7 Super – Simple Ways to Expand Your Vocabulary

Many college professors complain that most of their students have disappointing vocabulary. It may be unfair, but the truth is that everyone can benefit from building and expanding their vocabulary.

Having a good mix of vocabulary is good for your class discussions, reading, learning and making connections. It also makes you a good writer and this will come in handy where essays and term papers are concerned. This article teaches you simple tricks and tips to expand your vocabulary.

1. Read

There is no better way to grasp vocabulary than through reading. According to experts, you must read to grasp vocabulary. And this doesn’t mean you confine yourself to textbooks alone. Go beyond textbooks into journals, magazines and so forth. When you read, remember to jot the new and strange ones. This will not only enable you get new ones, but it will also enable you remember their definitions.

2. Learn word roots

Word roots are the essence of the English language. They are also same for other languages. The English language’s largest root is Latin. It travels your mind through suffixes, prefixes and other parts of the words. The roots for new words enable you determine new meaning for new words. This is the essence of learning new words. Sometimes, you also get to create words that will make sense. And once you have new words, their meanings and synonyms, consider grouping them and looking for means to remember them.

3. Follow “one word a day” principle.

Learning vocabulary requires consistency. You need to make sure you learn new vocabulary daily. If you make it a point to learn a new word daily, in a week-that’s 7 words. in the long run, you will be able to use these new words easily in whatever you do. This will directly enrich and expand your vocabulary pool.

4. Discover  new ways of finding word meaning

Words mean exactly as their context. When you want to learn what words mean, see how they are used in context. Knowing the meaning of new words depending on the context is a great way to build upon your vocabulary. In college, most of the words you will encounter will be used in context. If you self-evaluate words, getting meaning and understanding is promoted.

5. Use what you’ve learned

When you study and discover new words, you need to practice using them. You should use the new words both in context and in speech. This will not only help you understand them, but also promote the commitment to memory. At the end of the day, learning can only happen when you use the words you learn.

6. Find passion for words

Leaning vocabulary and mastery requires commitment. You need to use the words effectively. Learn the histories around words. Also have a high caliber word association. Just dedicate enough time to learning new words and inventing others. This journey is long, but worthwhile for your college and social life.

7. Make your vocabulary sensible

Start by learning the words that may express what’s most vital for you. As an example, learn a lot of your trade language – the words that are ordinarily used in your business or hobby or vocation. Go beyond the jargon and clichés, pay attention to better, fresher, clearer words to precise what your peers are talking about.

Keep a wordbook within range, therefore you’ll use it each time you come upon an unfamiliar word while reading a book or magazine, watching TV show or listening to a broadcast. If you read an electronic book, web articles or newsletters, it’s extremely convenient to consult an online dictionary or a special software. Try to bear in mind not solely definitions of the words, but their origin as well: it would be helpful once you come upon a word with an equivalent root.

There are numerous on-line word games that may create the process of improving vocabulary a lot fascinating and motivating. Usually they take about 5 minutes to play, so you can simply afford spending this time even at your working place.

Make sure to take part in conversations, even though you’re an extremely introverted person. Using the words you’ve learned, you’ll always remember what they mean, and they will certainly become a part of your active vocabulary. Besides, you may have an opportunity to pick up new words from people you speak to – everyone is potentially interesting wherever the cultural influences, professional spheres and personal preferences are involved.

And last however not least, expanding vocabulary isn’t a matter of 1 week, but a life time process, and it’s within your power to make it fascinating and productive.

Cecil Emanuel is an author of this article. You can find more of her articles on Rate My Professors Blog.

 

10 Habits of Highly Successful Online College Students

Why is it that some people enter college and make it to graduation and others don’t? It’s because some students understand what it takes to be successful and other do not. If you are planning on enrolling in an online college this fall, it’s important that you understand what it will take to make it to graduation. Here are ten habits of highly successful online college students:

1. Organization

On the very first day of class, print out each class’s syllabus and add important due dates to any type of planner that you decide to use. There are several great class scheduling apps available on both iOS and Android! Don’t make the mistake of keeping a different calendar for every facet of your life; you’re guaranteed to miss appointments! Instead, keep all of your appointments, assignments and other important dates in one place.

