Easter is on its way!
Here are our top tips to survive the dreaded deadline period whilst making the most of your last week in Durham.
PRODUCTIVE STUDY BREAKS
Instead of procrastinating on Facebook or watching Friends repeats on TV, spend your study breaks wisely!
1) Coffee with a course friend
This is the perfect excuse to try out a new cake at one of Durham’s many cafes. Meeting up with someone on your course will provide you with a change of scenery from constantly staring at your computer screen, and discussing your upcoming deadlines will allow you to debate and share ideas and know you’re not alone!
2) Read HerCampus!
Bored of reading articles and textbooks? Sign up to HerCampus Study Break for a daily dose of (productive!) procrastination delivered straight to your inbox every weeknight.
WHERE TO STUDY
Living with your friends is great. Working with your friends? It’s a different story.
Although there are times where your friends can be really useful (see above!) more often than not, the temptation to find out the gossip from Loveshack Wednesday gets the better of us.
If this is you, and you are in desperate need of some peace and quiet, some of our favourite places to study in Durham may be able to solve your problems!
1) Durham Cathedral Library
Yes, this does exist! If you want to feel like you’re in Harry Potter head to the Durham Cathedral Library by going up the flight of stairs from the South Cloister of the Cathedral. Open from 9.30am-4.45pm Monday-Friday. You can’t complain about deadlines when working in a place like this
2) Library Study Rooms
If you are looking for complete studying isolation, then the glass individual study rooms in the Billy B is the place for you! Top tips would be to get in early as these are really popular, and some of pods on the second and third floors are GREAT for people watching if you get bored. Don’t be the person that forgets their campus card either. Nobody wants to make the trek up the hill TWICE. Ever. Especially with deadlines looming…
3) Marriott Starbucks
The shiny new Starbucks is the perfect place for the sweet-toothed student, with lots of cakes and goodies to help you power through. This Starbucks is really spacious and has free wifi, and the chilled out acoustic music will help relax even the most stressed out student you know.
TIME SAVERS
Looking for ways to maximise your time? Here are some of the things we do to make the most of the day!
1) X1 Bus
For those of you who don’t know of the X1 bus, you can thank us later… The X1 bus runs from the bus station on North Road, and stops at Elvet Riverside and the Science Site. After 9am there are two buses every hour, with the 10 to bus getting you to ER and the Science Site in time for lectures. What’s even better is that travel is completely FREE if you have your campus card! On wintery Durham mornings, what more could you ask for?! You can find the X1 timetable here: https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/greenspace/local/X1Intercampusbustimetablefrom28July2013.pdf
2) The Freezer is Your Friend
This applies more to livers out than those in college, but cooking double portions of food and freezing the extra meal for a busy day is an essential for when it comes to saving time. You don’t need to worry about trailing round the shops on a cold winter’s evening, or even about cooking a meal. You just simply defrost and go.
3) Pairing up with a housemate
If you live with someone who could potentially be a foodie friend, why not suggest cooking together? You only have to cook for half the week, and that means half the washing up! Eating dinner with a friend is also a really good break from studying, and it means you get to try new recipes at the same time!