Blog Posts
Fueling Yourself Inside and Out: A Guide to Motivation for College Students
If motivation was an ice cream flavor, what would it taste like? Would it be a cool, refreshing mint flavor that makes you feel tingly and invigorated? Or would it be a fresh and tart fruit flavor that bursts with uplifting energy? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go to any local market and buy a delicious pint of motivation in our favorite flavor? Motivation is ultimately just the set of processes that select, direct, and drive our behaviors (Dweck et al, 5). It is the impetus that helps us to define our goals and propels us towards them. Thus, motivation is a necessary component of long-term academic success. A strong understanding of motivation, including how to find and cultivate it, can help you stay on the path to achieving your academic aspirations.
Pause, Refresh, Repeat: Study smarter by taking breaks
Some years ago, I rode in the Boston to NYC AIDS bikeathon. The ride was 300 miles over three days and through some pretty rough terrain, especially in the big hills of Connecticut. The ride’s slogan was I’m Possible. This was a clever play on words because although it felt impossible it would certainly be possible to complete even for a regular person like me. More importantly, of course, the slogan reflected the intended big dream of finding a cure for AIDS.
Mastering Your Classes: The Art of Pre-Reading and Post-Reading
Do you often find yourself drowning in class materials, struggling to keep up with lectures, or feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information you need to absorb? If so, you're not alone. Many students face this challenge, but the good news is that there are effective strategies to help you conquer your coursework. In this blog post, we'll explore the powerful techniques of pre-reading and post-reading that can transform your academic experience from a struggle to a breeze.
10 Tips for Time Management
As a university student, you have a lot on your plate, from attending lectures, completing assignments, studying for exams, and maintaining a social life. It can be overwhelming to manage your time effectively, but with some tried and true strategies, you can be in control of your schedule and achieve your goals [1, 2]. Here is our list of 10 tips:
Is Procrastination Getting You Down? You may be surprised, but you’re not alone.
You may think you are a pretty good procrastinator, but the truth is that most of us are pretty good at it. It’s part of being human (Surowiecki, 2010; Andreou & White, 2010). This problem has been recognized since antiquity (apparently even Aristole had a name for it: Akrasia, see https://jamesclear.com/procrastination) (Clear, n.d.)! When we procrastinate, we put off a task that probably should be done sooner rather than later. Why do we do it? Well, for all sorts of reasons, but usually it has something to do with the fact that we don’t want to do that thing we need to do. Maybe we are worried we won’t do it well or it’s really hard. Maybe we just don’t like the work, or maybe we don’t know how to begin. It might be that we underestimate how long it will take to complete. Whatever the reason, we are putting off now pain for future pain. The thing is, future pain will be just as painful and maybe more painful, than current pain.