2. Attend Class

Attending class online is a bit different than attending class at a brick and mortar college. Make sure that you sit through any online lectures, watch assigned videos and take part in any chats or forums that are required. Once you start skipping class or glossing over assignments, it can quickly become a habit. The more classes you skip, the further behind you’ll get. Skipping just one class, or online lecture, can mean that you miss valuable information that you might just see on an exam!

3. Plan Time to Study

Many people choose online schools because of other obligations. If you work full-time or have children, be sure to schedule specific times to study. If you don’t schedule time for yourself to complete assignments, read your texts and study your notes, you’ll find that you’ve reached the end of the week and have to cram it all in. Completing your assignments a few days ahead of time will also prevent them from being late due to technical glitches on the college’s end.

4. Set Study Goals

Set goals for yourself before you sit down to study. Setting goals will help you stay focused and allow you to track the progress that you’ve made. For instance, make it your goal to read one chapter per day and review your notes for 30 minutes each night. When you set study goals, you are more apt to get things done!

5. Reduce Distractions

Make sure that your friends and family know that you are in school and take it very seriously. Ask them to not interrupt you during your scheduled study time, and ask them to be understanding if you have to forego functions and activities from time to time. You’ll undoubtedly find that some of your friends soon stop asking you to do things altogether. When this happens, remind yourself that your real friends are those who are supporting you, not the ones who abandon you.

6. Join a Study Group

Students often find that they benefit by joining study groups. If you don’t live close enough to any of your classmates to meet in a central location, utilize Skype and hold a study session online. Skype is free to download onto your computer or mobile device and incredibly easy to use. If you aren’t comfortable using Skype, try one of the many instant messenger programs that are available. You can also try a conference call! There are several ways to hold a study group; the important thing is that you are all able to discuss your material and share ideas.

7. Use College Resources

Take advantage of any resources available through your online campus. Math Labs, academic advisers and tutoring centers can all help you make it through to graduation. If you need help or advice, there is always someone that you can contact for guidance via phone, chat or email. If you aren’t sure what resources your college offers, contact the student life or admissions office for more information.

8. Get Help

Never wait until the last minute to ask for help! One of the benefits of online schooling is the ability to contact professors almost immediately. You have access to your professors through email, and sometimes chat, without having to wait for set office hours. Always seek help before you fall behind; at that point it may be too late. If you can’t get in touch with your professor, try asking a classmate for assistance. They may not be your first choice, but they may very well be able to answer your questions.

9. Finish Hard Projects First

Don’t put off your most difficult projects! If you procrastinate, you risk running out of time. Get your biggest, most important projects done at the beginning of the week. Not only will you have enough time but you’ll make sure that any technical glitches can be resolved by your due date. Experts call this “Eating Frogs”! If you were given two frogs to eat, you’d eat the ugliest one first to get it out of the way. Treat your assignments the same way! If you save your big projects for the end of the week, or even the end of the term, you’ll invariably find that you’ve run out of time.

10. Get a Sitter

Recruit friend and family to babysit the kids for a couple of hours once a week. Getting the kids out of the house will remove distractions and allow you to really focus on your work. This could be particularly helpful when you have a large project that requires your undivided attention! Don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family for help; you may be surprised at just how supportive they are.

If you have the ability to discipline yourself, you will be successful in an online learning environment. Organize yourself, plan your study time and seek help when you need it! If you can follow these tips, you’ll make it through to graduation!

Geri Mckay writes full-time for education blogs nationwide. She writes for www.ufl.edu where you can find out more about masters degree music.

Graduate School – Now is the Time

Human resources (HR) professionals who are thinking about getting a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree should generally base their decision on their personal goals for career advancement, rather than by job market conditions; but, in these difficult economic times it is natural for anyone to consider whether further education will improve their chances of employment.

Graduate school is a major undertaking for all students, particularly for working professionals, but if there was ever a time for HR professionals to get that coveted MBA degree, that time is now. Here’s why:

The Boom-Bust Cycle and the Job Market

In every iteration of the endless boom-bust cycle of developed nations, employment and wages are two of the most deeply affected economic factors. The current landscape of American unemployment is a grim reminder of just how competitive the job marketplace has become for professionals. During these times of historically high unemployment rates, job seekers are left scratching their heads as to why they all of a sudden they have become unemployable.

