How to Have Your Best School Year Ever, by Enneagram Type

Whether you're the valedictorian or fighting for your life in chemistry class (it’s okay, I am too), starting a new school year can be stressful. Obviously, you want to do your best academically and get good grades, but it's also important to take care of yourself and have a positive experience.

Each Enneagram type has different strengths and challenges when it comes to school. With that in mind, here are some tips for getting over those mental blocks and implementing the best study methods that will save both your time and your sanity.

Type One: Learn the art of efficiency reading

As a Type One student, you care about detail more than most of your peers. Rather than skip through the assigned reading, you would rather pore over it until you feel like you understand literally everything.

Reading every assigned page is a good practice in theory, and you were probably taught to do so by well-meaning elementary school teachers. In reality, the amount of readings you are assigned will increase with each school year, until reading everything and keeping up with assignments is impossible.

Instead, be mindful of the parts of the textbook that you don't have to read in order to understand the material. Here's a list of sections you can usually skip over:

• “Apply this to real life” sections: Usually found after science passages, these sections deviate from actual teaching to point out cool ways that science shows up in the real world. These sections are interesting, but not worth your time during exam week.
• Tangents: These sections divert from the main point of the argument or chapter. In literary texts, authors tend to ramble. Pay attention to what relates to the main argument.

Another time-saver is to write in the textbook's margins instead of taking intense, pages-long notes. Complete practice questions after reading to solidify your understanding. You probably won't remember everything you copied down, but you will remember the topics you missed on a practice test.

Type Two: Study in a group the night before a test

As somebody who is probably looking for any reason to see their friends even though you’re busy, this strategy is a game changer. Especially in the weeks leading up to an important exam, form a study group with people in the class and review together – at night.

Everybody knows the benefits of group review: we remember things better when other people explain them to us. Often, our peers know how to explain concepts more clearly than our teachers do. Having people around us motivates us to study instead of playing Tetris on one tab and watching YouTube video essays on another.

But for Type Twos, late night study sessions are especially fun. They blur the lines between school time and social time, which Type Twos will love. Also, with exam dates looming, people come together in ways never seen before. Classmates you have never spoken to will spend long periods of time making sure you understand integrals, and you will do the same for them. Someone will cater food for your whole table. In the end, you will have learned a good 50% of the class material in three hours and made a bunch of for-life friends.

Even when it's not exam season, group studying is great for Type Twos. Just writing a paper in your friends’ presence is incredibly motivating. Having your friends quiz you routinely is infinitely more productive than reading your notes over and over again.

Type Three: Pick up an extracurricular activity

Type Threes are success-driven and take plenty of pride in their work. Because you naturally work hard, chances are nobody has to tell you to take academics seriously. What will help you perform even better - and this may sound counterintuitive - is stepping away from the books and diving into an extracurricular activity.

Extracurriculars help you destress by taking your mind off of school for a bit. And no, you can't do it just for the sake of college or grad school applications – it has to be for fun.

If an interest comes to mind right away, pursue it. If not that, try an activity that is so beyond what you usually do that people will be surprised that you do it. For example, try out for a sport or do makeup for the school production.

Extracurriculars add a sense of purpose to what you do. Without a slot of time every week dedicated to doing something low-stakes and gratifying, you can develop tunnel vision. Being a student can very easily turn into your entire identity, causing you to burn out and never want to look at a textbook again. An hour-long break from reading can be your built-in release for the day and help you see the meaning in what you are working for.

Type Four: Separate emotions and academics

As a Type Four pre-med student, the most important lesson I have learned is that my emotions do not have to impact my academic performance. Fours can be so submissive to negative emotions  that they skip out on their daily responsibilities to tend to personal wounds. This just results in the Four feeling worse and their homework not getting done.

The key to finishing your tasks and achieving your goals is separating your emotional life from your academic life. Tell yourself that there is nothing threatening about biology, or philosophy, or wherever you most often procrastinate. Practice sets are not blockers of your emotional introspection, they are just practice sets. You can address your emotions more freely outside of your work time.

We are human, so we do need time to process our feelings and foster creativity. To balance your work and personal life, block out time in your calendar to attend classes and study, but also schedule downtime and social activities. When you stay present during both commitments, your work time is more productive and your free time feels more rewarding.

