Balancing college, work and life can be overwhelming! With so many responsibilities there doesn’t seem to be enough time to eat breakfast, let alone start that research paper. If your life feels like a balancing act, take control of your time and consider incorporating these time saving strategies into your study routine:

To successfully manage your course assignments, try setting assignment completion goals and record them in your planner, phone or calendar. Writing down goals will inspire and motivate you to stay on track. If you have a large research paper, consider setting daily goals to complete the paper. For example, in your planner, on Monday, March 1, record: locate 3 research articles, Tuesday, March 2: review research articles and start the works cited page. Wednesday, March 3: develop thesis for paper, and so on. Be sure to set a goal to finish 2-3 days early! Need help developing or setting goals, review this SMART Goals blog post and be sure to explore the links.

For a dynamic overview of an effective plan to organize your course workload, view our free 30 minute, online workshop focused on Time Management. The workshop will help you get on track and take control of your balancing act as you explore tips and strategies to organize your course assignments along with your personal and work responsibilities by developing a daily schedule that will put you in control. To encourage your follow through on your plans, explore their workshop titled, Overcoming Procrastination. To view these and other online workshops, click here.

Don’t let social media or interruptions get the best of your time—once you start allowing interruptions, the time you had is gone!

Stay organized by creating a binder for each course. Further organize the binder with dividers for:  Syllabus, Assignments, Lectures, Notes, etc. (just as you would do for an on-campus class).

Set up a study area that is quiet and free of distractions. A quiet ‘study zone’, will enable you to stay focused and get more accomplished in a shorter period of time. If you find them helpful, place post-it’s in key places to serve as reminders, encouragement or motivation! Remember to shut off your phone and don’t let social media interrupt you. Interruptions will cause you to wander and loose concentration which will get you off track and waste valuable time.

If you would like a planner to get started on your journey to improving your time management skills, send an email to the NOVA Online Success Coaches, elisuccess@nvcc.edu. They will be happy to mail you a NOVA planner.

Take control of your time by integrating these strategies into your study routine. Before you know it, life will no longer be a balancing act and you will be reaping the benefits of a controlled, stress free, and organized future! For a quick visual review of these strategies, click here.

Need help getting your assignments, tests and projects organized. Reach out to a NOVA Online Success Coach, elisuccess@nvcc.edu. They can help you map out your assignments and empower you to succeed.

Need to email your instructor and not sure where to start? These ten easy to follow steps will help you get that email written and the send button hit in no time!1. Use your NOVA student email account to send your email. All correspondence relating to your courses should come from and go to your NOVA email address. Email messages originating from other email addresses may go directly to your instructors SPAM folder and go unnoticed.

2. Make your subject line meaningful. Your instructor likely teaches multiple courses and may even teach on other campuses. Include the course and section number along with a quick description of why you are writing your instructor.
An example might look like this:
Subject: PSY 200-E05W, Question about grade calculations

3. Briefly and politely state the reason you are writing. Be sure to include all of the relevant information pertaining to your question and leave out anything that does not relate directly to the situation.

4. If you are writing your instructor because you have a problem, include a proposed solution in your email. The instructor may or may not agree with your suggestion. Regardless, it does demonstrate to your instructor you are taking the initiative to actively work towards resolving the situation.

5. Sign your email with your complete first and last name along with your student ID number.

6. Read through your email to check for spelling and punctuation errors. Make sure all of your sentences are complete and do not contain any abbreviations or other modified text that is used in text messaging.

7. If your email is lengthy, have a second set of eyes proofread your email for clarity. This will be an opportunity to make sure you have clearly articulated what it is you wanted to say.

8. Send your email.

9. Allow adequate time for a response from your instructor. Many NOVA Online instructors also teach campus based courses so they are not always sitting at their computer in their office. Often you will find information in the syllabus relating to how soon you should expect a response from your instructor.

10. Once you have received a response from your instructor, acknowledge it. A simple “Thank you” may be all that is needed. If your instructor asks you questions in their response to your email, be sure to answer all of them thoroughly.

This post was adapted from www.wikihow.com/Email-a-professor by the NOVA Online Success Coaches to help you develop skills to effectively communicate through email to your instructor for the February focus on communication. NOVA Online Success Coaches can be reached at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076.

Thank you to all students who shared what it’s like to be a Veteran/Active Duty Military student at NOVA. Below you will find some helpful resources and tips for students and faculty to better serve this great student population.

For Students:

Stay in contact with your instructor. For active military students and students who are family members of active duty soldiers, orders can come without much warning and it can take a toll on academic performance without the right support. Such mitigating circumstances need to be shared with instructors immediately to discuss any accommodations. If you need additional help with exploring your options, reach out to Military Services (see below for contact info) and NOVA Online Success Coaches (elisuccess@nvcc.edu).

