What if you have to finish your thesis in two months. Here you are, in the summer, seeing everybody having fun, everybody enjoying the hot weather, their holiday, their free time. But you have to write a thesis. This can be a problem and the deadline is only two months away right? But on the other hand, the deadline is ONLY two months away!

Constant fear
Working with a deadline will give you a constant fear, because you always have the deadline in mind. Of course, having a deadline is the best reason for procrastination, you have two months left, so why start now if you can also start tomorrow! I’ve written two articles on procrastination, why people put things off. The conventional theory is because it is just human nature, we want to wait till the very end of the deadline, so we have to work really hard to get the job done. What I think, and I call that the New Theory, is that people just LOVE procrastination, for three reasons:

1. The moment itself – you will do things that you like more
2. The satisfying feeling afterwards – You will feel more satisfied if you did a job in a short amount of time.
3. You tell everyone – People will notice it and admire you of how fast you can do something.

Admit that you love procrastination and you’ve solved 50% of the problem. Now just don’t give in, just do the job you have to do.

Parkinson’s law
Only two months left and you are starting to freak out? There is so much to do in so little time? Let me tell you one thing, it isn’t that bad at all. And that is because of Parkinson’s law. Parkinson’s law says: ‘Work expands with the amount of time you give it.‘ This means that if you have 2 hours to make a presentation instead of 1, you will make a great presentation, with cool pictures. A good looking presentation. But if you have only 1 hour, the presentation will still be good, but it won’t have the best lay-out ever. A bad thing? Probably not, you’ve saved 50% of your time.

This is the same with your thesis you need to write. You don’t have a lot of time left anymore, but that isn’t a bad thing, basicly because you can now focus on the core content! What really matters to your thesis instead of all the layout tweaks and options.

80/20 principle
And that brings us to the 80/20 principle. If you look at your thesis at a whole project, you will notice that 80% of your time will be in 20% of your thesis, like lay-out. You are probably working a lot on the lay-out, because you find it really important to make that very good. But you should try to use your time and effort for the things that really matter, the important 80%. This means you should try to eliminate things out of the 20% from above. If that 20% is taking up so much of your time, try to find ways of eliminating it. Maybe you can outsource the lay-out to your nephew who is really into graphics and everything. Locate where 80% of your time is going to and see if that is only 20% of the project you are working on. If so, try to eliminate that 20% or find ways to reduce the amount of work what it takes.

Get in the flow and get sh*t done!
Everything what is left now is YOU writing the thesis. Do it, stop procrastinating and get to work. Wake up early, take a shower and have a good breakfast. Make a cup of coffee for yourself and just start writing. Shut everything else down, just write. Within 15 minutes you will be in the flow and you will get sh*t done. If you have problems with starting to write, just do it. Write and after 15 minutes you will be fine. Before you stop writing, look over the first 15 minutes of writing and edit it and it will be as good as the rest again. Have a routine, set up rituals. Schedule 6 hours a day for writing, for a week long. And at the end of the week, look back at what you have done and be satisfied with what you have accomplished, you can rest in the weekends again. Monday again? Start writing again. Your thesis will get shape and you will be finished, in time, without fear and with a great end product! Good luck.

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This is a guest post by Lauren, also want to send in a guest post? Visit the contact page!

Whenever I go to a bar or other social gathering place in which it is typical to be approached by men, I am aghast at how terrible some guys are at hitting on girls. Freud and just about every man have wondered since the beginning of time, “What do women want?” Well I’m here to clear up some things and tell you what the deal is, if only to put an end to the seemingly unstoppable tsunami of cheesy pick-up lines and desperate attempts made by men everywhere.

