It happens to almost everyone. Those that avoid it are either very lucky or very organized. Some love it. Others dread it. I’m talking about the all-nighter.

What would college be like without having to stay up all night studying for an exam? Well, a whole lot less stressful!

To those of you still in high school or middle school, and even those of you in college now, all-nighters are not necessary! I repeat, they are completely and totally avoidable.

So how can someone avoid those horrible all-nighters? Lets break it down step by step:

Step 1: Study your lecture notes when class is over.
Step 2: Devote 2-3 hours each day to reviewing your notes
Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 and 2 everyday!

See how easy that was??? Now I know what you’re saying, “Hey, that’s totally easier said than done!” And you know what, I completely agree with you. It’s so much easier to tell someone to just study than it is to actually study. But the real reason why it’s so hard to study is because we aren’t really motivated to do so.

I mean, grades come at the end of the semester - and to many that’s like light-years away. We aren’t given any real rewards for doing well on an exam… so what’s our motivation? Well, there is no instant gratification when it comes to studying for exams, unless we create it.

When I was in school I used to reward myself for studying on time and on a regular basis. Why not try the same? Tell yourself that for everyday you study you’ll give yourself a cupcake (or whatever your favorite dessert is). Give yourself an incentive for studying! Make studying exciting! Remember when we were in grade school and we got gold stars every time we did really well on an assignment? Why don’t you try doing the same thing now? I know it may sound kinda lame initially, but I think that everyone loves receiving praise, so creating a fun little gold-star chart just may work. After all, it worked back when we were kids!

We have to motivate ourselves to study, if we don’t no one else will. Keep your eye on the prize. Study everyday. And give yourself a gold star. Sometimes we all need a push to keep going… and it doesn’t hurt to push yourself a little bit each day.

Take Care,
Anne