9 Habits of successful students

In this article, we present 9 habits that will make any student more successful and also increase overall happiness and well-being. These habits help students to be more successful with writing assignments as well. If that’s still an issue, you pay for essay online.

1. Do not take a smartphone the first thing in the morning — to create the right mood in the morning

Do you pick up the phone as soon as you open your eyes? According to International Data Corporation, 89% of users under the age of 25 do it in the first 15 minutes after waking up, and 74% — barely wake up. Meanwhile, excessive use of a mobile phone can cause depression in young people.

Surfing the Internet and viewing notifications in the morning increases the level of anxiety. For example, flipping through the Instagram feed can take a long time and last half an hour instead of the originally planned 5 minutes. As a result: there is no time for other morning rituals (breakfast, exercise, etc.), you have to get ready in a hurry and run headlong on business — all this, albeit small, but also stress, which can determine what the day will be — active or passive.

Try to devote the morning only to yourself: turn on a cheerful playlist and do gymnastics or meditate in silence, concentrating on breathing, then take a contrast shower, cook breakfast, etc. Stories and other content will have time to wait.

2. Make the most of your time: listen to podcasts while you’re going somewhere

Commuting is a monotonous trip from home to work and back. This is the most useless time of the day. However, routine trips on public transport and tedious waiting in traffic jams can be useful if you listen to podcasts at the same time, learning something new and interesting.

Which platforms to use?

SoundCloud has long ceased to only broadcast the creativity of musicians. Now it’s also a large library of podcasts from authors around the world. One of the distinctive features of audio hosting is the ability to comment on individual fragments (at any second), form your collections, and share playlists on social media.

Apple Podcasts. iOS already has a built-in application, which is equipped with a convenient search, as well as a recommendation algorithm. You can also subscribe to Podcasts and receive notifications about new episodes. Useful settings include changing the audio speed and setting the sleep timer.

Castbox. The application has the same functions as all of the above. One of the advantages is the most intuitive interface and navigation system. For example, the first tab contains the most popular podcasts, then recommendations based on previously listened episodes. Releases can be discussed with other users of the platform, as well as shared via messengers.

3. Record income and expenses to know where the money goes

The simplest and most effective way to keep track of your budget is a spreadsheet in Excel. The main notes are where the money came from, as well as what it went for. The items of expenditure can be as follows:

• rental housing;
• internet and communication;
• transport;
• food, etc.

If you use Google Sheets, access to the file can be opened to several users at once, which is convenient if we are talking about a joint budget.

Perhaps the Excel guru won’t have enough simple formulas. If desired, charts can be inserted into tables, for example, or currency exchange rates can be imported. What’s cool, additional options, as in other applications, do not require an additional payment.

4. Do not overeat — for well-being and health

To stop overeating means to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as to feel better and live longer. It sounds paradoxical, but by avoiding this habit, you can save energy for more important things: our body does not have to spend too much energy to digest and assimilate food. But you can’t be malnourished either.

For a balanced meal, use an ordinary flat plate of medium size, half-filled with fresh vegetables, a quarter with protein food, and another quarter with whole grain products.

In order not to overeat, follow the simple rules:

• Plan meals.
• Take your time, eat for at least 20 minutes.
• Limit the use of salt (salt stimulates appetite and “dulls” the real taste of foods).
• Don’t force yourself to eat what you don’t like.
• Eat foods that have fewer calories.
• If possible, give up sugar.
• Don’t get stressed out.

5. To make studying and work a joy: concentrate on the process, not on the result

Focusing on the result means not noticing colleagues and not reacting to changing conditions around, that is, completely abstracting from reality. But the result of such an installation, no matter how paradoxical it may be, is a lag. In turn, concentration on the process contributes to the acquisition of new knowledge and skills gained from their own experience, teaches them to be more flexible.

How to stop chasing the result and switch to process learning:

• Start comparing yourself to yourself and not to others. Note what you didn’t know how to do yesterday, but what you learned today.
• Do not devalue your work. Even the smallest task puts you closer to the goal. Notice each step and praise yourself for it.
• Try to avoid quantitative markers. For example, instead of the task “read two chapters of the book”, put the following: “read a book for about half an hour and, if you like it, continue.”
• Find additional benefits. Let’s say you need to prepare a presentation. In the process, you have read a couple of articles-recommendations about the design. The acquired knowledge can be applied later, and not only in the compilation of slide shows.
• Don’t focus on mistakes. Try to concentrate on correcting the shortcomings.
• Take care of yourself. Do not forget about snacks and rest. Forget about stress and haste, it’s better to switch your attention to the process.

6. Retell the books you read to memorize them

There are at least two compelling reasons to start retelling what you’ve read. Firstly, this is the best way to stimulate memory. Secondly, it is necessary to sort out our thoughts and feelings caused by the plot (we like or dislike books that resonate with something inside us).

To learn how to retell what you read:

• make notes in the margins and make your summary based on them, indicating interesting ideas and concepts;
• go back for answers to those moments that remained incomprehensible to you;
• try to explain the idea of the book in simple words, as if to a child;
• look for feedback — share your favorite quotes on social media, write reviews, etc— – turn the comprehension of what you read into communication.

7. To avoid stress: do well, not perfect

Have you noticed that quite often perfectionists perceive criticism, even constructive, as an attack? Their goal is to do everything so well that there is no flaw. There are many reasons for this phenomenon: from the notorious excellent student syndrome to total dependence on someone else’s opinion.

What should I do if perfectionism develops into unhealthy workaholism and prevents me from living fully? Allow yourself to be imperfect at least occasionally.

Try to understand that the overwhelming majority doesn’t care how good your project is. Therefore, it is better to just do well than to “have sleepless nights”, but to do it perfectly.

Put up with typos and minor mistakes. Have you noticed a couple of them behind you? Believe me, many people are wrong. Most of the “errors” go unnoticed at all. Just take it for granted and stop reproaching yourself.

Perfectionists find it difficult to accept the imperfection of the world. However, allow yourself at least occasionally to let go of the situation and “go with the flow”.

8. In the pursuit of ideals, do not miss the main thing — the present moment. Live here and now.

Many, having coped with a large volume of tasks, are waiting for approval in response. Is the duty “Well done!” worth the effort? Do not work on weekends and let yourself recover

Students are particularly familiar with the situation when they have to make up for something over the weekend that they didn’t have enough time for on weekdays. But even a young body cannot cope with the consequences that endless employment can cause – a decrease in working capacity, memory deterioration, and the risk of diseases (first of all, disorders of the cardiovascular system and weakening of immunity).

Emotional burnout also becomes a consequence of a lack of rest. The fear of “not having time to cope” and constant anxiety leads to the fact that the level of cortisol (stress hormone) becomes chronically elevated.

Of course, you can occasionally work on a day off, because no one is immune from force majeure. But if this is repeated from week to week, it is worth considering whether the load is properly distributed during the school week.

9. Summarizing the results of the day, so as not to stray from the main goal

 Why does a person set a very real and achievable goal at the beginning of the year (for example, for self-development or improving health), and by the end of the year discover that it has not been achieved or partially achieved? Why is there no time and energy left for really important things?

For many, among the constant habits is to make checklists, that is, an action plan for the day. Crossing out one item after another, it is important to be aware of how these tasks relate to your long-term goals. Summing up the results of each day, do not forget to note for yourself.