Skills

Research shows that it is more effective to regularly engage with the material. You will learn more if you spend a little bit of time every day than if you spend a lot of time on just one day.

Time management is the single most important skill that will help you succeed in college. 

You need to actually manage your time. If you just passively let time pass, you will not meet your goals. 

• Use a system to manage your time. I love my paper planner, and I write down daily events and meetings. I also put to do lists in my planner for every week. You could also use a wall calendar, a white board calendar, an app, an email calendar, or another system.  Check your schedule every day.

• Set up a designated, scheduled time to work on this class every week. Make sure that you schedule yourself enough time to review the lessons in Brightspace and annotate the readings. 

• Think about when you work most effectively. Are you a morning bird who will be able to focus on work early in the day? Are you a night owl who likes to work in the quiet evenings? If you are a night person, for example, don't count on waking up early to do homework. 

You will work on this class most effectively if you have a designated space free from distractions. As it is a web class, you also need stable internet. 

• Using a larger screen can help. If possible, work on a tablet or computer instead of your phone when doing prolonged work.

• If you don't have stable internet at home, remember that you can check out a hotspot from the library and/or use the internet on any Pellissippi campus. We also have open computer labs on every campus. 

• The tutoring center is a great place to work, as you have support available if you need it. 

• Pellissippi has study rooms that you can reserve. 

• Some people work better wearing ear plugs or ear phones to block out outside noise. 

• Avoid trying to study/work while watching the TV or engaging with other activities. 

• Avoid working in bed.  Studies show it negatively impacts both sleep and work quality.

• Every campus has a variety of work spaces available for student use. As hours may be shorter over the summer than during most of the year, you may want to double check open hours before driving to campus.