Get your work done!

Thought you were done with "homework" when high school ended, eh? Once you graduated, cleaned out your locker and moved into a dorm, "homework" was supposed to be replaced by the more elusive, more sophisticated "studying." Well, guess what! It's pretty much still the same thing, just with a better name. And you can do it in a coffeehouse. Big whoop.

Making a Homework Schedule

And ... it's come to this: You need a dayplanner. Hey, you should have had one in high school, so if you're gotten to college without one … it's definitely time. You might choose a planner that is hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. If it makes sense to you, then you’ll use it and benefit from it. Places like Target usually have a lot of cool ones for cheap, but your school bookstore likely has a bunch, too.

At the beginning of the semester, review the entire syllabus for each course and write down major deadlines (or even minor assignments, like course readings) in your planner. Each time you get another assignment, write it down! You’ll never remember all of them if you don’t.

Write the assignment on the appropriate day's square (whether the day it's assigned or the day it’s due is up to you -- just be consistent so you don’t get confused). Break up big assignments by making arrows across multiple days, or whatever notation works for you.

When you have an exam or paper coming up, plan to work a little each night for a week or two before. Break the material down into logical chucks (more about this in the test-taking and paper-writing guides) and assign each chunk to a particular day.

Actually, You Know, DOING Homework

You know the expression 'save the best for last?' That’s what you should do for homework, too. (Is there a 'best' part of homework? The jury’s still out on that one.) Think of it this way: When you've already spent an hour or three doing work for your favorite subjects, are you really gonna want to do calculus at midnight? Especially when everyone else is playing hall ball? No. You're not.

Do the hardest, most challenging homework first, while you’re still fresh and mentally sharp. That way, if you get stuck, there will be someone around to ask for help, like a roommate or classmate. If you leave the tough stuff until the end of the night, there’s a chance you’ll just end up blowing it off all together. So save the easier work for later in the night, as a reward. (Yeah, yeah, lamest reward ever.)

Studying From Notes

The more you study during the week, the less studying you'll have to do when exams roll around. One of the quickest and easiest ways to review material each night is to either read over the notes you took in class that day, or type them into your computer if you didn’t use a laptop in class. (See more about this in the note-taking guide.)

Study Groups/Group Projects

Working with others can be a logistical nightmare, or a great way to learn from each other. Unfortunately, it can be a toss-up on whether it works, depending on whether the people in your group are your friends, insufferable know-it-alls, lovable nerds, lazy bullies, or any of the other possible stereotypes you can think of. Your middle-school teachers were right when they said it's better not to work with your friends … lame, but right. Because you know if you're with friends, you’re gonna end up doing everything EXCEPT your schoolwork. It's just the way it is.

Group dynamics work best when everyone has something to bring to the table. It's a great way to learn how to play to your strengths. If someone is great at research, and someone is great at writing, and someone knows a lot about, say, a computer program you’ll need to use, the group should go smoothly.

However, don't just corral yourselves into your own specialized areas … otherwise, you're not really learning anything for next time. If you're the group's writing specialist, ask the computer expert to teach you the program in exchange for editing help. That way, even when you’re not working in a group, you’ll be as good as four people when you’re only one. See the magic of a group?