College Success: Skills for Thriving at the UO

From UO's Counseling Center:

• Create a work area for yourself free from distractions (phone, roommates, tv), and commit to staying there for a one to two hour period.

• Recognize that your obligations and resulting stress are as important as other people's needs, and set limits around being interrupted or rescheduling your work time.

• Break larger tasks, such as papers or projects, into smaller goal steps.

• Create a schedule for yourself, by doing the following:

  • List all projects, exams, and papers with their due dates.

  • Break larger tasks into smaller goals, such as "library research for paper 2" and select target dates for completion of the smaller goals. 

  • Identify what time of day you have the highest energy and what time of day is your low energy period. Schedule tasks that take greater effort (concentration, enthusiasm) during high energy periods and plan rest breaks and more mundane tasks (such as laundry) during low energy periods.

  • Plan out a realistic, weekly schedule hour by hour. Remember to schedule time out every day for sleep, meals, social time, and some exercise and/or relaxation time.

  • If possible, have someone who knows you well look over your schedule and give you feedback.

  • Try your new schedule. Remember, you're trying something new. It's okay to fine tune it or adjust it after you give it a try for a week.