Reading Outside of Class

            Studies have shown that the amount of time a college student should study is about 2-3 hours per credit hours, each week. So for myself, I should be studying 45 hours per week outside of class, because I am taking 15 credit hours. All together, I am tackling a 60-hour workweek as a college student. As 40 hours of work a week is considered a full-time job, I definitely feel I am working as a full-time student.

As I have found lately, using calendars and to-do lists greatly helps to decrease the stress I carry with academics, especially with reading outside of class. Using these lists with scheduled slots of time actually saves more time for later. I have come to find that this is a great way to increase my performance and the amount of work I complete.

With the five classes I am taking this semester, I have a lot of assigned reading and time I must take to complete the reading outside of class. My Astronomy class requires the most time spent reading, in which I need to read at least 6 hours for the class each week; it is also necessary to read for 6 hours for my Sociology class. My three remaining classes require about 8 more hours spent reading outside of class time. To complete these assignments, I find most of the time I read to be immediately after my classes for the day. I usually spend about 3 hours after classes everyday to read and continue completing class work before I lose my motivation for the day. I like to read in the library and study lounge in my dorm, but also because I have a single room, I am able to complete much of my reading in my room before I go to sleep and even on the weekends.