Improve Your Grades (How to Eat an Elephant)

At times during your degree you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work that you have to deal with. We all feel like this from time to time.

In this situation, the trick is not to panic or get stressed out, but to: get organized!

Question: How do you eat an Elephant? Answer: One bite at a time!

When trying to deal with a large task or assignment it is much easier to deal with a clearly defined sub task than to try to deal with the task as a whole.

Let me give you an example: Imagine you are given one week to write and submit an essay. There are a number of ways you could approach this assignment. Before we consider a good way of tackling such an assignment let’s think about the way in which a poor student may approach it. We’ll call this student Chris.

Chris’s approach (a poor approach to tackling an essay assignment):

The day that the assignment is set Chris thinks, “A week is a long time! I’ll get around to writing that essay soon.”

After a few days the assignment begins to weigh on Chris’s mind a little and he begins to feel a bit stressed about it. He dismisses these feelings and thinks to himself, “I’ve still got time. I’ll get around to it soon.”

As the week progresses the assignment starts to weigh more and more heavily on his mind and this makes him feel miserable.

While Chris is doing the things which he usually enjoys such as spending time with his friends, watching television, playing sports, playing video games, or surfing the net, etc. - he finds it hard to enjoy himself.

As time goes on, Chris feels stressed and guilty, and he tries to push the assignment to the back of his mind.

Finally, it’s the day before the assignment must be submitted, so Chris braces himself and reluctantly trudges to his room, sits down, takes a deep breath and faces it. Because Chris hasn’t thought about the assignment at all since it was set, it takes him some time to get into the swing of it. He is stressed, frustrated and feels stupid because he can’t figure it out immediately. Chris then spends four muddled and depressing hours, late into the night, getting it done. When he finally finishes the assignment he knows that it is far from what he is capable of.

What a miserable approach.

In contrast to this, let’s consider a much healthier and more positive approach to tackling such an assignment.

A good approach to tackling an essay assignment:
On the day that the essay is set spend half an hour breaking this large task down into smaller tasks. Your list of sub tasks could look something like this:

i) Think about the essay: In this session you should spend some time considering what is required and make some notes on what you think should be included in your essay.
ii) Do some background reading: You should use this study session to go to the library and carefully select and read some relevant passages from textbooks that will help you with your essay. Also, spend some time looking up relevant internet sources for information and ideas.
iii) Prepare a plan: In this study session list all of the main points that you wish to make in your essay. Then make some additional notes on how you plan to expand on each of these points. Each of the points you make will form a paragraph in your essay.
iv) Write the essay: In this session write your essay working closely to your plan.
v) Check the work: Finally, you should spend a study session ensuring that your essay answers the question that was set and that it is the best you can do.

These tasks should be spread out over the whole of the week. Considered individually each task is straightforward and should be easily within your ability.

Following this simple advice will reduce your stress and improve your confidence as a student. Also, you won’t have to worry that an assignment won’t be submitted on time or that your work will not do you justice.

This is an excerpt from ‘6 Days To Better Grades - Powerful Study Advice For All College Students’. Available now from Amazon.com