Tip # 25    Take your cue from the professor’s lesson plans

On the first day of school, professors customarily hand out lesson plans for the semester or the quarter, depending on what school system you’re in. 

The lesson plans include the main textbooks to be used, supplementary reading material, project submission dates, and exam dates.  Treat this lesson plan as your guide for avoiding procrastination.  Academic procrastination can be disastrous if not reined in properly!

Tip # 26    Use the lesson plan to identify the short and long term assignments

Professors are efficient creatures.  They schedule out assignments appropriately so they too are not overburdened with term papers and exam booklets.  If they were overloaded, they’d have to procrastinate in tallying final grades, leaving that task at the last minute. 

So professors mean business when they write “to be handed in by….”  Use their lesson plans to arrange your own schedule.  Take an hour or two and spend the time in the library reviewing all your lesson plans for the semester. 

Map out dates with corresponding academic tasks, revising if necessary.  If certain projects require extensive research, tackle those first.  Last minute researching – procrastinating – in other words – may affect your chances of getting an “A.”