# Return-to-Study Plan Worksheet

Use with [Going Back to Study After Years Away](/articles/return-to-study-plan-without-outsourcing-thinking).

## Step 1: Baseline (fill in before using any AI tool)

- Program structure (courses, credit hours, assessment types, deadlines): __________
- Areas that are genuinely rusty: __________
- Real weekly time budget (accounting for work and family): __________ hours across __________ days

## Step 2: Four-week return schedule

| Week | Focus | Review tasks | Time budgeted | Actual time spent |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 |  |  |  |  |
| 2 |  |  |  |  |
| 3 |  |  |  |  |
| 4 |  |  |  |  |

## Step 3: Weekly unaided-work check

For every graded piece of coursework this week:

| Assignment | Attempted fully unaided first? (Y/N) | AI used for (feedback only / organizing only / other) | Flag if "other" |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |

If "other" appears more than once, stop and reread the escalation section below before continuing.

## When to escalate to a human instead of a better prompt

- The syllabus assumes a prerequisite you do not actually have.
- The assessment format (timed exam, oral defense, lab technique) needs feedback a chat tool cannot give.
- Your real time budget and the program's pace are structurally incompatible.

Take these to an academic advisor, tutoring center, or instructor office hours — not to another AI session.

## What this worksheet is not

Not a substitute for your institution's academic-integrity policy. If any module includes a live
assessed exam, use the practice-only approach in the exam-study article, not this general worksheet,
for that specific component.