1. Don’t be so transparent. To me, the biggest turn off is obvious intentions. If you approach a woman with a cheesy compliment, or if you make it apparent that you are trying to hit on her, then your chances of success plummet. Trust me.
2. Be interesting. Some men think that if they’ve got good looks, they don’t even have to try. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. While it is not advisable to try too hard, the best way to approach a girl is with an interesting conversation topic. Don’t come off as conceited, but don’t just stand there either.
3. Listening is sexy. Once you’ve started a conversation, it is imperative that you ask a girl what she thinks, and then you actually have to listen. There’s nothing sexier than a guy who listens and responds.
4. Touch, but be subtle about it. Women really like being touched. And when I say “touch”, I don’t mean “grope”. The gentle shoulder graze, or lightly tapping the girl’s knee when making a point in conversation–these are all great, indirect ways of making physical contact without being creepy about it.
5. Teasing always works. Once you’ve made some headway in terms of conversation, humor is the best way to make women comfortable. Making fun of yourself and gently making fun of the girl are great flirting strategies. Girls love a guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Even though it may seem slightly counterintuitive, teasing a girl without insulting her is a legitimate way to become intimate with someone quickly.
6. Finally, don’t try so hard. Many enterprising young men approach women with the ultimate objective of–to use the old euphemism–”scoring”. While this can be a noble goal in and of itself, putting on the goal-scoring blinders can inadvertently give you tunnel vision to such an extreme extent that you’ll end up failing. If you go in with the simple goal of having pleasant conversation, you’ll at the very least leave with a solid acquaintance, perhaps even a long-term friendship. And, who knows–if you don’t try so hard, you may just end up achieving some sort of physical gratification.

Now of course, these are just basic tips, and they aren’t meant to be read as a manifesto on approaching every single woman in existence. Successfully approaching a woman is highly contextual, so different situations will call for different strategies. These tips, however, are just general guidelines that will hopefully help you get the foot in the door. The best advice I can offer you is pretty simple–be confident, and be kind.

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who writes on the topics of online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99[at]gmail[dot]com.

Have you download the free ebook on motivation already? Download ‘Nine ways to get motivated for college’ from Stefan Knapen now!

Do you have the lists of books you need to buy for next semester already in your mail? End of July, holiday just started and you should start thinking about the next academic year again. How are you going to buy your textbooks, in chuncks or all together? And even more important, where do you buy cheap college textbooks? Here are some options and I would like to share a little hack with you in the end.

Where to buy your textbooks the upcoming semester

• BookRenter.com. You’ve seen the ad probably before on this blog, BookRenter is one of StudySuccessful’s sponsors. BookRenter.com is a website where you can rent all textbooks you need for the next year (USA only), instead of buying them. Pretty smart, eh? I’ve been talking about renting instead of buying before, so I won’t bring up that again. But it is something to consider!
• Amazon student. Amazon.com recently started a new thing called Amazon student. Students who sign up now get the ‘Amazon Prime’ for free by giving your school and major. You will get free two-day shipping without aminimum order size. Pretty awesome. If you don’t want to use this service, you can also just browse in their textbooks.
• At your University. That is probably how I am going to get my textbooks. We can buy textbooks at the University for a discounted price and because a lot of books are actually written by the professors themselves, it is a way to make sure that you get all the books you need. I don’t like the idea of prescribed books that are written by the professors who prescribe them (more on that later), but there is no other way.

How do you know you get the cheapest price?

And here is the hack. I recently got an email in my inbox from a reader who told me about a website called ‘campusbooks.com‘. You can enter any ISBN number, author or keyword and campusbooks.com will compare the prices from different sellers and renters. Campusbooks will show you where you can buy cheap college textbooks and where you can rent it for the lowest price. Pretty awesome. I don’t own a iPhone myself, but the reader who’ve send me the email told me you can just scan any barcode (by making a picture) and the Campusbooks app will compare the price with other sellers/renters. So imagine: You are in a bookstore, scanning a barcode and saying to the owner of the store: ‘Sorry bro, the book is cheaper somewhere else, bye!’ Awe-some.

You will spend a lot of money this year (again) on books, make an educated decision on where you are going to buy your books and whether or not you are actually going to buy them!

How are you transporting yourself this summer to your parents’ place? Or to your holiday-destination? Probably by plane right? And you can carry a lot with you on a trip, but there is always luggage which you want to keep with you in the cabin – your hand luggage. Now, the question always rises for me: ‘What do I take in my hand luggage?’ Even if it is a trip for only 2 hours or so, I am still wondering. Your suitcase can be disappeared after you land, because of a mistake of the airport and you don’t want to be without any stuff for two weeks! Discussed the problem, thought about it and here is the list.

