School activities have gotten more demanding over the years and schedules seem to getting more and more packed. Students generally know they should be consistent and up-to-date in their school work but often find it hard to find the time to do assignments or even attempt Chemistry tutorial questions.
How do you remain consistent and on top of the academic workload that is being piled up upon you in the daily humdrum of activities and distractions? Here are some tips.
( 1 ) Set small, attainable goals each week while revising for Chemistry
Avoid the temptation to set ambitious plans in your schedule, as you may find yourself frequently overwhelmed and disappointed when you fail to keep up.
Instead, set yourself small, attainable goals each week. It can be as simple as completing a few Chemistry tutorial questions or spending a couple of hours reading through what has been taught in class that week. The goals you set should be what you feel is attainable, but still present a fair but manageable challenge during the most hectic parts of the year when you are swamped with CCAs and other school activities.
( 2 ) Reward yourself when you have attained those weekly study goals
Give yourself a pat on the back and reward yourself when you have attained those weekly goals. Perhaps get a nice snack, or spend an hour playing video games.
( 3 ) Make Chemistry notes and summaries
When a Chemistry topic has been completed in school, spend some time making your own notes and summaries of that topic. In Chemistry, these summaries should contain the key definitions and formulae that you have to know, as well as a few important questions from the Chemistry lecture notes that require a specific technique to solve. These notes should be a highly condensed summary of the key points in each topic — something that you can read very quickly to refresh your memory of what was covered. They should not be overly laborious or consist of reproducing entire chunks of the Chemistry lecture material.
Making notes at the end of each topic helps to ensure that you remain up-to-date. In Chemistry, the worst thing is to start to feel that you are lagging behind, and find yourself unable to master the current material because you are not familiar with the previous topic. These Chemistry notes and summaries can be of great help when you need to quickly look up a specific formula without having to pour through your lectures notes. In fact, they can also be a significant psychological boost, something you can feel proud of as they are visible demonstration that you have succeeded in staying on top of your work.
( 4 ) Don’t worry about finishing all the Chemistry questions
Of course, you should complete every Chemistry assignment that is to be handed up. But apart from compulsory submissions, don’t fret about finishing every single tutorial question or doing the entire stack of Chemistry past year papers that your school has given you. Sometimes, Chemistry teachers make tutorials and revision packages deliberately long in order to ensure you get enough practice. But you don’t have to complete them in one go. Pace yourself. It is perfectly okay to leave some questions for Chemistry exam revision if you find it too demanding to complete them all in one go.
Hopefully with these pointers, you will find it possible to be consistent in your work. Consistency helps your gain confidence, which will pay off large dividends over time.