Reaching academic goals is a challenge for most college students. These college performance killers compound that challenge. Good news, though! College students can learn skills (called executive function skills) needed to improve college academic performance. With the right skills, they can better manage their worlds and achieve academic success. In this blog post, we outline five college performance killers and share ways academic coaching can help college students overcome them.
5 College Performance Killers
Time Management Struggles
According to a Statista survey, 86% of US college students report difficulty with time management while 54% experience increased stress due to poor time management practices.
Ever heard your college student say, “Sorry, I’m just a late person”? Let’s break that myth. Time management isn’t a mysterious trait; it’s a skill you can master. As experienced academic coaching professionals, we know that time management woes are common among college students. Time management is one of the key skills our coaches work on during weekly virtual coaching sessions with college students. Using a calendar, planning ahead, creating routines and visualizing the time tasks will improve a college student’s ability to manage time well. That leads to better college academic performance.
Procrastination pauses college performance.
Studies show that college students are more likely than adults to procrastinate on a chronic basis. 50% of college students procrastinate chronically, compared with just 20% of adults.
Procrastination is the delay of work that can throw your college journey off track. Big projects and papers are more common in college than the small, graded assignments of high school. There’s also less structure in college without teachers and parents around to provide the prompts students relied upon to start important tasks.
Many students procrastinate, and it hurts academic performance. Our academic coaching professionals focus on building the skill of initiation to improve college performance. They help students learn to break big projects into small chunks, get specific about planning work, and be intentional about their “before work” stage. Specificity wins the initiation game.
Lack of self control sabotages college success.
A lack of self-control = self-sabotage. The college student who flipped their GPA from 2.60 to 3.55 didn’t do it with just study strategies; it was about waking up on time, getting enough sleep, nourishing his body, and moving more. Self-control isn’t just a sidekick; it’s the cornerstone of college academic success. Leveling up self-management skills is one of the things our academic coaches zero in on during one-on-one sessions. It starts with the Big 3: Diet, Sleep and Exercise. It also involves having the self-control to choose must over want, delaying gratification, and managing stress and emotional responses. Self-control is essential for college success and for winning at life.
Poor organization messes with students’ ability to achieve success.
For many students, college is the first time they’ve had to build organizational systems that work well for them without teachers, parents, and others standing by to lend support. Navigating college chaos demands a system. It comes naturally to some students, but for others having an academic coach is vital. With the right coaching, college students can learn to organize like a maestro, keeping notes, files, and resources at the ready when they’re needed. Academic coaches help students build organizational systems to improve college performance, manage stress, and achieve more success. Experiencing wins that come with better organization in college helps students build habits that help them thrive throughout their adult life.
Anxiety disrupts college students’ daily lives and makes college goals feel out of reach.
While anxiety is a common and normal reaction to stress, anxiety disorders can disrupt college students’ daily lives. It’s increasingly common. A BestColleges survey revealed that 35% of students had been diagnosed with anxiety, and 34% of all students surveyed said anxiety negatively impacted their performance in class during the last 12 months. So how can a student combat that? Planning like a pro, envisioning outcomes, and breaking tasks into bite-sized pieces. Anxiety doesn’t stand a chance against these executive function skills. And remember, you’re not in this alone. Coaches work with students to help them share their worries, unravel them together, and become a force to reckon with instead of being ruled by anxiety.
Demolish these college performance killers and go from struggling to successful.
Take action that leads to improved college academic performance.
Some students can build key skills on their own. In many cases, though, it helps to have an academic coach who lends input, provides insights, and holds college students accountable for results, week in and week out. With one-on-one academic coaching, your college student’s potential knows no bounds. It’s time to thrive.
If you’re the parent of a college student who struggles, book a free consult. Professionals who work with students can book a call to learn how we work with referring health and educational coaching professionals.