14 things you need to take with you as your hand luggage

1. Chewing gum. Popping ears? Some chewing gum might help. Chew on it and the trip will be more pleasant.
2. Pen and paper. Just in case you have an idea, or you need to write something down. I always carry a pen on my keychain and made my own notebook of tape (more on that later).
3. Something to read. They will play movies during the trip, but something to read is always nice. When you are waiting for the gate to open, or waiting until the plane is going to start, have something to read on you!
4. An extra pair of clothes. Now, this is something I didn’t do. Until a friend of mine got the problem I described above. His luggage was lost and he didn’t had any clothes for 3-4 days. Pretty bad!
5. Your passport. Obvious.
6. Condoms. Obvious?
7. A camera. Whether it is a Flip or just a simple camera, it is always nice to shoot some pictures along the way!
8. Jacket/Vest. When you are in the air the temperature on the outside of the plane can be low as -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit). Ok, it isn’t that cold in the cabin, but you will feel a drop of temperature and it is nice to bring something which can warm you up!
9. Chargers. Even if your phone is fully charged, if your suitcase is lost, you will also lose your chargers. That is why you should bring it with you in the cabin!
10. Ear plugs. When you are sitting right next to a motor, you won’t get into sleep without the plugs. Trust me.
11. Ear plugs for music! You can buy them on board, but it is cheaper to bring your own, right?
12. For the girls. Bring your little mirror with you, maybe a little make-up. Because you always want to look good!
13. Toiletries. It is a nice feeling to brush your teeth on a long trip, or to spray some deodorant underneath your armpits. Just a fresh feeling!
14. Sunglasses. To make the pictures I told you about at point 7 a little bit more awesome.

That is what you need to bring to be ultimate prepared! Any subject I forgot? Share them in the comments, your fellow readers will love you for it!

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This is a guest post by Kyle

There’s no two ways about it; medical school is time consuming. With many years of expensive schooling ahead of you, it’s no wonder you’re beginning to panic about how you’re going to squeeze in the work hours you need to stay afloat and still attend to all of your studies. Indeed, most professors recommend that, due to the workload associated with a degree in medicine, students forego even part-time jobs in order to ensure the outstanding grades needed to attend the best schools (and secure the best jobs). However, even students who manage to get help with tuition (through scholarships, grants, and loans) still have to pay for books and living expenses, so it should come as no surprise that part-time work comes with the territory. But with tons of freelance jobs available for every conceivable interest, experience level, and walk of life, there is no reason medical students can’t make a little money on the side and take control of when and how much they work.

1. Writing. Freelance writing is a viable part-time profession for many reasons. For starters, any student who goes into medicine must have a solid grasp of language since a large part of the job hinges on concise communication. By that standard (and because the program is so reading and writing intensive), writing is an ideal method of monetary gain for medical students. You can opt to write for websites, magazines, and even medical journals on just about any topic you’re interested in and get paid to do it. Plus, you can take on as much or as little work as you like during your tenure in college. To get started, create an account on ODesk, Elance, or Text Broker to apply for job postings and allow potential clients to view your profile and samples of your work.
2. Proofreading. Like writing, it is something that almost anyone with an excellent grasp of language can do, but it doesn’t require the same creativity (and it may be significantly less stressful…although it also pays less). Familiarize yourself with the Chicago and/or MLA style before you start and you’ll be zipping through copy in red strikethrough before you can say “PayPal account”. Job opportunities can be found at the freelance sites listed above.
3. Medical billing. This may be a good option for several reasons. For one thing, it’s a related field, which can only help you broaden your understanding of the profession as a whole. It can also give you an in-depth look at patient information and how it is processed. Finally, you can do just about as much or as little as you want, working for a small or large private practice (or several). If you don’t want to advertise your own services locally, consider signing on with an agency like BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) for a more traditional job situation.
4. Tutoring. The standby of college students everywhere, this is just an all-around easy way to make some extra cash. You can tutor younger students either on your own or by signing on with a local service (although many require you to attend to students in their homes), or you can tutor your peers on-campus (from your dorm, the library, or other common areas). If you tutor in medical-related subjects, you can also expand or brush up on your own knowledge. For generic subjects, you can try to get a job with a tutoring service like Sylvan Learning Center, or help college hopefuls with SAT prep through The Princeton Review (they also offer tutoring for the MCAT).
5. Medical sales representative. As freelance jobs go, you may stand to make the most money with this one, but it is also likely to demand more time and effort. You will almost certainly be required to cold call and visit local medical practices (public and private) in order to offer the latest advances in the medical field (your company may specialize in pharmaceuticals, software, equipment, or any number of other products). As a result, your earnings will largely be based upon your sales, so you’d better have the personality to go with your pitch if you want to succeed. To search for jobs in your area (or get advice on which ones are legit) log onto the forum at Indeed and get started. You can apply for work and get the insider lowdown on which jobs are worth it.

