-Recall Method

Empty your in-box

Relax before sleep

Start fast, end slow

Spend a semester studying abroad

“Don’t have no regrets”

I hope you find some of these helpful!! I might make this a series and elaborate on each tip from the book while adding my own perspective.  Good luck everyone, you’ve got this!

(in college)

so! i have adhd but you don’t gotta have adhd to benefit from these tips. everyone struggles with lack of focus and executive dysfunction sometimes, especially in college. so without further ado,

1. go to the library every day.

your “library” doesn’t have to be a library, but it helps if it’s a place outside of your home/dorm. pack your bag and head to that place within an hour of waking up. do work, study, even and especially if there isn’t anything urgent to do. this is a huge one for me because getting to a productive space is half the battle and once i get there, i get in this mindset of “well, i walked all the way here. might as well get shit done”.

2. embrace the discomfort. discipline isn’t wanting to do something, it’s doing it regardless of your emotions. i know it’s hard but separate your feelings from the task at hand. don’t give yourself time to think, just do it. this will get easier over time as you build discipline.

3. use mechanical, low dread level tasks to get yourself in the zone. this means taking notes or working on your planner so you get into the rhythm of productivity. after you’re in the zone, start that essay without giving yourself time to dread it.

i know there’s only three tips but i didn’t want to include typical, motivation based tips. as always, these methods don’t work as well if you aren’t sleeping enough, eating right or prioritizing emotional needs. i hope u have a good productive day!!

25 Napping Facts Every College Student Should Know

It makes you smarter According to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California, napping for as little as one hour resets your short-term memory and helps you learn facts more easily after you wake up.

Abandon all-nighters Foregoing sleep by cramming all night reduces your ability to retain information by up to 40%. If you can, mix in a nap somewhere to refresh your hippocampus.

It doesn’t mean what you think If you know you have to pull an all-nighter, try a “prophylactic nap.” It’s a short nap in advance of expected sleep deprivation that will help you stay alert for up to 10 hours afterwards.

You can’t avoid that down period after lunch by not eating Human bodies naturally go through two phases of deep tiredness, one between 2-4 a.m. and between 1-3 p.m. Skipping lunch won’t help this period of diminished alertness and coordination.

Pick the right time After lunch in the early afternoon your body naturally gets tired. This is the best time to take a brief nap, as it’s early enough to not mess with your nighttime sleep.

Hour naps are great A 60-minute nap improves alertness for 10 hours, although with naps over 45 minutes you risk what’s known as “sleep inertia,” that groggy feeling that may last for half an hour or more.

But short naps are best For healthy young adults, naps as short as 20, 10, or even 2 minutes can be all you need to get the mental benefits of sleep, without risking grogginess.

Drink coffee first The way this works is you drink a cup of coffee right before taking your 20-minute or half-hour nap, which is precisely how long caffeine takes to kick in. That way when you wake up, you’re not only refreshed, but ready to go.

The NASA nap A little group called NASA discovered that just a 26-minute nap increases performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. Pilots take advantage of NASA naps while planes are on autopilot.

Can’t sleep? Don’t stress Even if you can’t fall asleep for a nap, just laying down and resting has benefits. Studies have found resting results in lowered blood pressure, which even some college kids have to worry about if they are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure.

Napping may save your life A multi-year Greek study found napping at least three times per week for at least 30 minutes resulted in a 37% lower death rate due to heart problems.

More nap benefits for the brain Not only will napping improve your alertness, it will also help your decision-making, creativity, and sensory perception.

But wait, there’s more Studies have found napping raises your stamina 11%, increases ability to stay asleep all night by 12%, and lowers the time required to fall asleep by 14%.

The ultimate nap According to Dr. Sara Mednick, the best nap occurs when REM sleep is in proportion to slow-wave sleep. Use her patented Take A Nap Nap Wheel to calculate what time of day you can nap to the max.

Fight the Freshman 15 Research shows that women who sleep five hours at night are 32% more likely to experience major weight gain than those sleeping seven hours. A two-hour nap isn’t feasible for many, but napping is a good way to make up for at least some lost night sleep.

If it was good enough for them… Presidents JFK and Bill Clinton used to nap every day to help ease the heavy burden of ruling the free world. Of course, they also had other relaxation methods, but we won’t get into those.

Do like the Romans do In ancient Rome, everyone, including children, retreated for a 2 or 3-hour nap after lunch. No doubt this is the reason the Roman empire lasted over 1,000 years

Don’t wait too long The latest you want to wake up from a nap is five hours before bedtime, otherwise you risk not being able to fall asleep at night.

Sugar is not a good substitute for a nap When we are tired, we instinctively reach for foods with a high glycemic index, but after the initial energy wears off, we’re left more tired than we were before.

It’s a good way to catch up If it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep at night, you are sleep deprived. If you never can seem to get to bed earlier at night, a mid-day nap is a great way to catch up on sleep.

Underclassmen need more sleep Freshmen and sophomores who are still in your teens: you need up to 10 hours of sleep to feel rested. So odds are, you are sleep-deprived.

You’ll have to leave the party sooner After one school-week of not getting enough sleep, three alcoholic drinks will affect you the same way six would when you are fully rested.

Don’t drive drowsy Don’t be afraid to take advantage of an “emergency nap” on the side of the road in your car. Every year, as many as 100,000 traffic fatalities are caused by sleepy people behind the wheel.

The Einstein Method If you are concerned about sleeping too long, do what Albert Einstein regularly did: hold a pencil while you’re drifting off, so when you fall asleep, the pencil dropping will wake you up. (We do not guarantee you will wake up with a 180 IQ.)

Missing sleep is worse at your age For people ages 18 to 24, sleep deprivation impairs performance more significantly than in other age brackets.

And non-students as well, of course!

(Photo source unknown)