It’s so easy to fall into bad habits during college when there’s no one to pester you to go to class, get to bed early, eat right, and all the other things we know we should do. This year, why not focus on trying to pick up a few good habits that will not only benefit you now, but in your future and life beyond college:

Be Early

“Early is on time, on time is late, and late gets left behind.” If you haven’t heard this saying before, it is about time you learn it.

What to do today: Start showing up 5-10 minutes early to all your classes. You might feel geeky at first, but soon you’ll discover what a resource that time is for studying, socializing, or keeping yourself at ease and not rushed.

Long-term benefit: In the long term, being on time will help you get a job and keep that job. Plus it is very respectful to be on time for your friends and family. Besides, anything is better than rushing or being late.

Be a Leader

In high school you may not have had too many opportunities to take leadership roles because activities were run by teachers or even parents. Well, luckily for you that’s not the case in college. But also remember that these roles are not handed to you, so don’t reel like you’re entitled to anything.

What to do today: Next time one of your jobs or extracurriculars asks for team leaders or someone to organize a fundraiser, don’t wait for someone else to volunteer. Speak up!

Long-term benefit: It may be the tiniest, easiest role, but it still gives you another bullet point to write on your resume. It shows that you have the initiative to take charge. Also, it gives you practice being in charge and managing people.

Be Organized

In college, you are balancing so many different activities, plus school work, plus living on your own, plus possibly having a job or internship, plus going out…the list goes on and on! It only makes sense that you’re going to need to be able to organize yourself or else NOTHING will get done.

What to do today: Buy yourself a daily planner and a nice big calendar to hang in your room. Carry the planner with you everywhere (okay, you might not need it Saturday night :p). Always write down assignments, meetings, to-do lists, dinner plans, everything! Having all that information is one place is essential to really staying organized. Be sure to transfer big plans onto your calendar too, so you can look at it daily and not forget anything.

Long-term benefit: So maybe having a daily planner isn’t the best organizational method, like if you keep losing yours. Maybe you work better by colour-coding lists of activities, or writing each task you need to accomplish on separate note cards. We all work in different ways, so you will really benefit in college if you find your best organizational method. It’ll carry you through your work life and your family life, and you will just feel more in control of your life than usual.

Be Healthy

We all want to be healthy, but sometimes, especially in college, we feel like it’s not possible. In reality, it’s always possible. It’s all about balance. Balancing you school work, social life, your emotions, and your body(what you do with it and what you put it in).

What to do today: Promise yourself you will exercise every Monday. If you exercise Monday, you are more likely to exercise the rest of the week. Working out will improve your mood and make you more conscious of what you are eating. You’re less likely to go order a pizza for dinner if you just ran 2 miles. Plus, even if you got busy and couldn’t work out the rest of the week, next Monday will force you to reevaluate.

Long-term benefit: Being healthy is going to keep your head so much clearer throughout your life. You’ll feel better and have more energy to conquer the amazing things you want to do in your life. Plus, if you choose to have kids, you will have so many positive habits to pass on to them.

What Do You Think?

What are some good habits you want to pick up this year? How about bad habits you want to drop? Leave us a comment and let us know!

7 Comments

  1. avatar Katrina says:

    I definitely did not do all of these things my first year of college, and I’m paying for it big time. Thank you so much for all of these tips. They’re going to be very helpful.

  2. avatar Megan says:

    Am I the only one who recognizes the Munchlax doll in the first pic?

  3. avatar charlotte says:

    fantastic advice!! i am nearly always late so i’m trying to get up early and get everywhere on time!!
    i’m very organized though- i wrote about this last week on my blog!! i love lists and notes and my whiteboard!!
    i’ve definitely starting to adopt a health kick this year. our gym is free so i’m making myself go 3 times a week!!

    Charlotte xxx

  4. avatar Rin says:

    Great article. I like the tips a lot.

  5. avatar Sari says:

    These are great tips, and I couldn’t agree with them more! I love how you broke down the short- and long-term benefits :)

  6. avatar Irina says:

    whoa this was super helpful! i will def use it. thanks :)

  7. avatar Ana says:

    This is really useful article! Tnx

x

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