Uni Student Support Squad

[peppermintpeony]

We're all so close to the finishing line of this semester! I've now completed everything except two final exams! It feels pretty great. I feel apprehensive about next semester, but am trying to allay my anxiety and be excited about the interim period instead. We can do it!

[DruidChild]

It's great that you've only got your exams left @peppermintpeony! Good luck, I'm sure they'll go really well

[peppermintpeony]

Thank you, @DruidChild! I really appreciate your well wishes. 

[lokifish]

My exams are still a few weeks away but I'm procrastinating so hard right now hahaha. Thank goodness a few amazing people in my course have shared their notes with everyone, otherwise I'd be screwed.

[May_]

What are everyone's best tips for procrastination?

For me the only thing that ever seems to work is setting an alarm on my phone for 5 minutes or 10 minutes (a small amount of time) and telling myself I will study really hard for just that amount of time and then I can have a break. Most of the time once I've spent 10 minutes or so on a task I am getting into it and I don't need a break

[Chessca_H]

That's a great technique @May_! When I was at uni (right now I'm taking a bit of a break before applying for postgrad) I found the best way for me to actually get stuff done in a timely manner was setting daily goals. For example, if I had an assignment that was 2000 words, I would split it up so I would get a specific amount of words done each day (say If I had ten days until the due date, I would do 200 a day). It probably doesn't work for everyone to get that specific, but it realy did for me.

Good luck to everyone finishing the semester (and the year)! You can do it!  

[JanaG]

Great tips @May_ and @Chessca_H :-D

I find that what I do early in the day sets the tone for the rest of the day. If I hve an unproductive morning, I'm more inclined to just write the day off as a failure and say to myself I'll start tomorrow. We all know how that ends. ;-) So it's helpful for me to make sure that study is one of the very first things I do once I get up. I already open my books while the kettle is boiling for my tea. 

Similarly, I think it's helpful to realise what time of day you are most productive. Some people like studying late, and some like studying early. If you have the flexibility to stick to these times, then why not?

I am a BIG fan of checklists. Who doesn't love the feeling of ticking things off and watching progress? At the start of each semester, I make a checklist of readings, assigments and lectures that I tick off as I go along. 

Being at home can be distracting, so sometimes I force myself to go to uni and plant my bum in a seat for the day and tell myself I can't go home until I've completed a predetermined goal. 

I find that when I am dehydrated, my concentration just goes down the drain. I like to keep a waterbottle handy to help this. Likewise, I make sure I don't skip breakfast and that I am sticking to low GI foods and including protein in my diet.

Mindfulness mediation helps to improve my focus or motivation as well. I like the SmilingMind app personally. :-)

I like studying with my friends, but obviously one must be cautious here and choose study buddies wisely. 

Like @Chessca_H and @May_, I think having a determined end point to the study is important too. I feel much better knowing that I will stop study at a certain time or once I have finished a certain task.

Rewards can help. Even if I would watch youtube in bed at night regardless of what I do during the day, I like to frame it as a reward in my mind to positively reinforce the habit of studying. While I am studying, I will think to myself 'you can watch youtube as a reward later' and when I have finished study, I think 'this is your reward for studying hard today.' 

[missep]

We all study and work so hard!

Go us! 

[N1ghtW1ng]

Just submitted my assignment one hour early. High fives to me. (I have a problem )
On another note, ONE more to go! It's due in two weeks, but I am going to have it done by next Sunday so I can be DONE with this semester!

[JanaG]

Great work @N1ghtW1ng