Crunch time is coming, deadlines need to be met, essays need to be submitted, and tests should be studied for. As a student who’s waiting for the end of crunch time, you’re looking for all the right ways to cut corners while being ultra-efficient with your time and energy. But sometimes racing the clock you’ll come to a realization that this mountain of a task is insurmountable and it seems almost impossible to accomplish. But at this low point is exactly where you shouldn’t settle with an incomplete assignment or missing work. There are workarounds and “life hacks” that can help pull you out of this sticky situation.
Homework and education are very important, so finishing your assignments should be something that’s on every student’s mind. Here are some ideas to get you started on your path to getting your assignments finished:
Ask for an Extension
Lots of students find themselves in this awful situation that seems impossible to do. Even if it is your fault for being a bad student or lazy, it’s worth a try to confront your professor or teacher and ask for an extension – as long as you actually complete it. Teachers and professors understand that the point of homework isn’t to give you something to do, rather train you and give you extra practice on materials you learn in class. Just know that it’s not their responsibility to give you an extension and they are not obligated to give you points for your late or missing assignments. But do them anyway – and have your teacher check your work so they know you’re good for the work even though it’s late.
Ask for Help from Classmates
Your classmates are a good resource for you to help you finish your assignments, late or on time. They may even just give you answers – as long as you are polite about it and aren’t pressuring them to do so. They are helping you when they aren’t required to, and they’ll be more inclined if you are also reliable. The worst position to be in is to be the student who helps others but doesn’t receive help. Help could even be in the form of understanding the assignments and learning from them, kind of a tutoring situation. But again, it’s important that your classmates aren’t obligated to help you, so be grateful for any help you receive.
Prevent This Happening in the Future
We don’t want you to constantly be stuck in this seemingly impossible situation – so we urge you to think about your assignments carefully – so it doesn’t happen again. This means several things:
- Keep Organized – understand when your assignments are due, and know how much time you have left so you can plan around it. It’s worth noting that this will also help you plan your lifestyle a bit better, so its a great thing to do
- Give Yourself Time – saving things for last minute is a surefire way to shoot yourself in the foot. Don’t do that. Instead, if they give you an assignment to do for the next lesson or the next day – set time aside after school to do it.
- Don’t Procrastinate – saying that you’ll do it later is the downfall of many missed assignments. You may forget about it or something may come up that will prevent you from doing your assignments on time. Get it done sooner rather than later
Use Your Resources
When we say “resources” we mean tutors, teacher’s assistants, and even the world wide web to help you complete your assignments when you’re unable to. Don’t make it a habit, but there are websites that are here to help you do exactly that: finish your homework. Note that schools and universities have their own rules for these types of resources, so use them with caution. There are also websites that may have guides or flashcards that can help you in most of your subjects. If you do use them, they can be quite helpful to get you out of this situation.
Prioritize Your Assignments
If you’ve got a ton of assignments to finish – and only a limited amount of time – its good to prioritize them in an order of importance – which classes do you need to complete them today – ones with very lenient teachers or professors – and ones that are a low priority because you’re allowed to miss this one assignment. Having that done, your experience with finishing your assignments will go over much smoother and less stressful.
Motivate Yourself
There’s a reason why you’re feeling stressed in this crunch time, you’re trying to accomplish something. Whether it's to improve your grade or pass class, you still have the motivation to do it. If you didn’t have any motivation, you wouldn’t be this stressed to read this article on the internet. But keep in mind your end goals so you’ll have the time and energy to spend on it. Complaining about not having enough time, isn’t going to give you more time.
Figure Out Your Problems
If you’ve procrastinated and put off your assignments, there must be a good reason, right? A good reason or not – you should reevaluate the things you’re doing in your life that put you in this position. If it can be helped, avoid these kinds of situations. Education is important and you should treat it as such.
Once you get a handle on your situation, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Managing your time isn’t easy, so once it's done you can relax a bit before your next deadline.