1. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
It’s easy to get bogged down while trying to manage the million things you have to do in a week for uni. As a number one stress head, I always try to take the advice of Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: “ask yourself this question: Will this matter a year from now?” 9 times out of 10 it probably won’t. Don’t let the little things drive you crazy.
2. PLAN YOUR TIME EFFECTIVELY
Find out all of your exam dates and deadlines ahead of time so that you can start them before it’s the week assignments are due. If you have multiple things scheduled for around the same time, set yourself an earlier deadline for one of them to avoid working on two time consuming things at once. Get a diary, or download one of these cute weekly organisers here. (http://elizaellis.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/free-printable-irma-weekly-planners.html)
3. TIDY ROOM, TIDY MIND
Have a quick blitz of your bedroom before you sit down to work and see if you notice a difference. Know where all of the notes you need are, and have your highlighters at the ready… even if you don’t mind the mess, a tidy room is a tidy mind.
4. CONQUER PROCRASTINATION
Anyone who claims not to have fallen victim to procrastination is obviously lying. Everyone has days when they just cannot be bothered to do a thing. Set some time aside for yourself to do absolutely nothing without feeling guilty about it, but remember you can’t procrastinate forever.
5. LOOK AFTER YOUR MIND AND BODY
Your health can often be the last thing on your mind when you have so much to do, but if any aspect of your health is lacking, be it physical or mental, this can drastically effect how productive you are on a day-to-day basis. Try to get 8 hours sleep every night, take naps, start the day with a nutritious breakfast, drink plenty of water, and seek out help if you need it.
6. TAKE BETTER NOTES
I personally find that taking notes on my laptop in lectures means I get down way more information, and it’s easier to look back over when it comes to revising. Going back over your notes each week, or collectively, before starting a piece of coursework or revision, and going crazy with colours and highlighters, is worthwhile. Filter out the stuff that isn’t useful, circle things that you don’t understand, and highlight the important stuff you need to make a flashcard for.
7. WORK SMART AND HARD
Working smart and working hard are not the same thing. Obviously you need to put in the time and work hard if you’re going to get good grades, but also be smart about it. Analyse the syllabus, look at past papers, read over lecture notes to see what kinds of questions you COULD be asked. Preparing responses to specific questions can only end well – if it comes up in the exam you have a response ready, and if it doesn’t, chances are you’ll remember the facts you know and will be able to apply them in different ways anyway.
8. LEARN HOW TO SAY “NO”
Learn how to say no: to yourself, to your friends, to work. How badly do you really need to watch Gossip Girl again on Netflix? Should you really go out tonight if you have a test at 9am tomorrow? Will you really be that much better off by doing an extra shift at work when you already have too much reading to do? Think of yourself and say no sometimes, even if it feels wrong to begin with, you may realise you made the right decision in the long run.
9. TURN YOUR PHONE OFF
Scenario: you’re only 20 minutes into working on that essay and you stop for just a second to reply to that one text… before you know it, 20 more minutes have gone by and you’ve replied, watched three Tasty videos, and lost yourself in the group chat. Turn your phone off for just an hour and purely focus on what you’re supposed to be doing – you’ll probably finish in half the time.
10. TAKE BREAKS
Spending five hours straight in the library cramming isn’t good for anyone. If you need a break – TAKE ONE. Decide to work for an hour and a half and then take a half an hour break maybe. Keep repeating until all your work is done!
Edited by: Amy Hawthorne
Sources:
http://www.danielangello.com/2016/03/la-percepcion-de-felicidad-y-bienes…