Building a Smarter Academic Future: A New Year’s Resolution Guide to Success

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The beginning of a new year offers a fresh opportunity to reassess your goals and chart a path toward academic success. Whether you’re a university freshman navigating the challenges of college life or a
mature student looking to enhance your academic performance, setting smart and actionable resolutions can make all the difference.

This guide will walk you through the steps to build a smarter academic future.

Reflect on Your Past Year

Before you set new resolutions, take a moment to reflect on the past year. What were
your biggest achievements? Where did you struggle? Understanding your strengths and
weaknesses ( areas of improvement ) will help you create more effective goals.
Ask Yourself:
o What worked well for me academically?
o What challenges did I face?
o How did I manage my time and energy?

Set SMART Goals

To build a successful academic future, your resolutions should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example:

  • Vague Goal: “I want to get better grades.”
  • SMART Goal: “I will improve my GPA from 3.0 to 3.5 by the end of the spring semester by dedicating 10 extra hours per week to studying and seeking help in challenging subjects.”

Break your goals into smaller milestones to track progress and stay motivated.

Prioritize Time Management

Effective time management is crucial for academic success. Use tools like planners, apps, or digital calendars to organize your schedule. Allocate time for:

  • Classes and Labs: Ensure you’re punctual and prepared.
  • Study Sessions: Block out regular, distraction-free study time.
  • Self-Care: Balance your academics with rest, exercise, and hobbies.

Pro Tip: Follow the “Pomodoro Technique,” where you focus for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. This can improve productivity and prevent burnout.

Build Strong Study Habits

Good study habits are the foundation of academic success. Here are some strategies:

  • Active Learning: Engage with the material by summarizing notes, creating mind maps, or teaching the concepts to others.
  • Consistent Review: Don’t cram! Review material weekly to reinforce learning.
  • Seek Help Early: Don’t hesitate to approach professors, teaching assistants, or tutors when you’re stuck.

Stay Organized

An organized student is a successful student. Keep track of your assignments, deadlines, and exam dates. Use tools like:

  • A physical or digital planner.
  • Note-taking apps like Notion, Evernote, or OneNote.
  • Cloud storage (e.g., Google Drive) for easy access to study materials.

Develop a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Embrace challenges as opportunities to learn rather than obstacles to fear. For instance:

  • Replace “I’m bad at math” with “I’m working to improve my math skills.”

Celebrate progress, not just outcomes

Expand Your Skills

Beyond academics, consider resolutions that enhance your personal and professional growth:

  • Learn a New Skill: Take up coding, public speaking, or a new language.
  • Network: Attend workshops, career fairs, or join clubs to build connections.
  • Volunteer: Contributing to your community can develop leadership and teamwork skills.

Prioritize Wellness

Your physical and mental health significantly impact your academic performance. Incorporate resolutions that focus on wellness:

  • Get Enough Sleep: Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night.
  • Exercise Regularly: Even a 30-minute walk can boost focus and mood.

Practice Mindfulness: Activities like meditation or journaling can reduce stress

Monitor and Adjust

Resolutions are not set in stone. Regularly review your progress and make adjustments if needed. If a goal isn’t working, identify why and revise your approach.

Check-In Questions:

  • Am I on track to meet my goals?
  • What barriers am I facing?
  • What can I do differently to stay motivated?

Celebrate Achievements

Lastly, celebrate your successes—big or small. Rewarding yourself for achieving milestones can reinforce positive habits and keep you motivated throughout the year.

Building a smarter academic future starts with intentional planning and consistent effort.

By setting clear goals, fostering positive habits, and prioritizing your well-being, you’ll be empowered to embrace the challenges of the new year and unlock your full potential. Remember, progress takes time—stay patient and keep moving forward.

Here’s to a year of growth, learning, and success!

If you want to do an online degree programme in 2025, explore several specialized master’s/bachelor’s/PhD degree programmes that Robert Kennedy College offers through exclusive partnerships with top British universities. You could also chat live with our team of Education Advisers on WhatsApp, who can have a look at your profile and give you some advice.

If you have already made up your mind, click here to apply.

7 ways how an Online Programme at RKC Shape Personality Development of its students

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Doing an online master’s programme from Robert Kennedy College transcends the traditional boundaries of education, offering not only academic growth but also a transformative experience that enriches one’s personality and life skills. 

Beyond gaining expertise in a specialized field, students in our online programmes often experience profound personality development. 

Here’s how the journey contributes to building resilience and adaptability to enhancing communication skills. The challenges and opportunities offered by our online learning environment contribute significantly to shaping well-rounded, capable individuals.