Analysts who enjoy citing statistics claim that there are approximately five applicants to every job posting these days. Those figures are down from the six-to-one ratio in 2009, and significantly higher than in 2007, when there were just two job seekers vying for an opening. The opposite is being observed in the booming economies of Brazil and Germany, where economic prosperity is making it difficult for employers to find qualified applicants. Those countries are now enjoying historical low unemployment rates and will soon begin outsourcing some jobs thanks to the current trends in globalization.

The Need for HR Professionals

While private enterprises in Brazil and Germany may be venturing overseas to look for qualified workers, they aren’t likely to outsource their top HR managers. Outsourcing is currently a major field of study within the HR profession around the world. Globalization and free trade are expected to form part of the new commerce paradigm, something that will only increase the relative incidence of outsourcing. Top HR managers are now expected to stay close to the company headquarters to administer and report on outsourcing efforts.

Since high-level HR professionals aren’t expected to become outsourcing casualties in either Brazil or Germany, competition for open spots and retention in those countries is expected to increase. Global trade and outsourcing are subjects that aren’t typically taught to HR professionals at the undergraduate level, but they are often the focus of HR MBA curricula and academic dissertations.

What an Economic Recovery Means to HR Professionals

The so-called “green shoots” of the economy that have been talked about in financial news circles since 2010 are beginning to mature in the United States. They still have a long way to go before they fully develop into giant beanstalks, but the first signs of economic recovery are being felt in the job market. Millions of job hunters are still without a job, and HR professionals and hiring managers are buried under a deluge of resumes and applications, but some improvement is being noticed.

Just like in Brazil and Germany, there will be a strong shift in terms of employment once prosperity and financial optimism return to the American economy. HR professionals will once again be in high demand to manage the growing workforce, and many industries will be expected to outsource significantly. In other words, American companies are poised to look for the most educated and better prepared HR professionals. The bar will be raised, and this means that they will be looking for HR professionals who are MBA graduates.

If there is one thing that can be learned from the economic rebound of the Brazilian and German economies is that recovery usually comes at a very fast pace. For this reason, it is incumbent on HR professionals to adequately prepare themselves now, rather than later.

Trudy Stapleton is a career counselor who also writes for humanresourcesmba.net, a site which lists all the top distance MSHR degrees and explores various HR Masters programs.

Time Management for Grad Students

If you are a graduate student, then you have too much to do and too little time to do it. At least, that’s what you’d believe if you took an eavesdropping stroll down the hallowed halls of grad student offices at any institution of higher education in the country.

Between teaching, attending seminars, writing papers, lab hours, and, oh, yes, bathing and eating, it is hard to find time to both pursue a master’s degree or doctoral degree and have a life. But there is hope for the harried: with a set routine and some tolerance for imperfection, you could make time management look easy.

One of the hardest things to reconcile as a graduate student is the nontraditional schedule. While 9-to-5ers might have some late nights at the office or even some weekend workdays, a student’s work is truly never done. Finish reading for seminar? Then you could be working on next week’s presentation. Lesson plans set for the week? What about grading those exams that have been weighing down your desk for the past couple days? Found time to squeeze in some visits to the gym this week? What about checking your OkCupid account? And even when the semester is over, you can’t help but think of the independent reading you should be doing for your qualifying exams even as you reach for Mom’s homemade pumpkin pie.

Find balance

The first step in finding balance in your life is balancing the very driven attitude that has gotten you to where you are today with a more relaxed approach. This won’t just make your life easier, but could also save your health.

Adjust expectations

Adjusting expectations is key to time management, and I’m not suggesting slacking off—I’m promoting being realistic. For example, when you create a weekly schedule, factor in mundane tasks such as eating breakfast, taking a shower, and walking from your classroom to the library. A realistic schedule will not only allow you to set reasonable goals, but also permit you to enjoy a sense accomplishment at the end of the week rather than one of desperation.