Testing Information. Many military students live outside of the Northern Virginia area and need to make arrangements to ensure all course exams are done in a timely manner. You have the option of taking NOVA Online Course Exams at a location more convenient for you through the Proctor Approval Process. Please click here for more testing information and infomation how to find a proctor to take your exams near you!

Use our Office of Military Services. NOVA offers our Veteran, Active Duty, and Military dependents/spouses/families resources and services they need to make their educational experience as enriching as possible. Reach out to the Office of Military Services to get more information and find a Veteran Advisor and a Military Site Representative at militaryservices@nvcc.edu or call 703.293.8132.

For Faculty

Keep lines of communication open. Create an environment in which students feel comfortable to come to you as issues arise.

Know where to refer students. You will often be the first point of contact for our students so you need to be aware of the appropriate referrals to make. You can send your students to the Office of Military Services for assistance and have them reach out to NOVA Online Success Coaches if you aren’t sure where to start.

Be empathic. Addressing students with a tone of understanding and support can go a very long way.

If you have any questions please reach out to the Office of Military Services or email NOVA Online Student Success Coaches.

–Jennifer, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Today’s goal setting blog post is brought to you by the Student Success Coaches. Do you have any questions about goal setting, time management, or resources available to you? Contact your Success Coach at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076 for tips for success and resources to help you have a successful semester. Are you feeling defeated, before you even get started, when trying to achieve a new goal? Do you feel like it is trying to climb a mountain? Do you find that your current method of writing down goals such as, ‘buy a new car’, ‘get my own apartment’ or ‘get my degree’ is not working? If you answered, ‘yes’, it is time to get motivated and adopt the S.M.A.R.T. goal setting approach. Unlike an undefined goal such as, ‘get my degree’, the S.M.A.R.T. approach enables you to clearly define a plan and stick to it. If you are not familiar with the S.M.A.R.T. process, it stands for:

S- Specific, M – Measurable, A – Attainable, R – Realistic, T – Time-bound (timely)

The S.M.A.R.T. approach will put you in control. It will provide a better vision, motivation and promote your confidence as you see your goals coming to life. For starters, ask yourself, “what do I want to achieve”? Let’s say you want to complete your degree. Using the S.M.A.R.T. framework,

1. Specific Goal: I want to complete my Associates Degree in General Studies within the next 3 years.
2. Measurable Goal: With this specific component of the process, you can measure your progress by the credits you complete which will ultimately result in the degree. If your goal is to complete a degree, you could write up your measurement, ‘I will complete a maximum of 15 credits each semester and no less than 6 until my A.S. Degree is completed’. As you complete each class, you will watch the credits grow! Be flexible, if you need to take less than 12 credits some semesters, you will still accumulate credits and move forward.
3. Attainable/Achievable: Make sure you will be willing to stick with your goal and be in control. Do not take on more than you can accomplish. Ask, ‘have others done this successfully’, ‘do I have the necessary resources, skills and abilities to achieve this goal’? Plan and make sure there will not be stumbling blocks that could defeat you and do not be afraid to ask for help!
4. Realistic: Make sure that you will be able to complete your goal. Don’t take on more than you can handle which may result in overwhelming yourself and giving up.
5. Time-bound: Set an end date to achieve your goal and consider setting up check points along the way. For example, after attending classes for a year, check to see how many credits you have completed. Are you well on your way or you need to adjust your goal and add an extra semester? That’s okay! In the end, setting a manageable timeline will help you stay motivated and on track.

Don’t let your goals paralyze you, stay flexible, and don’t stress if life interferes and you need to make alterations along the way. Stick to the S.M.A.R.T. approach that will guide you down the road to success! To help develop your goal, click on this S.M.A.R.T. goal questionnaire. If you are more of an auditory learner, click here, for a well-developed YouTube video that explains and outlines the S.M.A.R.T. process.

Winding down from one semester, and planning for your next can be a significant adjustment. With the demand of approaching deadlines, it is easy to get overwhelmed in the blink of an eye. As you move into Advising Week, we want to provide you with some resources to help you unwind, and refocus on preparing for your next step.

Yoga has more benefits than I can list but the ones I want you to take advantage of right now is it’s capacity to reduce anxiety and stress. Taking time to stretch and twist the body, releases chemicals that our bodies naturally produce when stressed. Beyond the physical movements, yoga has a meditative component that ignites your inner strength in a way that will empower you to tackle any obstacle, help you maintain peace when feeling harried, and turn down the volume of the loud voice of self-doubt.

Incorporating yoga into your daily practice has been made easy with the use of technology. Here are some free apps you can download today that can jump-start your yoga practice! There is no greater obstacle to overcome than your own mind, feed it with positivity and it will help you accomplish great things! Namaste.

YogaQuote: Gives you daily inspirational yoga quotes and mantras.

