5 Tips for Catching Up in School When You’ve Fallen Behind

If you've fallen behind in your schoolwork and want to catch up, here are 5 study tips that will help you catch up in online classes.

Despite the best intentions, even A-students fall behind. It's tempting to throw out your old system and grab a new one. But if you don't have time to do your schoolwork, you probably don't have time to start over with a new system, either.

Fortunately, you don't have to! There are other ways to catch up when you fall behind. Try these five tips for course-correcting when it's too late to start from scratch.

1. Figure Out Why It Happened

If you don't know what caused you to fall behind, you risk repeating the mistake. A common way students fall behind is by taking on more than they can realistically handle. Taking stock of all your obligations can be intimidating, but it's a necessary step.

Start by adding up how many hours per week you need to keep up with all your courses. Include time for required reading, attending classes, and working on assignments. Then add your other obligations, such as your part-time job, including the commute. Now budget time for healthy sleep, cooking, and eating.

There are 168 hours total in the week. If the number of hours you need to spend is higher than that, you need to cut something. Do not cut survival needs like sleep or healthy food. Doing that will only create new problems.

If it is early in the semester, you may be able to drop a course without penalty. You could also ask your boss for reduced hours. Talk to your school about work-study or practicum options. You may be able to get credits and a paycheck at the same time!

2. Get Organized

It's important not to confuse organization with aesthetics. The goal is to keep track of all your obligations and projects to schedule them efficiently. Whether this system looks “clean” or not doesn't matter, so don't get distracted by making it pretty.

Avoid spreading all the things you need to keep track of across a lot of apps and storage spaces. Instead, keep it simple and store all your school material in Microsoft OneDrive.

Related: What Is OneDrive? A Guide to Microsoft’s Cloud Storage Service

OneDrive is easy to learn and free to access. It also integrates well with other Microsoft programs, like Word and PowerPoint. Students can get these Office 365 programs for free, so this makes OneDrive an even better choice.

Simply drag and drop all your relevant files into your OneDrive folders. Then use the mobile app to scan print materials such as handwritten notes into PDF files. Last, save webpages such as class forums under the file format Webpage, complete. Now all your school materials are in one place.

Download: Microsoft OneDrive for Android | iOS (Free, subscriptions available)

3. Prioritize Your Schedule

A good planner is essential for a student. It lets you organize your deadlines, class times, group meetings, job, and more. Putting all your stuff into a planner will only take a few minutes, and it will help you set priorities.

When you add your schedule, include assignment deadlines. Then, work backward to determine deadlines for drafts. These extra deadlines help prevent work from building up, and give you a more accurate view of your schedule.

We recommend that you choose a planning app, rather than a print or dry-erase calendar. Using an app means you can check and adjust your schedule on the go. You can also embed useful detail like relevant addresses more easily.

If your planner is in your phone, it also helps you kick the procrastination habit. This is because you can take out your phone and schedule commitments instantly. This habit of addressing things right away is crucial to student success.

4. Manage Energy

If you try to work while you're tired, stressed, hungry, or thirsty, you're not going to absorb the information well. You are also more likely to make mistakes, even if your late-night brain thinks it looks good. Maintain your energy by getting enough sleep at night and eating well during the day.

A great way to get your sleep schedule in order is to block yourself off from using your phone at bedtime. This prevents you from absorbing too much blue light, which upsets your sleep cycle. SleepTown is a good app for this, as it rewards you for sleeping well.

While you sleep, SleepTown builds an adorable digital town, one house at a time. If you leave the app, though, your building will collapse onto rubble. It's fun to see your little town growing each morning! The app also includes features to help keep you accountable, set a healthy bedtime, and more.

Download: SleepTown for Android | iOS (Free, premium version available)

5. Adjust Your Expectations

It's important not to hold yourself to an impossible standard. Knowing how many hours you have to work with should inform your goals for each assignment. Aim to do the best you can with the resources you have, rather than trying for a perfect result each time.

It's also important to consider the basic effects of being in school. This is a time in your life when you are learning a lot not only about your class subjects, but also the world around you, the people in it, and how you fit in.

It's not fair to expect yourself to be as productive during this time as you would be during a more stable period. This is part of why it's so important to make room for rest and reflection in your schedule, too.

It's Not Too Late to Catch Up

With the right adjustments, it is possible to catch up. The important thing is to treat it as a learning experience. Take notes of what works for you and what doesn't. Reflect after each semester, so you can start the next one with a better plan each time.

As you go on, you will learn more about how you work, stay organized, and how much you can handle at once. Eventually, you'll be managing your time like a pro!

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