1. Fostering Self-Discipline and Time Management

RKC Online learning requires managing coursework alongside personal and professional responsibilities. This flexibility is a major advantage, but it requires a high level of self-discipline and effective time management.

The ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines helps develop a proactive and organized personality.

As we have no set class times, students must proactively schedule their study hours to meet deadlines. This environment fosters a disciplined approach to daily routines and long-term planning, which are crucial life skills.

 2. Enhancing Communication Skills

Despite its remote nature, online programmes offered by Robert Kennedy College involve collaborative projects, virtual discussions which improve written and verbal communication.

In an increasingly digital world, the ability to communicate effectively across online platforms is crucial. Engaging with peers from different cultures enhances cross-cultural communication and adaptability that in turn nurtures strong communication and teamwork skills and enables our students to express their ideas clearly and collaborate efficiently in diverse teams. 

3. Building Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills

Robert Kennedy College offers advanced coursework. And that challenges students to think critically, analyze problems, and propose evidence-based solutions.

The research-intensive nature of our programmes nurtures analytical and independent thinking.

This emphasis on critical thinking goes beyond academic work; it shapes how students approach problems in their personal and professional lives, fostering a mindset that values analysis, creativity, and evidence-based decision-making.

The experience also fosters independence, as students learn to rely on themselves for motivation and problem-solving. This newfound confidence and self-reliance prepare them to face future challenges with assurance.

4. Encouraging Emotional Intelligence and Resilience

Pursuing our online master’s degree uniquely fosters emotional intelligence (EI) and resilience fosters empathy, cultural sensitivity, and emotional intelligence.

EI, the ability to understand, manage, and express emotions while fostering healthy relationships, is enhanced through online learning through Self-Awareness, Empathy through Diversity, Improved Communication and Relationship Management

5. Relationship-Building through Global Networking and Exposure

Contrary to the misconception that online learning is isolating, RKC programmes offer ample opportunities for networking. Through virtual meetups, group projects, students can form meaningful connections with peers, instructors, and industry professionals worldwide.

These relationships can lead to lifelong friendships, mentorships, and professional opportunities, enriching both personal and career development.

6. Boosting Confidence and Self-Efficacy

Completing an online master’s programme is no small feat. It requires dedication, perseverance, and hard work. Successfully navigating this journey instills a sense of accomplishment and boosts self-confidence. Having a clear plan for studying, assignments and breaks gives you a sense of  control and boosts confidence. Acknowledging milestones such as completing a module or submitting an assignment reinforce positive momentum. Specialized knowledge enhances professional competence, empowering individuals to take on leadership roles by Engage Actively in Class

7. Encouraging Lifelong Learning and Curiosity

Our online master’s programme fosters a mindset of continuous growth and intellectual curiosity by encouraging the exploration of advanced topics, which stimulates a passion for deeper understanding. 

 

Our online programmes are much more than an academic pursuit; it’s a journey of personal transformation. Through interdisciplinary learning, students at Robert Kennedy College are exposed to diverse ideas and perspectives, promoting innovative thinking and cross-domain exploration. The programme’s research-driven approach hones inquiry skills, inspiring a habit of seeking knowledge and staying informed. Additionally, engaging with evolving technologies and trends nurtures adaptability and a proactive, learning-oriented attitude. The self-directed nature of online education further instills a lifelong commitment to personal and professional development, making it a powerful tool for cultivating lifelong learning and curiosity.

If you want to do an online degree programme, explore several specialised master’s/bachelor’s/PhD degree programmesthat Robert Kennedy College offers through exclusive partnerships with top British universities. You could also chat live with our team of Education Advisers on WhatsApp, who can have a look at your profile and give you some advice.

 

Importance of Study plan in master’s studies

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Planning is imperative in every step of your master’s studies. Lot of thought process goes into deciding which specialization you choose for the masters, which university you want to apply to, when you want to start, how to finance master’s and planning the support from family and work to successfully complete the programme. 

Once you are past this stage of planning, having enrolled and started with induction module, comes the next stage of planning – planning for the studies for the next 1-3 years, until you finish the programme. You may encounter lot of bottlenecks, confusions, and/or lack of ideas, apprehensions while planning for the studying the master’s programme.

[Pssst: Follow our #Dilo – A Day in the life of a RKC student and find out how our current students and alumni organized themselves in-order to be successful.]

It is not just about creating schedule but formulating a study plan is lot more comprehensive. A study plan helps define your goals, defines methodology for preparation, and thinking ahead of any possible difficulties in a particular subject (your weaknesses). 

