Well, I understand how you feel about not being able to pull all-nighters. I have on occassion (only three in my entire college career as of today) but they are not as effective as doing the work at other times. I know that when I am tired, I work only about half (if that much) as efficiently at absorbing information or even answering problems. So, the most important thing for me to do is to get a consistent amount of rest each night. So that is step one for me. (Worked great for the first four years of my engineering degree.) Most of my friends consider this one odd but I do require 8 or 9 hours of sleep each and every night. So scheduling that in first is a necessity that my engineering friends never can comprehend. But I have succeeded in making a 4.0 more than half of my semesters in college and that as a chemical engineering major!
Second, I try to study consistently during specific parts of each day. I work best in the mornings, so this semester I am waking up at 5 AM so I can have 2-2.5 hours to myself to get up, eat, answer email, do the dishes, and other things just for me. Then I start to work around 8 AM (except when I am checking Greekchat
) and I am in a good mood when I start. I then try to work until about 5 or 6 PM. This ending time will depend on how well you are working and exactly how much you have done for the rest of the day. I find that if I have been well motivated for the rest of the day, that is about the time I start to drag. On the other hand, if I have not been productive or I took a longer break during the day, then I find I can still go for another couple of hours.
The third tip I have is to do your reading when you are most alert. I am a morning person, so mornings or early afternoon are the time I read and absorb that information best. I generally can do problems at any time, even when I am tired, so I save them for last. The only times I can't follow this is when all my classes are in the morning or my groups only want to meet in the afternoons. Sometimes you just have to deal with the complexities of group work. But it sure can be a pain.
Another good tip is to make sure that you stop for meals, preferably with friends because that will help you relax between bouts of work. But don't talk about your classwork except to complain about the shear magnitude of the work. No details. Also, once you have hit your ending point for the day, do something relaxing before going to bed. Talk to a friend, have dinner or at least a snack if you worked through dinner, listen to some music, do your dishes, draw, whatever you do to relax that takes however much time you have left before going to bed. You will sleep better without equations and information cycling through your head.
The one thing that will make you most motivated is to make sure that you take the time that you really need for yourself. For me this semester, I have to do work everyday of the week. (Engineering capstone courses are so unrealistic! *groan*) But in my earlier years, I always reserved the weekends for my sisters and my family and me. If you enjoyed your relaxing time, then you will be more motivated to make sure work doesn't overflow into that time.
I hope these ideas help. Of course, the one thing underlying all of these ideas is time management, but I figured that had to be taken for granted! *grin* Also, I bet you already have that to some extent if you know you can't pull all nighters.
Good luck!
OUgizmoASK
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) is that it is really important to go to class. Most of the grades that I made had nothing to do with work, but with attendance. I made one 'B' last semester and that was in Sociology. I hated that class and NEVER went. Everything else was made easy because I went to class. ALL of the people that I know have failing grades skip their classes.
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