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Many students in college can benefit from some tips and tricks regarding housing, diet, and balancing coursework with extracurriculars and jobs. However, each major and minor will have different aspects that require different tips. Here are five useful tips for business students in college.

1. Choose Your Major And Classes Carefully

• Many business majors simply call themselves business majors, but the reality is that business encompasses several varied and interconnected disciplines, including business administration, marketing, and economics. You should choose your business major and the classes you take to gain your degree carefully, based on your interests, career objectives, and course requirements. For example, if you want to get involved in sales at some point in your career, look for classes that will teach you and help you build skills in both the customer-facing part of sales work, such as giving pitches and the supportive aspects of sales work, including concepts such as sales enablement.

2. Make Sure You Know How To Study Strategically

• All students need to know how to study strategically, but for business majors, this is particularly important. Other majors, such as English, foreign languages, and history will place the focus on researching and writing papers. Majors such as chemistry and mathematics tend to be straightforward in their exam questions and work. Business majors may have a combination of both types of coursework and exams, so you need to be able to prepare for research projects, presentations, practical work such as developing marketing campaigns, and written exams. Each of these will require a unique method of preparation and may overlap with any of the others, so you need to be able to balance all of them as needed.

3. Manage Your Time Wisely

• Part of studying strategically means being able to manage your time wisely. College students tend to juggle several classes and extracurricular activities with jobs, internships, study time, and their free time to spend on enjoyable activities such as spending time with friends. You shouldn’t cut any of these activities, but you also need to make sure you don’t engage in any of them to excess. Find ways to manage your time and ensure you can finish everything you need to do without overwhelming yourself. Some people find physical or app-based calendars and schedules helpful. Others may find methods such as time blocking to be helpful. Whatever method you choose should be one that helps you successfully manage your time. (Doug: Research shows that you should spread out your study of any subject rather than cramming just prior to exams or deadlines.)

4. Set Short-term And Long-term Goals

• The long-term goal of most college students is to graduate and get a job, but a business major should strive to be as specific as possible in his or her long-term goals. Think about where you want to work, the type of career you want, and how you want that career to advance or change over time. Consider the stepping stones, the short-term goals, you’ll need to achieve those long-term goals. Think about the classes you need to take and any electives that will benefit your goals. Look into extra-curricular activities, student employment opportunities, and networking opportunities too. From there, get even more granular. Base your class goals on the syllabus and what you need to achieve in your course work, for example.

5. Start Considering Internships As Early As Possible

• One thing business majors especially should do in college is start researching potential internships and networking appropriately as early as they can. Depending on your major, your career goals, and where you attend school, there may be stiff competition for internship opportunities, so you want to prepare for and seek opportunities early. Internships are vital aspects of business major curricula and are gateways to potential future employment and networking opportunities that can benefit you after graduation. Some aspects of being a business major can benefit from general college tips while others will require more specific tips. You should make yourself aware of a mix of both these types of tips so you’re better able to develop your own unique strategies and methods.

Craig Middleton

• Craig is a New York City-based retired business consultant, who is an expert in education and cultural trends. He has a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters in Education from St. Johns and loves sharing his knowledge on the side through his writing. If you have any questions or comments you can direct them to Craig at craigmiddleton18@gmail.com.

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Six Ways To Improve Your Focus At School by Craig Middleton offers tips for students of all ages for paying better attention in class. Please share with any students you know.

Introduction

• You know how important it is to pay attention in class. Your teacher or professor is likely explaining concepts that you cannot grasp just by reading the textbook. Yet it is easy for your mind to wander during a lecture. You may get distracted by your classmates, or you might start thinking ahead to your extracurricular activities.
• If you have your cell phone or laptop nearby, you might start texting or checking social media instead of listening to your class. To survive grade school and college, you must understand how to focus during boring lessons. Learning this skill will also help you concentrate during work meetings as an adult. Here are some tips to help you pay attention during your classes.

1. Eat Right

• Your brain needs certain nutrients to function. If you are not eating properly, then you will struggle to concentrate no matter what else you do. Your diet should include lots of vegetables, healthy whole grains, lean proteins, and some fruit. Limit your caffeine intake, as too much coffee, can make you jittery. You can further maintain the health of your body and mind with supplements from USANA Singapore

2. Prepare Before Class

• As you sit at your desk and wait for class to start, you should get in the right frame of mind for learning. Read your textbook, look over your homework assignment or review your notes from the prior day. This should get your brain into “learning mode.” Similarly, you should spend a minute or two organizing your desk and ensuring you have everything you need. This way, you will not get distracted looking for a pencil or eraser during the lecture.

3. Participate and Take Notes

• Once the class begins, keep your brain engaged by participating in the discussion. This should prevent your mind from wandering. Specifically, asking questions can help you better understand confusing material. Just listening for concepts that you want to be clarified can force you to pay more attention.
• If you are not comfortable speaking in class, you should at least take detailed notes as the teacher speaks. (Doug: Some research indicates that taking notes with pen and paper is better than taking them on a computer. It also allows you to draw graphic organizers.) This should help you better remember the material and connect personally to what the professor says. You can also use the notes to help you study for tests later. There is no one right way to take notes. Instead, find the technique that works best for you. If you learn best from images, use pictures and diagrams to convey certain topics. If you stick to written notes, use color-coded pens or bullet points to organize the information.

4. Stay in the Present

• As mentioned before, your mind can easily wander during a boring lecture. To pay attention in class, you need to stay focused. If you find yourself daydreaming or stressing about your personal life, manually get those thoughts out of your head. Even thinking about future tests or assignments during class can cause you to miss important information from the teacher. To truly absorb the information, you need to keep your undivided attention on the day’s lesson.

5. Remove Distractions

• It is not just random thoughts that can distract you during class. Physical items, particularly electronic devices, can make you lose your focus. The best way to deal with distractions is to physically remove them from your presence. That means keeping your phone or tablet in your bag until class is over. If a window or a chatty classmate is distracting you, try sitting in a different seat. (Doug: I also recommend sitting in front. This way students in front of you can’t distract.)

6. Get Enough Sleep

• It is almost impossible to focus if your brain does not get enough rest. Most people ages 12 and older should get eight to nine hours of sleep per night. Figure out what your ideal sleep schedule is, and stick to it. Avoid getting too much sleep, as this could also make you feel overtired during the day. If you do not focus properly at school, you could end up failing your classes. The above tips should help you concentrate during lectures so you can achieve your academic goals.

Craig Middleton

• Craig is a New York City-based retired business consultant, who is an expert in education and cultural trends. He has a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters in Education from St. Johns and loves sharing his knowledge on the side through his writing. If you have any questions or comments you can direct them to Craig at craigmiddleton18@gmail.com.

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