It’s that time in the semester when there is this sense of all roads converging, quickly, toward the same point at the same time. You find yourself feeling a little anxious or even overwhelmed by the demands you face. You are in a race with yourself to make it to the end of the semester. You have essays to finish, quizzes to take, and oral reports to deliver. You have to finalize registration for your winter semester classes or apply for graduation, and you need to prepare for final exams. And, yes, you also have to satisfy your personal needs and responsibilities – family, work and life!

Given your many demands you may welcome a lifeline that will support you making a strong finish for the semester. I can offer you an approach that may be helpful accomplishing this need.

1. Using a pen and paper or EXCEL, make four columns on the page.
2. Label the columns Completion Date, School, Personal, and Completion Date
3. List those things you need to accomplish over the next few weeks under the appropriate column (i.e., School, Personal, Completion Date) in the order of importance
4. Assign a completion Date to each task; use the left column for Completion Dates for School tasks and the far right column for Completion Dates for Personal tasks
5. Be realistic with the time needed to complete each task; the goal is to prioritize all the things you need to accomplish in order of importance.
6. Re-establish Completion Dates if time allocations were not sufficient
7. The idea behind this process is to reduce stress by providing a means to organizing the work still ahead of you.
8. Talk with instructors to determine your standing in each of your classes
9. Take advantage of the Learning Lab and tutoring services as needed
10. Make an appointment with a counselor in the Counseling Office if you need