I know what it's like - those spurts of motivation at 11pm on a Sunday evening, thinking to yourself that you're going to get your life together in the morning. You might even make a mental list of everything you're going to do - gym at 6am, sure! Three hours of studying straight after, why not?
And then Monday morning rolls around and it's half past nine, you've hit the snooze button a million times and you're almost half an hour late to your first lecture. You stumble out of bed, making a sleepy way through to the bathroom, pulling on a creased, crumped outfit and trudging out of the door to listen to a 3-hour lecture (in my case) on whatever you're studying.
So, how do we avoid this??
I'd like to think I'm a pretty organised person. I like to know what I am doing and I am that girl who always has a plan - I guess you can say I am a bit of a control freak. I feel like my organisation varies in different aspects of my life, but seeing as I am a current university student, I thought I would leave some of my tips below.
I love when a new year (either Jan or academic year) rolls around and you can buy yourself an aesthetically pleasing planner. It's basically what I live for.
Here's what I do...
I like to make sure I have a to-do list for the week. For me, I like putting personal things on here to like getting a food shop or a reminder to hoover my room or do my laundry. I look at this planner all the time and things like that slip my mind if I am only focusing on the academic stuff. I always start off either on Sunday or Monday morning and write my to-do list. Typically this is already half done because throughout the week I will turn the page and write something down.
I plan my week ahead. So for example, I have a really important presentation due at the end of this month and also x3 3,000-word essays to write too. I try to make a plan on which day I will do what - meaning Tuesday I might read for one of my essays and collect references and on Wednesday I might focus on the plan a bit more. It really all depends but I like to have a rough guideline of what I want to accomplish.
My planner has a section for all my appointments and this is where I put all my lectures in, anything else I have to do i.e. the doctors, meeting friends etc. I usually have this stuff on my phone too but it's a good thing to have when you're trying to plan your week out and seeing what social stuff you have going on.
I cannot stress this enough. I know loads of my friends don't plan their essays - and without sounding mean or bigheaded - they aren't getting the grades they want and I think it's due to them just going in writing first. I have always been a planner - I think it comes naturally to me so when it comes to writing something academically and especially at University level, I need to know what the heck I am writing about.
I sometimes like doodling this out on a piece of paper, but most of the time I pull up a word document and paste in the title of the essay I am writing, any details I need to include such as the word count, specific statements etc, and then I start writing sub-questions to answer the question itself and bullet point the answers underneath. This helps me make sure I am covering the entire question and not answering part of it or all but not in enough detail.
After this, I can look for the evidence to back it up. This usually means several trips to the library to scavenge for poorly placed books and trolling the internet for ebooks, articles and any other reputable sources I can find. I won't lie, this takes ages. But when I start writing my essay, I've already got the evidence and I can insert it into my essay without any issue.
My mum always used to say before a big exam to eat fish or eggs to make my brain ready for the day ahead. I used to think this was an old wives tale but I have later found out there is actually scientific research for this. For all you vegans or non-meat eaters, nuts and seeds do the same thing!
The key part of staying organised is making sure you and your brain isn't running on double time. The stress can be awful - trust me, I know. But making time for yourself is so important. Even if this means spending half an hour in the shower or watching an episode of your favourite show. You need to wind down to be able to think clearly.
I am a stressy person, but I am also someone who keeps it all to myself. If you're feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and look at what is making you feel like this. Write it down, that always helps me see what it is I need to do and it always looks more manageable. You need to be realistic. I know for myself I need at least 2 weeks notice to write a good essay that I am happy with. Make the time for what you need to do and plan in that time for you. Yes, yes you can do both.
I know this was a lot of rambling to take in, but I hope you guys got something useful out of this post. I am happy to do a part two of this if you want some more ideas!
And then Monday morning rolls around and it's half past nine, you've hit the snooze button a million times and you're almost half an hour late to your first lecture. You stumble out of bed, making a sleepy way through to the bathroom, pulling on a creased, crumped outfit and trudging out of the door to listen to a 3-hour lecture (in my case) on whatever you're studying.
So, how do we avoid this??
I'd like to think I'm a pretty organised person. I like to know what I am doing and I am that girl who always has a plan - I guess you can say I am a bit of a control freak. I feel like my organisation varies in different aspects of my life, but seeing as I am a current university student, I thought I would leave some of my tips below.
1. Girl, get yourself a planner.
I love when a new year (either Jan or academic year) rolls around and you can buy yourself an aesthetically pleasing planner. It's basically what I live for.
Here's what I do...
I like to make sure I have a to-do list for the week. For me, I like putting personal things on here to like getting a food shop or a reminder to hoover my room or do my laundry. I look at this planner all the time and things like that slip my mind if I am only focusing on the academic stuff. I always start off either on Sunday or Monday morning and write my to-do list. Typically this is already half done because throughout the week I will turn the page and write something down.
I plan my week ahead. So for example, I have a really important presentation due at the end of this month and also x3 3,000-word essays to write too. I try to make a plan on which day I will do what - meaning Tuesday I might read for one of my essays and collect references and on Wednesday I might focus on the plan a bit more. It really all depends but I like to have a rough guideline of what I want to accomplish.
My planner has a section for all my appointments and this is where I put all my lectures in, anything else I have to do i.e. the doctors, meeting friends etc. I usually have this stuff on my phone too but it's a good thing to have when you're trying to plan your week out and seeing what social stuff you have going on.
2. Plan, plan, plan!!
I cannot stress this enough. I know loads of my friends don't plan their essays - and without sounding mean or bigheaded - they aren't getting the grades they want and I think it's due to them just going in writing first. I have always been a planner - I think it comes naturally to me so when it comes to writing something academically and especially at University level, I need to know what the heck I am writing about.
I sometimes like doodling this out on a piece of paper, but most of the time I pull up a word document and paste in the title of the essay I am writing, any details I need to include such as the word count, specific statements etc, and then I start writing sub-questions to answer the question itself and bullet point the answers underneath. This helps me make sure I am covering the entire question and not answering part of it or all but not in enough detail.
After this, I can look for the evidence to back it up. This usually means several trips to the library to scavenge for poorly placed books and trolling the internet for ebooks, articles and any other reputable sources I can find. I won't lie, this takes ages. But when I start writing my essay, I've already got the evidence and I can insert it into my essay without any issue.
3. Remember your brain needs rest too!
My mum always used to say before a big exam to eat fish or eggs to make my brain ready for the day ahead. I used to think this was an old wives tale but I have later found out there is actually scientific research for this. For all you vegans or non-meat eaters, nuts and seeds do the same thing!
The key part of staying organised is making sure you and your brain isn't running on double time. The stress can be awful - trust me, I know. But making time for yourself is so important. Even if this means spending half an hour in the shower or watching an episode of your favourite show. You need to wind down to be able to think clearly.
I am a stressy person, but I am also someone who keeps it all to myself. If you're feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and look at what is making you feel like this. Write it down, that always helps me see what it is I need to do and it always looks more manageable. You need to be realistic. I know for myself I need at least 2 weeks notice to write a good essay that I am happy with. Make the time for what you need to do and plan in that time for you. Yes, yes you can do both.
I know this was a lot of rambling to take in, but I hope you guys got something useful out of this post. I am happy to do a part two of this if you want some more ideas!
I love u all to the moon & back,
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