Planning is key to success

Before you plan your study plan (pun intended), take the following into consideration:

  1. What is your lifestyle like?
  2. Evaluate your learning style and habits
  3. Study your daily schedule at work and home
  4. Note what times of the day you have free time
  5. How many modules will you be studying at a time?
  6. Which subjects are your strengths and seem easier to study than the ones you dread the most?
  7. Plan how much time you would require reading study material and preparing for assignments
  8. Creating conducive study environment, family, peer and professor’s support

After careful analysis of above pointers, you should be able to formulate a master study plan and pledge to follow it through.

Here are five reasons how a study plan helps you plan better for master’s studies:

1. Improved productivity

Keeping on schedule will help you know what is expected out of you every day and at what time. Without a plan you will loose focus and be everywhere without reaching anywhere. You can prioritise the high importance activities 

2. Better stress management

When you are studying for master’s, you will be juggling with work, home and, study balance constantly. And as our alumni always advice that there will be stressful times, but it’s all about how you manage it. There will one too many instances when you must send that urgent report at work, spend time with your spouse, kids, and pets and moreover, read the study material and prepare for assignment. 

Study plan will help you stay on track and meticulously complete all tasks in time.

3. Time management

All our students and alumni cannot stress enough on the importance of time management. Most popular advice given is – to start early and do not procrastinate. Setting a study plan in place is very effective in avoiding any time wastage and better utilization of this very limited resource – time!

Utilize the limited resources like time effectively

4. Assignment preparation

At RKC, there is no formal examination system. Assessments are done based on assignments. There is a lot of groundwork that goes in preparation and submission of assignments. This includes, and is not limited to, studying the course material, other reference materials, following the discussion on OnlineCampus forum etc. If you have planned what activity you will follow at what time, then it will become a process rather than a burden

Prepare for the unexpected

Life is unpredictable. There is always nice to have a back-up plan for any unforeseen situations. A study plan makes you better equipped to face such challenges and you will be able to navigate your way out of small or big troubles, quickly and easily

We offer personalized study plan that gives you a head start on how the modules are planned over the full-time or part-time schedule. 

Here is a sample personalized study plan for the York St John University’s MBA Leading Innovation and Change:

Talk to our education advisor today to get your own personalised study plan!

6 ways to manage your time better!

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For some of us, there are never enough hours in a day. No matter what we do, we just don’t seem to be able to do all that we intend to do before the end of the day. We just end up overworking (what I mean by “work” here is not only related to our jobs but to all the tasks we need to get done during the day), taking away more from the “me” time.

Get more done by managing your time better. Photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash.

But the fact is, for most of us, the main reason we don’t have enough time to complete everything we have to get done, is that we tend to simply over-think or don’t know how to make a plan and then stick to it or we simply procrastinate.

In fact, one of the reasons why more and more people are choosing to study online is because they don’t have the time to do a full-time or on-campus executive programme and an online programme help in managing time better by freeing up time.

The following are six ways to help you manage your time better. Hopefully, incorporating some of these tips in your life will not only help you manage your student life better but also improve your work-life balance.

(1) Try not to multitask!

Most of us think we are capable of multitasking. But the fact is 97.5% of us are incapable of multitasking, and when we hear this fact, most of us think we fall into that 2.5% capable of multitasking. So, let’s be realistic and assume we are incapable of multitasking and focusing on completing just one task at a time. You will find that your brain will be less tired when focusing on just one task, and you will be able to complete the task effectively and efficiently.

(2) Schedule Everything!

I have no idea how many times I have mentioned this point, but the key to managing time better is planning your day, your week, your month and broadly, even your year (wait, doesn’t this sound like part of a song?). People who use a calendar know how useful it can be to increase efficiency. The organiser/calendar is a tool that can be far more useful than reminding you of your next meeting. Create a calendar that contains every minutia of your daily activities for the week/month/quarter (however long you can go), from household chores to study/work deadlines. Then populate the calendar with your family’s schedule; this will give you a good idea of your schedule, inform you when to expect distractions from your family, and help you plan for it.

(3) Separate the logical from the creative

It is said that the human brain is divided into two halves – the creative side and the logical side. If we are engaged in a logic related activity, immediately shifting to a creative activity will cause us to stutter and stall. So, when you plan your day or week, make sure there is a clear divide between the two activities to give your brain the time to reorient itself. So, maybe logical mornings and creative afternoons?

