Op-Ed: Lifestyle tips that will help you become an academic weapon this semester

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READING TIME: 4 MINUTES

As we move into a new year and semester, juggling classes, assignments, and extracurriculars can feel overwhelming. For that reason, I bring you lifestyle tips on how to achieve your academic goals this semester. Succeeding in school is more than just studying hard; it's also about studying smart while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you want to step up and dominate this semester, use these lifestyle tips to become a true academic weapon.

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Plan your week

As a student, managing your schedule can be very confusing and time-consuming. That’s why I urge you to plan your week or day.

Planning your week has many benefits for your lifestyle. When you start your day knowing exactly what needs to be done, you’ll have a more productive and organized day. If planning an entire week feels overwhelming, you can plan your day instead—either in the morning before class or the night before. This way, you go to bed with a clear and calm mind.

For scheduling, I highly recommend "Notion". I use it for taking notes, tracking databases, and scheduling tasks. With the recent Notion Calendar update, scheduling classes and other tasks has become 10 times easier. If you're new to Notion, I suggest starting with a Notion template, as the platform can feel overwhelming at first.

If Notion doesn’t work for you, I recommend "Structured", a daily planner app that allows you to plan your day using timestamps, making everything much easier.

If you’re not a fan of digital planning, you can simply create a brain dump or to-do list with everything you need to do and where you need to be. This helps you stay on top of your tasks and maximize productivity.

Study tips

Success in school is determined not by how long you study, but by how well you absorb and remember information. Many students spend hours rereading notes or pulling all-nighters, only to forget the information later. To truly maximize learning and efficiency, you need to study techniques that engage your brain and reinforce knowledge over time.

By using proven strategies like active recall, spaced repetition, and strategic breaks, you can study less while retaining more. Here’s how:

Pomodoro technique: the Pomodoro technique is one of my favourite study/productivity techniques. I can say I use this method religiously—whether I’m writing an essay, doing one of my readings, or actually studying. I use the Pomodoro method as it is the most effective for me.

The Pomodoro method involves working for a set amount of time and taking frequent short breaks to promote sustained concentration and stave off mental fatigue. The most popular timer setting for Pomodoro is 25 minutes of working/studying followed by a 5-minute break, but you are encouraged to use a timer that works best for you. For example, you could try 30 minutes of working/studying with a 5-minute break or more.

Sites that offer a timer for both study and break periods include "LifeAt", and you can also find a free Notion Pomodoro timer online.

Feynman Technique: The Feynman technique is simply teaching others material to strengthen your own knowledge of a certain topic or subject, and if you are too shy to teach others, you can always download the Feynman AI app on the App Store or outright talk to yourself.

Blurting Method: This study method is one I use dominantly. This is an active recall technique. It works like this: you start by reading through your notes, textbook, etc., then try to remember all that you’ve read. Once you feel like you’ve got all the information in your head, close your notes, textbooks, etc., and try to recall what you have read on a separate sheet of paper, a notebook, or a Word document—anything that you can write on. Write down everything you remember from what you just read.

I advise you to write on paper, as most exams will be taken in person, and it will help with writing practice. Afterward, review what you wrote on that separate sheet of paper, reopen your notes, and see what you might have missed. Note what you still need to work on. You just continue this process, and with this, you are training your brain to recall information.

A few things you should take into account:

  • Plan your study sessions when planning your week, and it helps to have a study timetable.
  • Have clear goals when starting this new semester so you can always go back to the drawing board and understand why you need to study and understand your courses.
  • Create a distraction-free zone and keep your study area clean and organized. As they say, clean space, clear mind.
  • Prioritize your health—get at least 7–9 hours of sleep and only pull all-nighters when they’re absolutely necessary.
  • Make time for hobbies and socializing, and join student clubs—it helps.
  • Reward yourself—this will help you manage stress.
  • Take advantage of school resources—use the gym and go to the writing center for assistance. Remember, you’ve paid for all these, and they are there for your use.

Becoming an academic weapon can be easy with the right mindset and habits. You can crush your goals, stay productive, and still enjoy life.

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