‘SEPTEMBER IS THE NEW JANUARY’
Why wait until January to hop onto the ‘new year, new me’ mantra? From spending your summers traveling the globe to juggling two part-time jobs, or just spending time with your nearest-and-dearest in general, our systems are soon to be shocked back into the stress of finding that balance between good times or good grades. Organisation and dedication are key. We’ve all been trained to have this ‘back to school’ mindset from an early age, with memories of exciting trips down to WHSmith to refresh your stationery collection (not to forget the more grudging one to Clarks for some ‘sensible shoes’ *eye-roll*). Utilising this natural feel of a fresh start will mean that come New Year’s, you will be beginning to see results while everybody else is just starting. Below are 7 ‘resolutions’ that will provide a helping hand in preventing that Christmas-exam-panic hitting you like a bus and assist you in snapping back into Uni life better than ever.
- REFLECT At some point in the summer, we all will have received a set of exam results and immediately felt some way towards them. Whether it be elation, disappointment or satisfaction, reflection is vital for improvement. One way to do this could be to split the reflection into three segments- your preparation, your performance, and what you were left wanting to do differently in the future. Here, trends should start to develop so that you are able to make clear goals to combat your weak points and reinforce your strong points. If you are in the batch of people that find themselves repeating those famous six words “I wish I’d just started earlier” then START EARLIER. Beginning an essay or revision is ordinarily the most daunting part. Nonetheless, you will never regret good work once it’s done, so you are automatically in a better position if you just bite the bullet.
2. MAKE FRIENDS ON YOUR COURSE
Merely spending time with people who are in your course is such a straightforward way of keeping on top of work. From being asked ‘Have you done the reading for tomorrow?’, to sharing stories about controversial debates that were had in tutorials, it will keep you active and organised in your learning without feeling like you’ve done a lot of work. You will also go through the ‘library-breakdown-need-caffeine-asap’ period and the ‘post-exam-five-day-bender’ journey together, which is what the University experience is all about at the end of the day.
3. PUT IN EXTRA TIME Having the motivation to ‘just do it’ can be extremely difficult at the beginning of the year, particularly when scanning through your reading list makes you feel like you’re going into cardiac arrest. However, small changes to your style of revision can make a huge difference. Last year, I discovered that watching short documentaries on Netflix in my subject area meant that I could contribute so much more in Tutorial discussions even if I had missed one or two readings. I would also highly recommend looking up your essay questions ASAP. This will provide an automatic focus in lectures and tutorials when something relevant to your chosen essay question comes up. Hopefully, this means that you will have a set of base-notes before you even start your essay! Moreover, splitting large readings into small segments meant that I was no longer put into the position of canceling on a night out because of my overflowing ‘to-do-list’ pile. Putting aside 15 minutes every day, purely for reading, is a great technique to lower work anxiety. After all, we’ve all heard- slow and steady wins the race!
4. PUT YOUR ‘TO-DO’ LISTS TO PAPER
At times when you are overwhelmed by all the directions you are being pulled into by your commitments, procrastination kicks in and the easiest thing to do is online shop and finally put your Uber Eats discount code to use. It can be daunting to actually get started on anything because it appears paralysing and utterly unachievable. Often, the first step towards action is writing it down. Until they’re written down our goals often lack clarity, and while one may have high hopes and good intentions, not much progress is seen until it is crystal clear what you were striving for in the first place. Seeing it all on paper – while it can be scary – helps to rationalise things in your brain and you can then begin to prioritise the most pressing tasks and putting those which are not so important (i.e. sending back ASOS returns) towards the bottom. Also, people undeniably love that satisfaction of ticking off a whole to-do list so it may even be a small psychological motivation to just getting started.
5. WRITE DOWN TWO DATES: the ‘due date’ and ‘start-date’ The first part of this resolution is comparing your ‘nights-out-that-aren’t-to-be-missed’ calendar and your due-date calendar. Nobody wants to be in the position of choosing between essay quality and F.O.M.O, or potential grade disappointment and having fun – so surely it makes sense to get organised early? By being aware of the due date, and comparing it to your social calendar, you can figure out a realistic start-date so that you can be killing it in both the study and social aspects of life.
6. KNOW YOUR MOTIVATION Most people will experience short bouts of determination throughout the year, perhaps when a certain grade enables you to apply for an exciting opportunity or during that final exam push. But when there seems to be no clear goal to work hard for, it is easy to find yourself in a whirlwind of procrastination naps and Netflix binges. This will be particularly prevalent for those who are struggling with mental health and often an anxiety threshold can be reached where not doing the task becomes more stressful than even doing it in the first place. It is vital when you are feeling like this to try and be as open as possible about how you are feeling and ask for help. In return, it is your Professors’ and University councilors’ jobs do everything they can in order to support and ease your situation. During these points, it is important to try and find inspiration from the smaller things in life, such as how proud your parents would be if you managed to get that 2:1. I have a tremendous travel bug, so sometimes what pushes me the most is that working hard will enable me to get a job where I can afford to travel. When I was living my best life in New York last Christmas, I bought an NYC Starbucks mug that sits on my desk when I’m revising. When I’m struggling to put in the hours, it reminds to up my game so that I can afford to go back one day. It may sound silly, but little motivations are often just as important as the bigger ones.
7. TREAT YOURSELF
FINALLY, after an article that may have come across like a motherly lecture, looking after yourself and being happy is far more paramount than impressive academia and having a fully ticked off to-do list. Treating yourself means doing whatever makes you happy so this can range from having a lie-in, to going to visit friends at a different University or an evening of pampering. An old teacher of mine told me to always split your day into three: morning, afternoon and evening. In times of low stress, try your best to work for one of the three, then relax for the other two. Then perhaps during exam season, work for two and treat yourself in the third- everybody performs better at different times of the day so it can be adjusted to whatever suits you individually. If you look after yourself inside and out, good things should always follow.
GOOD LUCK to everyone for the year ahead and here’s to a year full of personal, social and academic successes!