With the start of the new year, most universities will be starting their new semester. Approximately more than 500,000 students enroll in universities each year in Pakistan. But, most of them are unfamiliar with the teaching methods, that are used in universities and do not think about having a study plan. Due to this reason more than half of the students usually leave the university by the end of their first year.
The students get flustered by the new teaching methods and are unable to keep up with their studies. The teachers are also not helpful to students and indulge them to keep up with their teaching methods. This by far is not easy for everyone to do. Only those who are tenacious enough can keep up with their studies and achieve good results. While most of the students are overwhelmed by it. This is not an easy task. But, if you devise a proper study plan and carry it out, you can achieve higher marks than the rest of your classmates. Here are a few tips on how to build a perfect study plan for your course.
UNDERSTAND YOUR STRENGTH
The very first thing that is required to build a perfect study plan is to understand your strength. How much studying you can handle at a time? Once you become familiar with your limits you will be able to design a study plan that will not burden you. But knowing your limits isn’t enough because sometimes you will have to cross your limits and do more work. Because of deadlines on assignments, projects, or presentations or because of your exams. For this reason, it is necessary to increase your strength and surpass your limits. So that you can keep up with your studies. Thus, it is preferable to devise a study plan that helps you in improving yourself.
MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR YOUR STUDY PLAN
After understanding your limits you can devise a study plan that would be simpler and easier for you to carry out. This goes without saying, that you have to make a plan that you can follow. Because if not it will take away all your motivation to study. The best practice would be to make a plan that includes tasks that are to your liking. Tasks that will not divert your attention from your subject completely. For instance, you can go out for a walk when you feel tired or demotivated to freshen your mind.
WORK ON TIMELY SCHEDULES
The best thing to keep in mind while making a study plan is to make a timely schedule. Most of us make a mistake here if we pick a specific period for studying. For instance, I say that I would study from 5 pm to 8 pm. This seems fine at first but it could be quite misleading. By setting a specific period we tell our brain that this would be the perfect time for us to study. However, when we are not able to start studying in the first 15 minutes or rather 30 minutes of that time we become demotivated. Then decide that we would study at the same time tomorrow. By doing this we waste precious time and are not able to make any progress at all.
For this, I would suggest you tell your brain that I would study for 4 or 5 hours in a single day. Then you can divide that time into even smaller periods like 45 minutes. Then take a 15-minute break to do other pleasing tasks or take some rest. In this manner, you will be able to study more than what you have planned in a single day. This way you will be able to make more progress than what you have planned, and that is a wonderful thing.
MAKE PROPER NOTES
This by far is the most important thing that will determine how effective your study plan is going to be. Taking all your lectures and preparing notes will be the most important thing in your study plan. For this, you should note down some key points of the lecture that you are taking by hand in a journal. The second thing would be to use these key points to conduct your research. To write down notes by yourself, instead of purchasing readymade notes. This way you can make notes that you can understand. Also, the research that you would conduct for writing the notes will be helpful for your studies.
You should write down your notes by using digital software. Instead of writing them down in physical journals. By doing so you can access your notes anytime. You will not be burdened with carrying many journals with you as well. The software that I would suggest you use is Google word. It has a simple interface like Microsoft Word and is quite easy to use.
MAKE STUDYING A HABIT OF YOURS
The last thing that I would suggest is that you should make studying a habit of yours. Dedicating some part of your day to studying or reading would work wonders for you. It will also help you in getting better at your studies. No matter how much planning you do or how well you write your notes. If you are not willing to study then it will all be for naught. Thus, it is good to make studying a habit of yours. It will be quite tough for you in the beginning. So I recommend you to read some books as well instead of only studying your course. This way you will be able to make studying a habit without being burdened by it. This way you can be engaged with studying as well without getting bored.
The steps mentioned above will help you in preparing a perfect study plan to cover your course. But remember the most important thing that you need is persistence. If you are not willing to follow the study plan that you have devised then all your efforts would be for naught. That is why you should take a keen interest in your studies and as the last step dictates make it a habit of yours.