School is a game. See it as one. Don’t take bad grades personally and do not beat yourself up over a poor study day. Academics are all just a game to prove how well you can remember things and study. Win the game. See school as a job: you clock in and clock out. 

Type Five: Simplify the review period

As a Type Five, you may often find yourself lost during exam review. Sometimes, you fixate on one unit and forget to study the others. Or you become so overwhelmed by the amount that you have to study, that you just don't.

For exam periods and other busy times, draft a plan to review your weak spots and focus on following it.

First, identify the units you are least familiar with. Read the lecture notes pertaining to the units, or watch videos online. After reviewing your weak topics, complete the practice tests like they are the exam. Meaning, time yourself and hide your notes. There are always practice tests. If they are not available online or through your class website, ask the teacher for past exams.

Once you've finished the practice tests, attend your class tutoring to ask about the questions that you missed. If you have time, retaking a practice test is so incredibly helpful.

The night before the exam, answer a few Quizlet questions and get some rest!

Type Six: Create a study space

As a Type Six, you value consistency – which means you'll get the best results if you create a routine and stick to it. I don’t know the science behind this, but establishing a designated place to study seems to increase academic success, so create a study space in which to complete work every day.

Pick a spot that is not associated with sleep (your bed) or disruption (a loud college commons). If you have spent all semester lying around in your dimly lit dorm room, do not try to make an academic comeback in that same room (I tried that last semester).

Choose an area that is well-lit and distraction free. Common examples are the library or a desk far away from your bed. Ask someone to take your phone before you enter so you don’t associate the space with scrolling.

This facilitates your daily studying. Instead of being discouraged because you don’t have anywhere to study, or being distracted, you will have a consistent place to work.

Type Seven: Maximize class time

Even though studying outside of class is essential, for Type Sevens, establishing your own workflow can be difficult. While you’re still deciding what works for you, focus on maximizing the time you spend in class. The more you take advantage of class time, the less time you’ll have to spend learning the material after.

First, go to class. Skipping is a slippery slope and before you know it, you will have missed an entire semester of work. Go to class and be present: ask a friend to take your phone and stay off Amazon.

Pay attention to the lecture and take notes. If you don't want to spend hours reading the textbook, dedicate time to fully understanding the class discussions. Ask classmates questions if you don't understand something.

This not only takes care of the most important parts of the course material, but empowers you to read the material outside of class. You'll realize that you know all of the main topics, which will encourage you to read more.

Type Eight: Take school work seriously

This tip may seem obvious. Of course, people who want to do well in class will take class seriously. But Eights tend to stand in the way of their own academic success.

As an Eight, you are passionate about your interests – confident and determined. This makes you the kind of person who is usually good at everything you are serious about. If you are not performing as well as you would like in the classroom, it might be a sign that you don't take school seriously. This is understandable – it is more exciting to be dedicated to an interest that you like, than schoolwork that everybody tells you to care about.

This school year, take time to dream about your future career and reflect on how school can take you there. That physics class that is kicking your butt (mine too dawg) is necessary for your future career as an engineer. The monotonous creative writing class is essential for your English PhD.

Even if your academic performance doesn't impact your dream career, the discipline required to stay on top of assignments is a general life skill. Just as you pour dedication into basketball or the cello, make goals at school and stay dedicated to them.

Type Nine: Create a study schedule

As a Type Nine student, you're probably involved in a lot. Your go-with-the-flow nature often leads you to say “yes” to new clubs, events and other calendar-fillers. Between all of these commitments, it can be difficult to find the time for homework.

To keep yourself from overscheduling and boost your sense of individuality, create a consistent study schedule. For each week, set aside an amount of hours (this will vary depending on your major) to complete your homework and review. I recommend carving out time blocks with an online calendar. Google Calendar is free, easy to customize and incredibly user-friendly. Unlike a paper planner, you'll be able to check it on your phone throughout the day.

Schedule these study hours for when in the day you are most alert and awake. Being a night studier isn’t inherently worse than being a morning studier, as long as you get enough sleep.

Remember, the schedule only works as much as you follow it – so keep study times a priority. If you struggle with staying on track, find an accountability partner to check-in with weekly on your progress. This will help motivate you to stick to your schedule and prioritize your studies.