Give yourself a break

Another way to be realistic with your time is to recognize that you are a human being. This means acknowledging and addressing your physical, mental, social, and spiritual needs. Try getting yourself to the gym, or to the park for a run, or even around the block for a walk most days. Give your mind a break and watch your favorite TV show or go to the movie on discount night (just be sure to pencil it into your weekly schedule). Schedule time with friends at least once a week. Practice meditation, join a religious group, or write in a journal. Taking care of yourself will not only benefit your sanity, but might give you an edge over your exhausted classmates.

Graduate school is not easy, but seeing it as part of your life rather than consuming your life will help you to get the most out of it.

Emily Matthews is currently applying to masters degree programs across the U.S., and loves to read about new research into health care, gender issues, and literature. She lives and writes in Seattle, Washington.

How to Earn Extra Money through Tutoring Online

For those looking to make a little extra money in this economy, why not give online tutoring a shot? Tutoring online is a lot like tutoring in person except the tools you are going to be using will be digital as opposed to a physical book and note paper.

Here are some reasons to consider online tutoring as a second job:

Work When You Want

Just like any other Internet job, you can work when your schedule allows you to. If you want to work from 8am to 10am you are free to do so. If you want to work from 9pm to 10pm, go ahead and knock yourself out. You control your schedule and can work whenever you feel like it.

Tutor Whatever Subjects Are Interesting To You

Your college degree might be in English, but perhaps you are talented in history as well. You can put your talents to good use as an online history tutor. Most sites will require nothing more than passing a test to prove that you are competent and know what you are talking about.

This is great for people who want to make extra money just sharing the knowledge that they have and want to get some extra hours out of it. The more subjects you can tutor, the more opportunities that will be available to you to work.

How Much Do You Get Paid

Working as an online tutor will pay you close to what you might make in most retail situations. A lot of online sites will start you out around 8 dollars an hour, but will increase your pay over time. You might be able to max out at around 12-15 dollars.

This isn’t nearly as much as you can get as a private tutor, but you also don’t have to find the clients and worry about not getting paid. You also have the benefit of working at home and whenever you have the time. This isn’t something you can always dictate as a private tutor.

Online tutoring is a stable field that has many job opportunities. If you are looking for a second job, or a source of income while unemployed, working online as a tutor is a great way to share what you know while making an income. It might even be a resume boost if you hope to work in education someday.

 

Francine Gomez is a career consultant and loves giving stay-at-home moms new ideas for how to make money. There are many opportunities to bring needed funds into the home — learn how to make money writing articles to earn extra spending money or to fully support a family.

Simple Tricks to Write Faster and Smarter Research Papers

For many students, writing research papers can be stressful. It’s enough work just to think of something to write about, but actually finding evidence to back up a thesis is a rigorous battle that can turn into a nightmare without the proper foresight and planning.

It takes a lot of determination, hard work and wit to earn an “A,” but that doesn’t mean all research writing has to involve a 48 hour cram session fueled by Mountain Dew and Doritos.

Everyone gets stuck in the writing process from time to time, so here are a few tricks that help students write faster, more efficiently and sometimes even sound a little smarter.

3 Writing Tricks for Research Papers

Start Early

It’s not fun to write a whole research paper in one sitting. In fact, it’s a horrible idea. You might think that racing against the clock provides some much needed motivation to finish a paper, but the reality is you’ll just be forcing words on a page.

Instead of trying to do everything at once, one way to get ideas for research papers is to start with an outline. It doesn’t have to be detailed, but it should follow a simple format:

• Thesis – the main point you’re trying to convey
• Body – three or four points of evidence
• Conclusion – state why all of your evidence supports your thesis

Some writers use this outline as a check-off sheet, and mark off each bullet point while they write. It doesn’t matter how you use it, but creating an outline is a great way to organize your thoughts and stay on track when it’s time to start writing.

Turn a Brainstorm into a Brain Hurricane

It sounds cliché, but when you’re stuck on an idea and don’t know what to write, you have to keep writing. Some people call it sprinting. Others call it a free write. The bottom line is to put all of your ideas out there and sift through the good ones later.

Any idea that comes to your head. Just keep writing. Don’t think. Forgot a period? Who cares? Just keep writing. Even when you don’t know what to write, keep your fingers cracking those keys.

