Time management
Managing your time is crucial to your juggling act. When you have several essays to write at once - morale, focus and a positive approach are three tricks that will prove more efficient when executed within a well-timed framework.
Author of the Study Skills Handbook, Dr Stella Cottrell suggests that the most important ingredient in successful study is good time management. ‘You feel calmer and more in control if your time is planned well, and more confident about meeting your deadlines whilst still having a life.’
Kathleen McMillan, co-author of the Smarter Student: Skills and Strategies for Success at University reveals her tips for effective time management.
How much study should students expect to do each day? How important is it to have regular breaks and schedule in time off?
I don’t think we can say that there is an ideal length for a spell of studying time. Much depends on the subject, how knowledgeable you are about it already and sometimes simply how fast a reader you are. Maybe it’s more useful to think about when you study best in a day - morning, afternoon or evening - and then make sure that you do the routine things in the times when you are not quite so focused so that you use your ‘best’ time for really in-depth work.
How important is it to split your time evenly between different topics and modules for your exam revision?
List all the topics covered in any one module and then match the time spent on these within the lectures and tutorials. That way you’ll find out how much emphasis is likely to be placed on these in the exams. The important thing is to study in a way reflects the emphasis within the module.
The other trick is in maintaining a balance over, say, three modules. One of the potential mistakes is to study only one module at a time and so by the time you have covered the third module, you’ve forgotten all the stuff you learnt for the first. It’s better to keep each of them going across the time available to keep that knowledge ‘live’.
Motivation
Dr Stella Cottrell explains how to stay motivated for exams and assignments.
People are very individual in their motivations. Know yourself. If you respond to rewards, set yourself rewards. If you respond well to challenges, set yourself challenges for how well or how quickly you complete aspects of your revision.
Some students maintain motivation if they mix a range of studying practices over the course of their allocated study time. Reading, making notes, researching and organising thoughts in one session can prove more interesting than for example, just reading for one hour. Splitting tasks up over a long period of time can keep you engaged.
What should you do with a mental block?
Take a break and do something different rather than forcing it. Change tack - try a different approach and see if that yields different results, or read something different; the same material can be presented in a more engaging or accessible manner by a different writer, and that may prompt your thinking in a new direction.
Any other tips for taking the stress out of assessment?
Planning how to spend your time before you sit down can help relieve stress levels. Instead of a mid-study realisation that you are on the wrong track, consider what the assessment is asking of you in advance. Try and retain some perspective with regards to other assignments you have to complete. Over stretching yourself or forfeiting time allotted to other aspects of your life can bring on unwanted stress.
Various things can hightened stress levels even more like if you are studying on an intensive one year postgraduate course.
Still feeling overwhelmed?
'If you are having problems with your subject, then the best person to visit is the course director or a lecturer who teaches on the relevant module,' says Kathleen.
'If you’re feeling that you don’t have appropriate learning strategies, then many institutions have learning skills advisors who can help you to work on the practical aspects of your revision planning,’ added Dr Cottrell.
Further information