It’s surprising that students who are outstanding employees can be terrible students. The same person who always reports for work on time just can’t seem to get up in time to go to class. What is even stranger about this is that a student will work hard at a job that pays minimum wage and then will toss away something that costs them $25/hour at a minimum.

If the above situation describes you, try making school a job. What you’re doing is taking something that you are good at doing and translating it to something that you don’t have the discipline to do well. Here’s how you can make school a job.

1. Start each day at 8 AM. That doesn’t mean wake up at 8 AM. It means be working at 8 AM. If you don’t have a class, go to a place where you can study. You will find that the time you study early in the morning is your most productive time. That’s just how our brains work.
2. During breaks between classes, do your homework, prepare for exams, read or study with friends. The important thing is that you don’t return to your living space during the day.
3. After your class is over, stay on campus until 5 PM. Again do the work you need to do. If you have finished all of your work, use this time to do extra work, prepare in advance for tests, or even tutor your friends. The end of the day activities can be the difference of at least a letter grade.

Now that you know what to do, how do you force yourself to do it. Start by making a two-week commitment. In this span of time, you’ll be able to prove to yourself how effective this strategy is. Once the two weeks are done, treat the continuation of your discipline as an alcoholic would treat a drink of alcohol or a diabetic would treat a dessert. You don’t want to ever relapse into your former bad habits. Often one day away from your routine can lead to false rationalization and, before you know it, you are back into your destructive habits of the past..