It might take a few minutes, and you’re probably going to write some ideas that smell worse than Taco Bell gone bad, but you should be able to push through and find a hidden gem.

Call on Your Friendly Word Dinosaur

Even when you know what to write, sometimes the hardest part about writing a research paper is putting all the right words in just the right order. Whenever you have trouble finding the best word to use, or when you need to take three words and turn it into one fancy word, reach out for your thesaurus.

Less widely used compared to a dictionary, the thesaurus is the best tool for finding synonyms (words with a similar definition) or antonyms (words with a contrasting definition). While you might not know it, you probably have access to an amazing thesaurus on your home computer. Using Microsoft Word, highlight a word in a new document and use the hotkey Shift+F7 or hold ALT+click to open the thesaurus tool inside the Research Task Pane.

In fact, it’s always good to have a thesaurus or dictionary nearby. Whenever you read or hear a word you don’t know, make it a point to find out what it means.

Remember, writing a research paper shouldn’t feel like pulling teeth. If you can maintain time management, creativity and determination, you’ll finish your paper in no time. Have fun!

Doug A. works with the team at the OPPapers.com, which uses examples to help teach students how to format and compose research papers, term papers and essays.

Study Tips for Managing Your Online Course Load

Starting school is daunting. There is so much to think about and worry about that it can be difficult to know how to deal with all of the courses that you are managing.  For many people, success in school comes down to one thing: planning.  Planning is the most important way that you will be able to balance your online course load, complete all of your work on time and be successful.  Remember: you are paying in both money and time to take these courses, so make them worth your while and put all of your effort into them.  All the work that you are going to be doing will pay off.

One of the most critical pieces of effective planning is effective time management.  If you are hoping to be able to complete all of your work by a certain time, the best thing you can do to meet that goal is to manage your time effectively.  Before the beginning of each week, maybe on Sunday evening, make a calendar of the way that your time will be spent for the next week.  When you are just beginning to do the work for your many online courses, it may be tempting to assume that you can get your reading and other assignments done quickly.  This is the mistake that many people run into when they are trying to plan their schedules. They have unrealistic expectations for how quickly they will be able to finish their work and so they wind up pressed for time.

In the beginning, when you are just getting a handle on the material and are only just beginning to learn what the online course expectations are going to be, it would be wise to schedule even more time than you think you will need.  If you finish early, that’s great, but giving yourself extra time means not having to rush, which will ultimately create far less stress in the long term.  If you think you’re going to need two hours to complete an assignment, schedule three.  Proceed this way through your entire week, making sure to block off time for breaks, meals and other pleasurable diversions so you don’t grow frustrated with your online course load and give up.

Pay attention to how long things take.  Within a few weeks of taking your online courses, you should be able to reasonably assess which of the courses has the most strenuous workload and which courses have a lighter workload.  This is critical.  Once you know what work takes the most time, or is the most labor intensive you can begin to more effectively manage your time.

Firstly, make sure that the heavy coursework you have been assigned is placed on your schedule towards the beginning of the week.  Ideally you will be able to finish it quickly and move on to your other work, but if it does wind up that it is going to take more time that you assumed, you will have the whole rest of the week to work on it if necessary.  Once the very difficult coursework is done, you will have the opportunity to work on your easier coursework, which should be much less stressful, much less strenuous and leave you with a sense of accomplishment.

Aside from managing your time, one of the best study tips you can have is to break down big projects into smaller steps.  Very often, big projects like a research paper, presentation or other long-term assignment can be intimidating.  People tend to avoid work that they find intimidating, so the best thing that you can do is to break down the task into a series of smaller tasks.

Vern Marker is a freelance writer interested in forensics, psychology, mentoring college students, and the ins and outs of time management. Marker has forensic psychology degree and aims to one day teach forensic psychology courses at the collegiate level.

Class of 2011: Get a Career Started, Now!

A slow walk down the aisle, the careful ascension to a stage: the time has finally come. A diploma is offered to you: you have earned it through years of mastery and the exchanges of ink and opinions. You’re graduating, soon to leave a campus behind and seek a career. The world must now be conquered, industry must be claimed, and you’re… terrified.

