The college homework and assignments often seem like an overwhelming pile of stress. Assignment stress and anxiety can prevent you from performing well and ultimately from achieving your highest potential. Thus, to avoid such consequences, you need to learn how to reduce assignment anxiety. So, to reduce assignment anxiety, you need to build strong and healthy habits.
How to Reduce Assignment Anxiety
Sometimes a little adjustment makes a huge difference. Therefore, building strong habits can help you fight against assignment anxiety and perform better in your class. Follow the tips below regularly to avoid homework stress.
1. Identify Your Source of Anxiety
If you have been feeling gloomy lately, it is crucial to find out the source of your anxiety to tackle the problem. One of the best ways to do so is to keep a daily journal where you write your daily tasks, assignments, events, and your thoughts about them. Such a journal where you keep a record of everything can help you learn the main source of your anxiety. Whether it is your sleep pattern, caffeine, procrastination, or even unrealistic expectation from yourself, you need to as soon as possible acknowledge them.
2. Plan and Organize
Another reason why students mostly feel stressed is the overwhelming assignments and coursework. Thus, we recommend you break down your assignments into smaller chunks and set goals for yourself. Most of the time, we feel anxiety because we can not control certain things. Therefore, being organized and mindful about your studies will help you feel calm and in control of things.
3. Procrastinate Productively
Professor Frank Partnoy writes in his book Wait: The Art and Science of Delay that there are two kinds of procrastination: Active procrastination and passive procrastination. Passive procrastination, no doubt, is a negative thing because it prevents you from getting your work done. Meanwhile, passive procrastination is a positive thing because while actively procrastinating, you are delaying one task to focus on a more important task.
So, if you have been feeling anxious about a particular assignment, you can put it off for some time and focus on another task. This way not only you will feel relaxed but also productive.
4. Learn How to Manage Your Time Effectively
Time management is crucial! Setting out time when you need to focus only on one thing such as your assignment makes it more accomplishable and reduces the stress. Thus, set aside an hour or more each day to focus only on your assignments. The key here is to understand when you are at your highest potential to concentrate at what time of the day. You can either start doing your homework in the early morning, in the evening, or at night before bed.
Besides, to stay organized, you can keep a study planner or a calendar. One of the best calendars out there is Google Calendar and Todoist is one of the best task management and to-do app out there. Also, try to make realistic goals to avoid burnout.
How to Manage Your Time Effectively – 10 Best Time Management Tips
5. Get Started Early
Early risers are always considered to more energetic and potential problem solvers. However, nights owls may not agree with the fact that early risers get some extra hours by getting up earlier. They can use this additional advantage by doing the hard stuff earlier in the morning when they are the most energetic. Besides, waking up early has countless benefits some of which are below.
- If you get habitual to going to bed earlier at night and getting up earlier in the morning, this will help you be more energetic during the day.
- Studies also suggest that white cells drop in your body when you get a good night’s sleep which you can only get if you sleep and wake up earlier.
- Early risers are more proficient in taking decisions, setting up goals, and achieving them.
- They also enjoy reduced stress levels.
- Moreover, researches prove that early risers are happier than night owls; not just for a day but they live happier throughout everything.
6. Get Goodnight Sleep
Getting a goodnight’s sleep may sound like a very simple and obvious tip. There are countless benefits of a goodnight’s sleep and reducing homework stress is one of them. According to researches, people between 6 to 18 years old, need 7 to 9 hours of sleep. And a goodnight’s sleep significantly affects memory, concentration span, creativity, and all important aspects of a student’s life.
7. Refresh Your Memory Regularly
It is also very important to build a strong base of your every subject to reduce assignment anxiety. Because if you have difficulty in previous lessons, it will be hard for you to complete any assignment or task. Thus, once in a week, go through your previous lessons and take notes of areas that you find difficult. So, the next time when you sit to revise, you know which topics you need to give more attention to. Furthermore, refreshing or revising previous lessons also helps you build confidence.
8. Stay Organized
An unorganized life, even desk, does more harm than ignorance. Besides, an unorganized desk is distracting too. Thus, cleaning your room and your desk is highly recommended. To stay organized, you can also get yourself a nice journal or a planner if you are a pen-and-paper person. Otherwise, apps such as todoist or Habitica can also help you get your work done. And here are some fascinating benefits of using a daily planner or agenda.
- You can maintain an effective school and life schedule
- Be more productive
- keep track of everything you do and have to do
- And most important of all, you can reduce stress levels
- and much much more
9. Review Your Agenda Regularly
To live a stress-free life, it is very important to stay organized. And one of the most magical ways is to keep an agenda or a planner where you can plan your life ahead of time. You can make a weekly and a daily planner section where you list down all your homework, assignments, and to-dos. However, just keeping an agenda is not enough. You need to review it on daily basis to lead a stress-free life.
10. Give Yourself Some “ME” Time
While it is important to study hard, it is equally important not to neglect yourself. During your tight schedule at school, you may usually feel burnout. Therefore, cherishing yourself with some “ME” time can help you be more productive and creative. Thus, once a week, going out with friends, spending some quality time with family, or just taking care of yourself can help you make sure you enjoy a healthy and stress-free life.
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