that generally should not be dropped,

bowling balls, containers of pure sodium,

that kinda thing.

However, by contrast, there are also several things

that should be dropped,

such as fire ants,

in fact that's probably the most important

thing you should drop.

Also, the subject when your uncle Gary

brings up politics at Thanksgiving dinner,

and also, classes.

In last week's video we looked at some research

which showed that academic overload

is the most common cause for long term student

stress and burnout.

And that's why in this one I wanna argue that

it's OK to drop classes when you need to.

Now, many students view dropping a class

as tantamount to actually failing that class flat out.

And I understand their reasoning.

We have ideals that tell us to stick with our commitments,

to follow through.

Those that persevere through adversity

will succeed, while those who don't

are doomed to a life of regret

and a distinctive lack of sports car purchases.

But, let's dispense with the inspiring platitudes here.

Yes, perseverance is a virtue worth cultivating,

and yes, in general you should approach

each of the things you commit to

with the intention of seeing them through.

But there's an element of tactical decision making

to be injected here,

especially with respect to your class schedule.

And the reason for that is that many ambitious students

tend to over commit when they're signing up for classes.

I've been in the same exact position

that you've probably found yourself in.

It's time to sign up for classes,

and you're thinking about the new semester.

And in addition to that, you're thinking about

new semesters in general,

which brings about associations of new beginnings

and full stocks of will power.

As a result, you tend to over commit

when you're signing up.

So, say you've fallen victim to this line of thinking

and now you've realized that the work load

you've signed yourself up for is too much.

What's the solution?

Well, simple, drop a class.

If you're diligent about gauging your classes early on,

it's likely that dropping a class will

have no negative effect on you.

My university, for example,

let people drop unlimited classes with no

marks on their transcripts up to five days

after the semester started.

Even after that, you could drop a limited amount of courses

up to half way through the semester.

Though, if you're gonna do this,

you should probably note the exact limit

that your university has.

I dropped courses several times as a student

for a variety of reasons.

A couple of elective classes I took

ended up having way higher work loads

than I anticipated, so I dropped those.

For another class I eventually realized

I was only part of the program that required it

because I wanted to pad my resume out.

I didn't actually really care about the program,

and it wasn't gonna help me achieve my goals,

so I eventually just dropped the class,

actually dropped out of the program,

and used the time it freed up to do things

that I actually cared about.

There are other valid reasons for dropping classes as well,

such as a professor who's teaching style

just doesn't work for you.

You could mitigate some of these risks

before the semester starts by using things like

Rate My Professors and reading the syllabi

to get a feel for the workload,

but you won't know for sure how a class goes

until you're sitting in it.

So, here is express permission.

Drop classes when you need to.

Find out what your university's drop policy is

and then use it to your advantage

to create a schedule that you control,

rather than one that takes over your life.

This gives you time to fill your schedule

with other useful pursuits like part time jobs,

extracurriculars, events, and much needed relaxation time.

In the case of a bad professor,

it also gives you the chance to look for a different section

of the same class that might have a better professor.

Now, one caveat here though.

When you drop a class, make sure you open your

graduation plan and update the change.

If you don't have a graduation plan

that lays out the courses you plan to take

up until graduation,

I highly recommend creating one.

If you want, you can get a copy of a spreadsheet

that I used for my own graduation plan.

And I've included it as a free download,

along with my free book that you can get by

clicking on the card or the link in the description.

Now, I realize that this might not be a viable strategy

for every single student out there.

Maybe you're in a program or a college

that requires you to take a strict set of classes

every single semester,

and you can't drop any of them.

Or maybe you need to take college

at an accelerated pace in order to be able

to afford it.

Likewise, it's a strategy that might not solve

all of your time management problems,

especially if you're a student who has to spend

a lot of hours at a part time job in addition

to your studies and classes.

Still, it's something that deserves consideration.

And I think the biggest take away here

is that dropping a class should not be seen as a failure.

It should be seen as a tactical decision.

Now, I'm not the only person who'll advocate this strategy.

My friend, Cal Newport, who's a computer science professor

and the author of several books,

included this advice near the start of his book,

"How to Win at College",

which I actually used as a high school student

in preparation for my own college experience.

As he interviewed top students

from all around the country for his book,

he realized that one of the main strategies

they used to stay on top of their classes

was creating a schedule that they felt in control of.

Careful course selection is one of the best tools

for retaining that control.

And dropping classes is a part of that course selection

process that you should be taking advantage of.

(bright techno music)

Hey guys, thanks so much for watching my video

on why you should drop classes.

If you wanna get new videos every single week

on being a more effective student,

you can click that big red subscribe button right there.

You can also get a free copy of my book

on earning better grades by clicking the book's picture.

And that also comes with a copy of my graduation

planning spreadsheet, like I mentioned earlier.

So if you wanna get that, click the picture

and I will send you both.

If you wanna see the companion blog post for this episode,

or read Cal's thoughts on this exact same topic

then you click the orange logo

and head over to my website.

If you missed last week's video,

we talked about how to avoid burnout

as a student, or deal with it if you're already feeling it.

And also, if you'd like to connect with me,

ask questions, or get feedback,

you can follow me on Twitter @TomFrankly,

or leave a comment below.

Thanks for watching.

(bright techno music)