This post is all about how to stay productive at University whilst also maintaining your social life.
It’s Friday night and the student union is doing 2 for 1 Jagerbombs tonight and all of your friends are going, but you. You have an assignment due tomorrow and as per usual, you’ve left it until the last minute. I am here to make sure that NEVER happens again. No need to risk your social life any longer because I’m giving you some insanely easy ways to stay productive at university so you will never have to miss out on a social ever again.
WHY You Should Be Productive At University
Regardless to what everyone things university is very, very important and here’s why you need to be on your A-Game from day 1:
- You are paying 9K to be there (and the rest in maintenance) so make sure you get a good education out of it.
- Every single assignment counts towards your grade, which counts towards your degree classification and is shown on your transcript.
- First year doesn’t count? Well it does. Your first year grade determines whether you can continue to second year and it also aids you in getting a placement.
- It really does pay to be productive! The more productive you are towards your degree, the more likely you are to succeed and keep these habits.
- Practicing these productivity habits will evolve into healthy life habits
HOW to Stay Productive At University
Now you know why you should be productive here’s precisely how you can be productive at university.
The first thing is not going to be a must do/ must have because everyone organises themselves in different ways. I highly recommend a bullet journal, especially if your a student as they are helpful af and these steps can be implemented in your journal!
If you do not know how to start a bullet journal click here for my super helpful guide.
1 | List EVERYTHING You Need To Do, When You Get It
Keep a running checklist of every piece of work, powerpoint, questions etc, you have been looking at in lectures and have been set. This way you know exactly what you have done and can check it off when its completed.
2 | Make an ‘Assignment Due’ Timeline
Put this somewhere where you can ALWAYS see it. You wake up, you see it, you go to bed, you see it. Make a copy and put it into your binder, therefore you are constantly reminded of your assignments and will actively complete them.
I suggest a wall/ desk calendar type thing where you can put your social engagements on there aswell to double make sure everything is done and dusted.
3 | Make a ‘To Do’ Sheet for Each Exam/ Assignment Due as You Get Them and Put Time Stamps on Each Task
Just been set your assignment on Mass Spectrometry? Well spend about an hour after your lecture going through the specification and detail what needs to be done in a big to-do list in your organiser. Our master to-do list is great for that!
Having this to do list will allow you to plan your time accordingly. For example, if you only have two hours to spare after lectures before dinner with the girls, you can start on the section that will take roughly two hours. Therefore you can still go to dinner but also be on top of your assignments.
4 | Spend Your In-between Lecture Time In The Library Catching Up On Notes
I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, the hardest thing to keep up with at university is not the assignments but the notes.
Take every single spare moment in between, before and after lectures, that you have free, to catch up on all of your notes. This will save you a lot of time before the big exam rush trying to catch up with your notes. Therefore giving your ample revision time.
Want more University posts?
- The Ultimate University Packing List
- The BEST Stationery List for College/ University
- Click HERE for Everything University
5 | TIME BLOCK
Treat university like a full time job. From 9-5 you have lectures (meetings) and personal work times. I recommend separating the blocks into different modules. Here’s an example of time blocking:
It is crucial that you stick to your time block to save yourself from over-running and burning out. Time blocking will also set your brain into a rhythm where you are working from 9-5 effectively and give yourself something to look forward to afterwards.
6 | Plan Your Day The Night Before
In relation to time blocking, make sure you plan the night before. I know things can rock up spontaneously on the day but the beauty of planning and having everything done for that day, by a certain time, will mean you can meet your social engagements.
7 | Do Not Freak Out!
If you don’t complete your to-do list, don’t fret; I rarely completed mine. It’s all about being realistic and knowing what you can/ cannot do in a day.
For example, my to-do lists used to look like this:
- Lecture 9-10
- Lecture 11-1
- Lecture 1-2
- Start Assignment on Polymers – Introduction
- Notes on lecture 6
- notes on lecture 7
- Complete exam questions for module ch326
- Go to labs and set up reflux (30min- 1 hour)
- Dinner at 8
Now that is way too much to do in one day; I don’t think anyone could do that. I used to be really disappointed when I only checked off about half of the things on my list until I really started paying attention to the time it took to complete my tasks. Therefore, I was able to adapt my to-do lists.
Now, my to-do list looks like:
- Lecture (9-10)
- Start Assignment on Polymers – Introduction (10-11)
- Lecture (11-1)
- Lecture (1-2)
- Lunch (2-3)
- Complete exam questions for module ch326 (3-4)
- Notes on lecture 6 (4-5.30)
- Set Up Reflux (5.30-6.30)
- Dinner at 8
There we have it: 7 Insanely Easy Ways on How To Stay Productive At University Without Risking Your Social Life!
Want more University posts?
- The Ultimate University Packing List
- The BEST Stationery List for College/ University
- Click HERE for Everything University