Kyle Simpson writes for Medical Billing and Coding Training where you can find more information about a career in medical billing and coding.

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When I was flying back from my holiday address I watched the movie ‘How to train your dragon’. A movie about a boy living in a viking town, this town is under attack a lot by dragons. So these Vikings are trained to kill the dragons. But this boy (Hiccup) is different, he is a clumsy, little boy who is nothing like the other Vikings. Until he shoots his first dragon. The deadly and feared Night Fury. The dragon isn’t dead, it is just injured and can’t fly anymore. Hiccup becomes friends with the dragon and helps him with a prothesis, so he can fly again. And eventually Hiccup flies on the dragon, the very first time a Viking did that. I think we can learn, as students, 3 things from the movie How to train your dragon.

3 lessons from How to train your dragon

1. Improve, test and improve again. The tail of the Night Fury is injured and Hiccup makes a prothesis-tail. The first time wasn’t a success, the second time neither. Hiccup keeps testing his makings and keeps improving it. Exactly what we need to do as college students. We need to keep testing our ways of studying and keep improving it. Does it work or doesn’t it work? If it does, don’t shut your eyes for other ways of studying, if it allows you to improve, it may be worth it! Keep improving and keep testing your improvements.
2. You don’t have to be big to win. Hiccup is a small and clumsy boy. He isn’t the stereotype hero, but he definitly is the stereotype protagonist. He shows that size doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter where you came from, it is you who decides whether you succeed or not. You don’t need the big brains, you don’t need the big muscles. All you need is the big motivation to do what you want to do.
3. Look beyond what is realistic. The Vikings have to kill the dragons. That was the normal thing, that was realistic. Hiccup didn’t thought so, what if they could live together with the dragons? What if the Viking-Dragon relation could be a good relationship in stead of a relation which can only cause death. Think out of the box, the solutions you grew up with aren’t always the best solutions. There are always other options, you just need to find them. Don’t restrict your thoughts, whether you are 12 or 62, always keep thinking like a child. The sky is the limit, that kind of thoughts.

However the movie is a movie for kids, I enjoyed it. And because it is a kid-movie, the message is always clear. A recommendation? Definitly.

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This is a complete different point than waking up. This post will focus on how to get awake when you woke up already. You know that slow morning feeling right? Overslept while you have a test? You need to get awake instantly? Here are some tips to get awake.

6 tips to get awake when you woke up.

1. Illuminate yourself. Open the curtains, turn on the light. We have a biological clock which is triggered by light, use it! Get light in your eyes, let your biological clock know that the day has begun!
2. Coffee! The most easy way. Put off your alarm and put on your coffee machine. Caffeine is the most easy way to wake up right-away. Drink some coffee, be awake.
3. Sing a song. When you put on your favorite number right when you woke up, you might sing along, dance along and act crazy. This behavior will arouse the secretion of adrenalin, which makes you alert and awake. Don’t feel ashamed, sing out loud and you will get awake!
4. Eat sugar. Sugar awakes you. Eat something with sugar in it, make a sandwich with peanut butter and sugar (yucks? No, it’s delicious) and get awake!
5. Get in the cold shower. The moment you step into the cold shower, you will get a great adrenalin rush and you are awake. Not a nice feeling, but it works.
6. All of the above. Wake up, open curtains, put on coffee machine, put sugar in coffee, put your favorite song on and sing in the shower. If this doesn’t wake you, you probably need more sleep!

