Some of you have had the experience of suddenly realizing that your eye sight has gone bad. Over time your vision declined, but it was so gradual you didn’t notice it. Then something made you realize that you couldn’t see something that you never had trouble seeing before.

Study discipline is like eye sight. It can deteriorate without you ever noticing it. Then some event, probably a bad grade on a test, makes you realize that you weren’t making the effort you should have.

The result is missed homework, not going to class, or being surprised by a test. While glasses can be the solution for poor eye sight, the solutions for failing academic discipline may not be as easy.

How can you prevent the loss of your academic eye sight? Here are some ways:

1. Find someone who knows you well and can identify when you are starting to lose focus.
2. Maintain a grade reporting system that you use to record all assignments and grades. See the topic: Keeping Track of your Grades. When there is a lot of white space in your record, you will know you have started to lose the discipline you need.
3. Discover what triggers your loss of academic eye sight. It may be friends. It could be triggered by a bad test grade. Once you know the trigger, you can work to avoid future challenges.
4. Identify when you began to lose academic eye sight. Often there are specific times during a semester when problems start (e.g. 5th-8th week). If this is the case, you can be especially careful during these times.

The key to all of these suggestions is to be alert to the gradual loss of academic discipline and take actions to stop the decline..