Partially adapted from Steven Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

• Take responsibility for yourself

Responsibility is recognition that in order to succeed you can make decisions about your priorities, your time, and your resources.

• Center yourself around your values and principles

Don't let friends and acquaintances dictate what you consider important

• Put first things first

Follow up on the priorities you have set for yourself, and don't let others, or other interests, distract you

from your goals.

• Discover your key productivity periods and places

Morning, afternoon, evening; study spaces where you can be the most focused and productive. Prioritize these for your most difficult study challenges.

• Consider yourself in a win-win situation

You win by doing your best and contributing your best to a class, whether for yourself, your fellow

students, and even for your teachers and instructors.  If you are content with your performance, a grade

becomes an external check on your performance, which may not coincide with your internally arrived

at benefits

• First understand others, then attempt to be understood

When you have an issue with an instructor, for example a questionable grade, an assignment deadline

extension, put yourself in the instructor's place. Now ask yourself how you can best make your argument given his/her situation.

• Look for better solutions to problems

For example, if you don't understand the course material, don't just re-read the material. Try something else! Consult with the professor, a tutor, a classmate, or a study group.

• Look to continually challenge yourself