Preparing for your second term in college: A winter term checklist. Part 1.

Many of you first years may have started out great and finished the term in tatters. It’s OK! Most of us do it a few times. Right now, you might be thinking that you can’t possibly think about school right now. You might also be thinking that since the term started out great, you just need to do the same thing again, but maybe harder.

There are two things to consider. First, now is the perfect time to think about getting ready for college again because your memories of what went wrong are fresh. The second thing might be the hardest to accept, “harder” is not a solution to a system that failed.

We have said it before, nearly every system works at the beginning of the term because there are so few demands and expectations. Your system should help make things easier for you (not easy, but easier). If working harder is the only way to make the system work, then it’s not a very helpful system. Do you really want to stick with a way of working that would make you feel more tired than you do now?

This is your second term, you don’t need a getting ready for school checklist about shower caddies and pens. Starting a new term the second time (second semester or second quarter) calls for a checklist that is a bit more sophisticated, like you!

Be wary of lists. If you went through the term without ever making a list, that could be a problem. But if you think back on the term and remember more time spent making lists than brushing your teeth that is also a problem.

A list should come together quickly and easily. If the lists need attention, upkeep, or other fussing, then they are work-added rather than helpful.

List-making can be a comfort. Feel free to use list-making as a comfort, just don’t let it become another job.

Part 2 of our getting ready for college checklist is here.