It’s teacher appreciation week. It’s also “National Watch Your Procrastination Finally Catch Up With You Week: (um…I mean finals week) for many college students out there. In honor of both of those occasions, I offer this blog to the teachers and students out there. Yes, teachers feel the end-of-semester crunch just like the students do.

1. Don’t check out. Not yet.

The end is so close, you can almost taste summer, but don’t let yourself lose focus yet. Time management is just as much about mental focus as it is about dates on a calendar. Keep yourself in “school mode” just a little bit longer.

2. Keep Calm

When everyone around you is stressed, it’s easy to get swept up in the frenzy and FIND things to stress about. Remember- half the stress of getting it all done comes from worrying about getting it all done. Keep calm, make a plan of attack, and methodically work through it.

3. Write yourself a note

If you let procrastination get the best of you this semester, capture the panic you feel right now in a letter to yourself for next year. In the beginning of the school year it’s easy to procrastinate because you quickly forget how awful the end of the semester was. Write down specific things you want to do next semester to make it better while the experience is fresh in your mind.

For example, here is mine: (I teach a few college classes. Didn’t I say teachers can be procrastinators too?)

Dear Emily,

Remember how annoyed you were at the end of last semester? You saved all that grading until the last minute. Sure, you had a ton of students, and a ton of final projects, but you knew that going in and could have planned accordingly. The online grade book will probably go down, and students will have questions about their grades. Remember? Remember how that always happens? Next semester, take care of all grades in your inbox before finals week, so you’ll only be dealing with final projects, instead of a smattering of work from the whole semester also.

Sincerely, Emily

P.S. Step 4-

Read The Time Diet: Time Management for College Survival before next semester. It’ll change your (academic) life! Available in print and e-book on Amazon.com

Time Management Book for Students

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