A lot of student-athletes struggle with dividing their time between studies and practice and prioritizing what needs to be done. Here are some tips to help you be an excellent student and an amazing athlete.
Ask for Help
This is the most important tip to remember when things get too difficult. Often students feel like they are struggling alone, and it ends up discouraging them, badly affecting their mental health. It’s important to remember you can ask for help from your teachers, coach, or even friends. More often than not your university or school might have resources to help you catch up with your workload and make extra available in subjects you might be struggling with. You can even ask friends or classmates to help when needed. If all else fails, you can always turn to the internet and use the countless resources available there. There are resources like YouTube, Writers Per Hour, and Quizlet.
Recognizing Weak Points
Most students have one or the other subject that they struggle with. Being a student-athlete can add to the pressure. It is necessary to recognize your weakest subjects and prioritize them when studying or revising for exams. At the same time, it is also important to understand personal weaknesses and work toward self-improvement. For example, if you’re poor at time management, you can start by setting a schedule and setting up alarms to help you meet your targets.
Taking Care of Yourself
Often you can get caught up in trying to excel at everything and lose sight of personal affairs and well-being. So, it is important to make time for yourself and use it to do something you enjoy. There is no point in being an excellent student and an excellent athlete if you are unhappy and just trudging through life. When balancing academics and sports, your health and well-being must also be considered. It is okay to take a day for yourself and go out with friends or take up hobbies that give you happiness and relaxation.
Time Management
Learn to maintain a balance in your life. Time management can save you a lot of stress and worries in this regard. Instead of making a schedule at the last hour, take a week or two to learn how things are going to be from then on, track when you can take breaks, when you can dedicate time to studying and when you can work on practicing. Time management is important during exam time and around the game season.
Learning As You Go
No one can get it right the first time, so it’s important to learn as time goes on. Take your time to adjust and adapt to your school schedule and practices. If you’re not doing well, it is necessary to realize what went wrong, look for solutions, and implement them. You should also take cues from your body and learn to take breaks when necessary rather than running yourself to the ground. Learn to pick yourself up after a failure and keep moving forward.
Managing Expectations
One of the worst things about society’s expectations is that people will accept only perfection and nothing less. This may lead students to be disappointed and discouraged when they don’t meet the expectations in either of the fields. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and accept that you cannot always live up to other people’s expectations. It is also important to manage your expectations and learn to deal with failures. Through all of the ups and downs, you have to keep your goal in mind and work towards it. You have to keep improving without being discouraged and dragged down by doubts or worries.
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