A ceremony seems far less appealing than it did mere minutes ago.

New graduates often find themselves overwhelmed by the future. The thrill of a degree is undone by the worry of employment. Searching for a job seems to be the most unlikely of tasks — with all former friends becoming new rivals for the same positions, battling for success. It’s a challenge to be noticed among the many; it’s a strain to discover chances; and individuals can quickly fall into despair.

You don’t have to.

Instead you can learn to take advantage of social sites and online aids, allowing yourself to find the career you’ve always desired (even if you aren’t certain what that desire truly is):

Experience Wanted

A collection of peculiar talents, a wealth of strange courses: an education has been defined by unexpected pursuits; and, while these were fulfilling once, they seem to be pointless now — unable to offer any obvious careers or goals. You think you’ve wasted your time. You haven’t.

Less than typical credits (which could never be cobbled together for anything more than pleasure) can be used to your advantage. Visit Experience, an online organization that offers students the chance to explore their interests and learn how they can be applied. Resumes are examined. Talents are understood. It’s a unique notion of tailoring a job to you, rather than changing yourself for a job.

LinkedIn and Ready

Confusion dominates the moments after graduation — when the joy has faded and all that remains is panic. You’re no longer a child; you’re instead proof of an education; and you must seek a career. But choosing your path seems to be impossible. There are too many potentials and too few certainties.

With LinkedIn, however, those certainties are magnified. Offering the chance to connect with employers, this site enables graduates to discover opportunities. Networks are available, listing companies, positions and information. This is essential in erasing worry and gaining trust in the future. The site even features a Career Explorer option, which can map out possible paths, providing details and essential resources.

iHipo Happiness

Familiar miles and easy distances, your world has been shaped to the too-traveled borders. A campus was once your universe; now it’s becoming a memory, replaced to wanderlust. Finding a career abroad is a notion you’ve considered often. Such a notion can finally become a reality, however.

With iHipo, you can seek out international listings, internship opportunities, accelerated study programs and more. The site specializes in foreign placements, and for those needing an adventure it can prove to be ideal. Understand all options and seek them out.

CONCLUSION

Finding a career doesn’t have to be a terror. It can instead be simplified. Use the benefits of virtuality to understand yourself, your talents and what you ultimately desire.

5 Study Tips You Wish You Had in College

College. These four years will be the only time in your life that it will be acceptable – even possible – to crank out two weeks of work in 48 consecutive non-sleeping hours, plan your whole schedule based on day-time television, and subsist on a diet of ramen noodles, Mountain Dew and Cheese Nips. But regardless of pimple-inducing eating habits and the sleep schedule of a sloth, college is about education. And, depending on which university you attend, that education can be quite rigorous.

Most high schools and home schools do little to prepare fresh-faced 18-year-olds for a full workload at the collegiate level. And freshmen scramble to figure out how to attend class, study, and actually pass (if not ace) their courses, all while balancing some of the “funner” parts of college. Most figure it out and by senior year they have their study habits down.

But wouldn’t it be nice to have pinned down the right studying routine a little earlier?

5 Studying Hints I Wish I’d Known Before Freshman Year:

1. Study groups don’t always do that much studying.

Misery loves company, and I don’t know any student who is up to his and/or her ears in memorizing dates who isn’t miserable. The idea behind a study group is to bounce ideas off one another, glean off the smart kids anything you’re missing, and fill in the blanks on the subjects where you’re the weakest.

In reality it’s a time to eat chips, complain about the weather/your lack of preparedness/the professor/how late it’s getting. Study groups are social groups, especially when there are more than three of you. Try one out, and if you realize you haven’t learned a thing after two hours, don’t go back next time there’s a test.

2. Likewise, the library is a hub of social activity.

Depending on the size of your university, there may be multiple libraries to choose from. But, especially around mid-terms and finals, the library is a veritable hive of your friends and student colleagues. When you go there, expect to see people you know. Expect to see people who want to talk to you. Expect to spend the first 25 minutes to an hour mingling before you actually settle down to hit the books.