Getting up is one thing, getting awake is another one. I hope this will help you in the future to get awake.

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You’ve read the powernap article, and you are enthusiast. You think of when you need it and you have only one conclusion, at college. When you are tired and you just need that short nap to start studying again. But that ain’t possible! Or is it?

I think it is. Some people will laugh as they read this, but I do powernapping at our library. And it works great. Jeaulous? Wanna do it also? Here some tips.

• Find a quiet spot. We have little cabinets in the library, with a door you can close. You won’t get disturbed in there, so you can take a nap. There are enough quiet places at your school, I am sure. When you don’t know any place, just go to the toilet. You can nap over there, it isn’t comfortable, but it works!
• Make the nap really short. Research has been showing that you shouldn’t nap longer than 20 minutes, because it will affect your night sleep. So, only sleep for ten minutes, because that is the optimum. Sleep for 10 minutes, wake up, get back and nobody has been missing you!
• Put your hands in your arms. You don’t need to have a quiet spot for yourself. When you are in the library, with a lot of people around you, you can just lay your head in your arms and sleep for ten minutes. Tell you neighbour to wake you after 15 minutes, he won’t mind. Nobody can tell you are sleeping and you have your powernap!

Powernapping is even at college not that hard. Just do it, find yourself a nice quiet place, have a short nap and enjoy!

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‘I’m waving the flag, I’m waving the flag’ says the World Cup/Coca Cola song ‘Waving flag‘ by K’naan. Obvious, with the world cup around everybody seems to be waving a flag. We wave the Dutch flag over here, the States probably waved the stars and stripes and in South Africa there are all kinds of flags waving.

What kind of flag do you wave?
When you look at people their life, people are waving flags. It resembles where they are in life and what they are all about right now. Newly weds will wave a flag which says newly wed, new fathers will wave the ‘Just got a son flag’ and students will wave the ‘Party!!! flag’.

Now I want to ask you, if you have a flag in your hand and anything can be on it, what kind of flag do you wave? What is on your flag? What are you waving about right now in your life? What are you all about right now in your life? And are you satisfied with the picture that is on your flag? If not, you should probably stop waving and start putting down the flag, in order to change it and wave another flag!

Pick out your flag and start waving it. It doesn’t matter what is on the flag you are waving, as long as you are proud of it!

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Finals! Scary scary. A lot of work to do, a lot of material to cover. In a short amount of time. And then there is one more problem. The world cup is on. Whoops, now what?

According to me, you should never skip a match of your own country. Even when it is finals week and you are ‘way too busy to do anything but studying’. I think you should stop studying for 90 minutes every once in a while to watch a game of soccer (Yes people from the US, we in Europe are big supporters of soccer and I think you are becoming two!).

Why you should watch a game while you are in finals week

• It gets your mind off. We all know that your subconscious can solve a lot of problems, as long as you give it some time. When you are in finals week, your mind needs rest. You need breaks in order to study harder the next session, in order to memorize more! Watching a game can be a good distraction from studying.
• You can let go. A soccer match is the perfect way to let yourself completely go. Go watch with friends and curse the referee. Say how hard your team sucks and cheer even harder when they win however. You can let go all of your emotions when you are watching the World Cup!
• It is great for the patriot in you! Watching how your country is winning is awesome! You are supporting the beautiful country you are living in, is there anything more patriotic? You are on the couch with clothes on in the colour of your country (orange!) and you are cheering because you country is winning!
• It is fun. It is just fun and you need a laugh in your final week. Fulltime stress doesn’t do good to anyone, so please don’t let stress overrule the week, have fun, enjoy the game!

Watching a game of soccer isn’t really that bad. It can be a good thing actually. Have fun and enjoy the game. And please pray with me that the Dutch are going to win the world cup.

Have you download the free ebook on motivation already? Download ‘Nine ways to get motivated for college’ from Stefan Knapen now!