(4) Stacking tasks

This point is a logical follow-up to the previous point. Stack similar tasks together. It sounds so logical and straightforward; if you have to do similar or continual tasks, then by stacking them together, you will increase your work efficiency and save time. Check your calendar and let me know how much stacking you have done?

(5) Just let go and be free

Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash.

It is never a good idea to revel in the glories of the past or wallow in the miseries of failure. If you have had success, celebrate it and then move on to your next assignment or challenge. If you have failed, then you have failed – analyse it, learn from it, and move on. Don’t get stuck in the past, you will just end up wasting time.

(6) Have a Goal

Goals give you something to work towards. How does this help you in managing time better? Well, all the other points I mentioned here will become moot if you don’t have anything you are working towards. All your planning, achievements and work ethics goes out of the window if you don’t have a goal you are working towards. So, if you don’t have a goal, then what is the point of even reading this blog? You have already achieved everything in life.

These points are just six simple tips to help you manage time better. I would appreciate it if you would share your tips on time management. What has worked best for you?

If you have been thinking about doing a master’s degree, and are ready to challenge yourself, look at our list of programmes and see if we have anything you are interested in doing.

You can also chat LIVE on WhatsApp with one of our Education Advisors for more information on the programme that is right for you, the application process, and details on discounts we might be offering at this time.

Procrastination.. Saving for tomorrow…….

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Normally I would have published this weekly blog couple of days ago; so what different happened this time?….. I did Procrastinate!

I had been thinking hard to come up with a relevant topic all last week, when this idea struck me suddenly, ‘This is it!’, I thought – this is something all, students and professionals, can easily relate to and deal with in their daily lives. I was smirking that I got so much to write on this topic, I will finish the blog in no time! I should start tomorrow.. I thought to myself. And here we are! 🙂

So What is Procrastination?

Dictionary
pro·cras·ti·na·tion
prəˌkrastəˈnāSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. the action of delaying or postponing something.
    “your first tip is to avoid procrastination”

Now that we have fair idea of what Procrastination means (I know, we know what it means, we live it everyday, well almost most of us..), I would like you to watch this interesting video that I found about procrastination:

Why do we procrastinate? According to Tim Urban, all of us have an instant gratification monkey within us. 🙂

Prof Pychyl says procrastination is making the choice to avoid doing something, even though we know this will cost us in the long run. He says it is different from intentionally delaying doing something, and it is not a problem of time management, but a failure to control our emotions. The problem is our brains are programmed to procrastinate.

“When we procrastinate, we are trying to improve our mood by avoiding doing something that feels unpleasant to us,” he says.

“A bit like getting drunk or comfort eating, it is a coping strategy to feel better by distracting ourselves with short-term pleasure and forgetting about a problem.”

Lecturers suffer from procrastination too, with academic Twitter feeds talking about “writing guilt” and the battle between marking papers and watching Netflix.

With more people studying online, procrastination is a greater problem than ever before. As a student studying online courses, we do postpone our assignments and research papers and even studying for exams. 

So what can we do to avoid Procrastination?

Well these are the top quick fixes that really help me get back on the track:

  1. Removing the obstacles to my task
  2. Re-aligning my focus
  3. Start from the start, no matter where I am – just dive into the task
  4. I don’t punish myself for not starting earlier….
  5. Set new realistic goals and be happy about it
  6. I tell myself that I don’t need to be perfect….it is alright to be imperfect
  7. Remove all fears about completing the task now
  8. And most importantly, I remind myself that all great people Do Procrastinate – from Steve Jobs to Frank Lloyd to Bill Clinton.

I interestingly, also found in a study that procrastination is in fact not that bad, as the procrastinators’ ideas were 28 percent more creative.

 

Do not procrastinate about your decision to study Masters. Find out more about the MBA, MSc, MA and LLMs programmes that we offer; get our catalogue now.

Students for students: Marcela’s advice on life-study balance and assessing the workload

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In Zürich we also met Marcela, management consultant and happy person extraordinaire – and certainly one of the students keeping the group on its toes throughout the week. Here’s what she had to share with herself if she could go back in time to when she first started:

If you think she’s about to burst into laughter, you’re not far from the truth – she is officially the record holder for the number of takes and the one who sparkled the idea of a bloopers video as well … *hint*hint*

Students for students: Thirunda’s advice on “buying time”

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Officially the person with the longest name on the residency, Thirunda comes from Sri Lanka and had the following to share with himself if he was able to travel back in time to the start of his studies:

Thirunda also has some crazy video editing skills, and we’re hoping to be able to show you that pretty soon. Stay tuned!