3. It isn’t embarrassing to ask your professor or TA for help.

Being completely overwhelmed by the amount of information and ideas presented to you as a freshman is normal, and it will continue for the duration of your college career. Take advantage of your professors’ office hours and any meetings your TAs offer. It’s okay to be completely clueless and to admit it to your professors. Ask them for guidance and ideas, for extra reading that will help you understand. Run paper topics by them. Most teachers are teaching because they enjoy helping young people learn – asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness or stupidity.

4. Your study habits are your own.

Every student has his and her own studying techniques. Flash cards, day-of cramming, group settings, solo-reading, listening to music, total silence: what works for one person doesn’t work for everyone.

As a college newcomer, it’s easy to be persuaded to study the “right” way, be it by your roommate, a professor, upperclassman, or your parents. While it’s good to try out a survey of different studying methods, you will learn quickly what works for you and what doesn’t.

Once you figure that out, you don’t need to sway from it.

5. Procrastination is a way of life

Procrastination is unavoidable in the university setting. Even if you don’t make a habit of it, there is no way you are going to be able to avoid putting off a project in favor of your friends, flipping through Facebook instead of finding primary sources, and taking a nap instead of reading.

Don’t worry. It’s okay.

Some students can procrastinate through all four years of college life and make it out with flying colors; for others, it will be their academic demise. If procrastination is a problem for you and your studying, you’ll need to conquer it. Some ideas:

• Change the due date of all your assignments two or three days before they are actually due
• Set goals and rewards for yourself: no texting until you’re finished reading, dinner with your friends only after you finish four pages
• Avoid distractions. Once you have your information, go to a part of campus or town with no WiFi. Study in an unpopular building as opposed to the bustling library or common rooms.
• Keep your room tidy and the fridge stocked: it’s easy to put off your work when you feel like there are things you need to do, like cleaning your room or grocery shopping.

Remember that college is about lots of things outside of education: discovering new interests, finding out new things about yourself, making friends, traveling, experimenting. So have fun – and study hard!

Emma T. writes for the organizational gurus at Orange Circle Studio, who make wall calendars and planners for every type of student. She made it through college without ever turning in an assignment late.

Five Steps To Better Goal Setting For Your Homeschool

Short- term goals can be reached in days or weeks. Long-term goals usually take months or years. But there is a third type of goal setting called enabling goals. Enabling goals support and make possible the long-term goals. Enabling goals are stepping stones toward the long- term goal. They enable us to fulfill our vision for the future. Out of each enabling goals comes a set of short-term goals.

Suppose your long-term goal in your homeschool is to educate your child to the eighth grade at home and you want your child to have the best level of education possible. That’s a big long-term goal.

Long-term goals are often the most important to us and grow out of our deeply held values. The difficulty is these goals are usually far into the future. As a result, we have trouble staying focused and maintaining a positive attitude toward reaching these goals. This is why it is helpful to set up enabling goals. Enabling goals are mid-term goals, written to help achieve a long- term one.

An Example

If your long-term goal is to prepare your child for college, you can set up enabling goals for yourself and your child that support this. These might include:

The short-term goals come in when you take one of the enabling goals and prepare to bring it about. In the example above each of the enabling goals would have its own short-term tasks to fulfill it.

The Five Steps

1. Write out a long-term goal as a simple statement, as if it has already happened. For example, imagine what you would like for your homeschool in the next year? Read more living books could be your long-term goal. Write out a description of exactly what that looks like when you are doing that with your children.

2. Describe four enabling goals needed to achieve the long-term goal. Keep it to four. It forces you to keep the big picture in mind. Remember to ask yourself, ‘What will enable me to accomplish this goal? If you chose to read more living books as your long-term goal, what then are the four things that would enable you to accomplish this? Leave the laundry to Saturday? Have the older children read to the younger?

3. Take the four enabling goals and write out enabling goals for each of them. This is the key to making this approach work. How do you accomplish the sub-goals.

4. Establish a realistic time table for the four major goals and sub-goals. Very important!

5.These sub-goals become your assignments to accomplish. Add them to your calendar or lesson planner and do it!

Using enabling goals together with short and long-term goals will produce far better success in accomplishing your vision for your homeschool.

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