How to catch up to your classes

Figure out how behind you are

The first step is figuring out how behind you actually are. Will you get anxious? Yes. Will you panic? Most likely. However, brace yourself. You got yourself in this, so make sure you get yourself out too. If you don’t, nobody else will. Grab a paper or open a document. And do the following:

1. List all your subjects
2. Mark what you will be evaluated for. Is it an essay, presentation or your good old theoretic exam?
3. For each item that you have to deliver write down the following

• Essay: How long should it be? Is it a team project or individual? How
• Presentation: Is it an individual presentation or with a partner?
• Theoretic: How many chapters will the test be based on?

Don’t panic. Prioritize.

I’m not going to lie, you WILL be overwhelmed once you finish that list. However, you are not obligated to do all of them. What do I mean by this? Well, why don’t you try to make a couple of them during resit period? I started a whole semester late, I had double the exams than my peers. Is taking all the exams at once doable? Certainly, but you will have to sacrifice your sanity and be content with a passing grade. However, I am not the type of person that is satisfied with a passing grade and I am also kinda lazy so I would choose which exams I would take in the examination period and which ones I would take in the resit period. That way, I didn’t overload myself with stuff and ensure a high grade nonetheless. Work smarter, not harder, kids.

This is where prioritizing came in handy. Based on the previous information gathered in the first step, filter which exams are the most important. Do you have a subject that requires an essay, presentation and a theoretic exam? Make it a priority. Is that theoretic exam feared among all students for being hella difficult? Make it a priority. As a rule of thumb, make all team projects a priority. So, then… What do you leave for resit? Is it an individual paper that does not require a lot of work or cannot be too long? Resit. Is it an individual presentation? Resit. Is it a simple test in a subject you are confident in? Resit. Although I do recommend trying to take all the written exams in the examination week. However, if you see that the workload is too much, move one to the resit.

Create a Master Calendar

Now that you know what you will be prioritizing, it is important to create a master calendar that will help you catch up. Here are some guidelines on how I do it.

1. Mark off all your deadlines first
2. Per subject divide the study material in tasks: What chapters do you need to study? When will you outline your paper? When will you write? Revise it?
3. Schedule the most pressing or time consuming assignments first
4. Assign 1 or 2 study subjects per day

If you work with programs such as Notion or other software that helps you with project management, doing a big backlog can be a game changer. Want more in depth information? I wrote a blog just about that here.

Have a structured and mindful study routine

I was surprised at how much I improved my study when I implemented a study routine. Before having one, I would spend hours and hours on one thing, or I would start reading about something and quickly started doing unnecessary research on what I’ve read. I thought I was being productive but truth of the matter is that I wouldn’t finish what I actually HAD TO do. Some weeks back, I shared my study routine with you. Having a study routine is important, if you want to ensure you are completing your tasks. Pro-tip: use the pomodoro technique or set a specific time for you to finish each of your tasks. You’ll finish more things that way.

Have a partner to keep you accountable

Finding a study buddy is one of the best decisions you can make when you are behind your studies. BUT make sure they are serious. This helped me so much back in my minor, I teamed up with another classmate and we created a shared doc where we each assigned a chapter to summarize. We would then come together and explain the chapter to each other. Thus cutting the time we spent reading and writing the summaries in half in order to focus on learning. Try to come up with ways to divide the workload between the two of you and then explain and discuss about it. This is a more interactive way of learning and is sure to keep you more engaged and help you remember it afterwards.