Study Tips

As someone who has finished school and done university twice, I know how stressful it can be to revise for exams and do assignments. You may think February is too early to start studying but honestly the sooner the better. I thought I'd share my tips for getting through studying and writing assignments.

Write a list of all your deadlines in order

I know that may seem daunting but it's really important to have a visual of when all your deadlines are and when they're due. It will make you realise how much time you have to do each one. Plus when you finish that particular assignment it's satisfying to cross them off. Making a list of your deadlines just helps to prioritise which assignments you need to focus on. 

Start finding references early

The hardest part of assignments is finding the references to back the points you make. It may be a struggle to find some, but you do have access to the resources at your fingertips. Lectures tend to have their lecture slides available online for you and most of them will have references at the end of them. Make a note of them because your lecturers used them for a reason, and it will look even better knowing you used a reference that the lecturer recommended. Although don't just copy the references from the lecture as they will know straight away. Luckily, you'll be able to find more for yourself if you have the actual book on you. Although try to get the book early because the closer to the assignment deadline the less likely the book early because the closer to the assignment deadline the less likely the book will be available as there will be other panicked students wanting the same book. 

The importance of referencing

My biggest tip with referencing is to always go straight to the index. Content pages can only give you so much, but the index gives you the exact page number the word you're looking for is on. I spent ages going to each page and scanning it for the word then making a note of the reference if it made sense to the actual assignment. I'd highly recommend dedicating a word document to your references making a note of each one with all the details you need (like the author, year, publisher, city etc.) then listing the page number and writing out the reference. It was handy when I came to writing the assignment plus helped me to also compare references to see if I could back any of them up with each other. Referencing can be hard especially when you can't find the right reference but the sooner you get all your references down then the sooner you can get on with your assignment. Make sure you have a lot of academic sources from books and journal articles which you can find on your library's website but there's also nothing wrong with using an internet source just as long as it makes sense. Just don't forget to make a note of the reference itself as you don't want to get plagiarised. Referencing is a really important part of any essay, report, or dissertation. A tip a lecturer gave me with writing an assignment was to make a point, back it up with a reference then explain it. Sometimes back it up or even argue it with another reference that may have a similar or opposite view. Trust me your lecturer will be impressed if you do. 

Have a designated working space

I know your bed or the sofa is super comfy to work in. However, in the long run, it is not practical both mentally and physically. Your bed or sofa is the place where you relax, and you can't relax when doing an assignment as you need to focus. It's really important to either work at a desk or take yourself to the library. You need to have a dedicated spot where when you are there then you need to be productive. It will give you the right mindset when you're sitting at a desk that you should be working on an assignment and then when you're on your bed is the time you can relax. A library is a great place because you also have access to the books you need for reference but there are also fewer distractions. I recommend going to the library as soon as it opens because you're guaranteed to have a good computer. I always had a favourite spot to go to when I went to the library and was always guaranteed it when I went early. You just need to be in a productive mindset to study or do an assignment and the best place to do it is a designated working space. 

Take breaks

You think the trick is to work flat out, non-stop with no breaks whatsoever but that may cause you to get stressed out and burnt out plus make you lose the motivation to do your assignment more quickly. It's really important to take a break and I mean take a step away from your workspace for five to ten minutes or if you've worked long enough then fifteen minutes or half an hour will be good enough. It helps to clear your mind for a while and just have a little breather then when you come back to your assignment you will feel like you're looking at it with fresh pair of eyes and feel more motivated to keep going. Nobody is that good at doing assignments or studying without taking a break. Trust me.

Set a timer

It's important to dedicate enough time to study or work on the assignment. You May think you've done enough for the day, but have you? What I used to do was set myself a 2-hour timer so that during that time I was meant to be working. I'd put my phone behind me so I couldn't see it and during the time I'd use it to either find references or type up my assignment. It felt like a long time, but I also felt like I got so much done. Usually, I'd take a half an hour break after the 2 hours then if I felt up to it do another 2 hours. It may seem like a lot but that day I could say I did four hours of work which is a good amount to do really. It is very useful because then you know how much time you've spent doing your assignment or studying plus after two hours then you fully deserve that much-needed break. 

To-Do Lists

Making a to-do list honestly helps so much because it gives you a bit of structure to your study time and you're not just winging it. For example, if you're doing a dissertation then a to-do list can help you as you can do it by each research method and finding references for that or maybe a certain topic on your literature review. It will honestly help you out a lot. The trick is to put the hardest thing or the thing you dread the most first then as you go down the list then it gets easier. Plus it feels good to cross everything off when you have done it. Just remember to be realistic with what you can achieve during the day and also the list doesn't have to be that long. Even four or five things will be enough to do during the day. So definitely make a to-do list. 

Study Cards

I haven't talked much about exams but one thing that got me through exams was using study cards. I'd use these cards to put definitions on and also references because particularly in university they like you to put two or three references in your exam. Luckily, they go over the topic you're covering in the exam and recommend which authors you should know. It's just useful and you can carry them around with you. They are essential to an exam and make studying less daunting when it's on small cards. 

Talk to your lecturers/teacher

I know lecturers and teachers can be scary sometimes but honestly, they do want what's best for you. They're not mind readers so if you have an issue then tell them about it. The best thing to do is to send them an email this may lead to a face to face meeting but just prepare what you want to say to them, and everything will be fine. Another thing is to send them a draft of your assignment so they can see whether you're actually going in the right direction or completely going off track. They're not going to tell you all the answers, but they will guide you and give you some advice on how to improve. Also, they can tell you if you're referencing correctly too. It also shows them how much you care about your work as you're making the effort to try and improve. Nobody is perfect at the end of the day but don't expect to get help if you don't ask for it. 

Reward yourself

One important part of studying is when you finish studying and the best thing to do is to reward yourself. Whether it's with a nice dinner or going out with your friends or playing on a game console. At least you can tell yourself you've earned a treat after all that studying and it's good motivation to keep studying as the reward won't feel as good if you haven't studied enough during the day. So definitely give yourself a little reward or treat for your hard work because you deserve it. 

Anyway, that's all the study tips I can think of right now. I'm sure there are many more, but these are the ones that helped me out a lot during school and university. I hope they are helpful to you with your studying and assignments. I wish you all the best of luck if you do have any exams or deadlines coming up. You will do amazing. Trust me. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I'll be back again soon with another post. 

See you then. 

Megan x 

*This is not a sponsored post* 

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