Daily Yoga: Gives you live training with  videos and a professionally made yoga program for you to follow without needing to go to a gym. This app even has yoga to help you de-stress at your desk (great to do right before writing a paper)!

As you move into Advising Week, continue to follow ELife for tips on:

• Familiarizing yourself with resources to help you with your academic planning.
• Focusing on your career planning.
• Checking to make sure you are on the right path to achieve your goals.
• Gaining skills outside the classroom.
• Taking some time for reflection.

Article provided by NOVA Online Success Coach, Jennifer Reed.  For more resources, please reach out to your NOVA Online Success Coaching Team by sending an email to elisuccess@nvcc.edu.

By now you are settling into the new year and I want to help you keep the momentum going in a BIG way! I’m sure you have set some new goals for the new year so take advantage of the opportunities  that will propel you forward toward your goals.  Let this be the time when you push yourself past all the limitations you set for yourself last year, last week, last night and see through the lens of possibilities and imagine them into reality. Get a clear picture of what you want for yourself in the future and all of your steps will be aimed at  creating it for yourself. If you don’t have a clear picture of what that future looks like, surround yourself with people who contribute to making you a better person and let them inspire the change you are capable of. NOVA Online has people here that can help you define your plans and future! Reach out to your NOVA Online Counselors and NOVA Online Success Coaches to talk about your goals and come up with a plan for carving out the best path to achieving them. You can go as far as your mind and effort can take you. How far will that be for you? Namaste.

Jennifer, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

NOVA Online Counselors: elicounselors@nvcc.edu

NOVA Online Success Coaches: elisuccess@nvcc.edu

It’s a new year! It’s the time to step into unchartered territory and challenge yourself in ways you haven’t before. Dedicate yourself to exploring interests you may have put off or told yourself you don’t have time for. Try that new restaurant you always wanted to try but never had anyone to go with. Meet new people. Immerse yourself in learning more about the people you always see but you haven’t taken the time to get to know. Let this new year bring about new experiences, new hopes, new goals, and a new mindset toward achieving them! I wish you and yours the best year ahead. Namaste.

-Jennifer, NOVA Online Success Coach

Tests have a way of working people up into a serious frenzy. The stakes are much higher around exam time and the pressure becomes almost palpable without the right preparation. There are a number of strategies to help you prepare yourself mentally and physically for an upcoming exam and lower the anxiety around test-taking. Here are some quick tips that may be useful for you in the future:

Create a simulated testing experience for studying. Try to create a studying environment that is as close to the actual testing environment as possible to get used to what taking the exam will really be like on exam day. How can you do this? Try these simple strategies:

If taking the exam in a testing center…

Visit the center ahead of time to observe the atmosphere. Is there a lot of people, will you be sitting next to someone, is it cold in the room, etc.? Making note of these things will help you recreate the setting at home when studying.

Try doing practice tests with a timer in front of you to make it easier to perform with a timer when you take the exam. Exams in the testing center are often timed and the timer appears as a countdown on the computer screen during the exam.

If taking the exam through ProctorU…

Do all studying in the spot where you will be taking the test on exam day. This can help your memory because the environment will serve as a cue to help you recall information.

Create practice tests. Look at the textbook publisher’s website to create practice tests. You can also check out these apps to help tailor your study materials to serve you best:

Flashcards+: This app gives you access to millions of pre-made Flashcard sets for studying.

Quizlet: Excel during your study time creating practice tests and quizzes, flashcards or take advantage of  pre-made flashcards.

Practice a relaxation technique before the exam. Check out Omvana for quick meditation exercises, listen to your favorite song and dance to it to release any physical discomfort, deep breathing, etc.

It’s very important to know your syllabus and understand the exam policies for your course. Be sure to prepare ahead of time to ensure that the exam is completed by the due date. If taking an exam off-campus, be sure to secure a proctor in advance. Take some time to review NOVA Online Testing Information for more details. If you need more resources, i.e. tutoring services, more tips to combat test anxiety, etc. please reach out to NOVA Online Success Coaches at 703-764-5076 or elisuccess@nvcc.edu. Namaste!

–Jennifer, NOVA Online Success Coach

We have a tendency to think the grass is always greener on the other side. Assuming that others have everything together because everything looks great from a distance. Rarely do we take the time to see what standing in that grass is really like. It’s easy to assume everything is perfect for someone else when you never take a closer look.  Sooo for this Thanksgiving of 2014, I present the following simple challenge: Ask someone, “How are you?” and let it be more than the automatic, detached question it commonly is. Instead, let it reflect a genuine interest in their wellbeing. We never really know what’s going on with another person unless we ask with genuine interest in knowing. Let’s take the initiative to draw closer to those around us and be thankful for the opportunity to do so. Happy Thanksgiving. Namaste.

–Jennifer, NOVA Online Student Success Coach