Homework isn't that bad. It's doable, if you put your time down to do it. You could manage 22 hours a week with a part-time job at the same time. I stopped doing that since I was getting lazy though XD.
When you're in university, there's nothing better to do than homework. Fall behind and crawling back will become very very difficult. Knowledge tends to build on prior knowledge, and you need to build a sufficient "learning concentration" as I call it - it's kind of like exercise, you have your pre-workout nutrition, warm up, go through with your workout, cool down, have some post-workout nutrition, and rest - coordinating your different phases of learning will help you absorb the information and concepts in greater detail and more efficiently. Like the Pokemon professors say, "there's a time and place for everything." I find when I "relearn" material I never really paid attention to when it was taught - ie, learning something for the first time a week before an exam - I'll probably have to listen to that lecture recording 2 to 3 times to gain that 70% of the information that any average joe blow can do - and that is a real waste of time.
The library's a good resource as you can review information presented in lecture as it's still fresh in your mind - it'll be probably where hopefully most of the connections you make settle down. Be careful not to dick around though - like going on PC for example - or watch your hours drain away.
I debate taking notes with myself. I think you have to be prepared to take notes, like reviewing the material before hand figuring out what sounds important, for taking the notes to work - otherwise I end up jotting down random disconnected pieces of information that in addition to being low quality also distracts me from listening to what the lecturer is saying.
Hopefully this'll convince anyone that homework is worth the time in university. This also convinces me to sit myself down read and finish reading a paper about Brazil's experience with regionalism, and think about how to apply the same approach to writing a section on Mexico's relationship to East Asia, and how regionalism affects that behaviour as well. Good day to you sirs.