I know most of you have graduated college and I was wondering if there are any tips you can give in regards to studying & completing essays & reports. I know they offer classes on how to do this.. I just don't have the time to get to any.
So how did you deal with school and work and manage to effectively study & get all your home work done and have a smidgen of a life?

It may sound dumb, but I have a planner specifically for assignments. I try to schedule at least 1-2 hours a day during the week to work on papers/reports and studying. I write down my work hours, I allow time for cleaning the house and any other chores, and find a good time slot to squeeze in 2 hours for school work. But you HAVE to allow time for relaxation also, and yes that is scheduled also. Everything has a time schedule for me Monday thru Friday so on the weekends I can hang loose and relax.
Working on schoolwork for a little bit of time each day is less stressful and you are more capable of absorbing the information rather than skimming and hurrying up just to get it done at the last minute. You actually learn stuff this way.
I've read a few articles that describes this habit and so far it's working, with a few minor tweaks.
I've read a lot of articles also that say to study in 10 min intervals. Screw that, I'd be too busy concentrating on the time than what I am studying.
But here's a web site that may help ya out Study Guide Strategies

Petra has some good points.

The only thing I can think of since I haven't really done anything study orientated for years is I always used to write stuff down if I wanted to remember it.

Read it, write it, then read what you wrote, and write it again.

But really, it all depends on how you remember things. Read somewhere about learning abilities in children (think it applies to adults too, since at one point, we were/are a child) where some learn by visual memorization (photographic, not necessarily in the "see it, remember it" way, but uses more of what is seen to remember), hearing memorization (why some suggest reading out loud, or saying something 3 times to make it "set" in), and a combination. Combination is the tougher one 'cause you will have either type trying to remember something making each one less successful, and it's not an even split most the time anyway.

Dip you are right, my Biology Coach Class teaches us like that. She said that is how they used to teach but then people started to get all touchy feely and phased it out. Now they're using it again because it really works.

This is how she says to do it - You listen to the question, while you read it. If your answer was wrong, together you repeat the correct answer so its in your long term memory. She said its about using as many senses at once you can - helps you put it in long term memory. She said you could also get a type of candy you only eat while studying the one subject, like butterscotch and that will also help.

I believe her, she is just regular middle school teacher from the 70's or what not and as she's gotten older she works part time for the college recording text books for the blind & teaching Biology Coach Class. For not having a background in Biology the amount of data she has memorized is fascinating.

Yeah, there are some studies I've also read about sensory memory. Like with the eating a certain candy when studying stuff.

I know my own personal studies have worked to an extent. I won't get into any details, but sensory memory works!

I don't have much to offer. I do remember one thing back when I was working, going to school, etc...I didn't get much sleep and didn't have much of a social life. But I tell you this...it pays off when you complete it and get it out of the way.

I say Dip has some good points. When I used to study for test I couldn't just read the book, it just didn't stick. I would actually have to write it down, this help me soo much in my studying and test taking abilities!