Are you struggling to manage your time at university? The Ivory Research team has put together some tips on how you can get the most out of your time and enjoy a healthy study-life balance.
Being at university is all about managing your time between work and fun. Just because you’ve got some assignments to do, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself! As long as you’re strict with your time management you can do both and still feel productive. It’s also no secret that time management is a valuable skill for employers so it’s a good one to perfect! If you want to know how to manage your time wisely at university then keep reading.
A good way to manage all your work is to write a list. Whatever it is you need to do, jot it down on a piece of paper. You can even put them into an order if you think that will make things easier. Then you simply tick them off as you go. Lists are particularly helpful because it means you won’t forget anything important. You might find yourself adding stuff throughout the day or the week too to ensure you’re always on top of your workload. It’s a great idea to keep everything in one place. It can also feel really motivating to realise how much you’ve completed so far when you get to tick it off!
There’s nothing more useful for managing your time than creating a schedule. Especially when you might have set lessons or activities to work around, drafting up a schedule will make it easier to navigate. First put in your most important activities such as lessons and then plan some study time alongside. It doesn’t have to be much, an hour a day can be effective but as long as it’s enough for you to feel like you’re making progress. Of course, it’s also important to give yourself some time to socialise with friends and even participate in societies. Your downtime can be just as valuable.
When you’ve got a lot of work to conquer, one of the easiest ways to manage it all is to prioritise what comes first. This can be done in your schedule if you think it will help! Using your upcoming deadlines is a good idea to make sure any assignments or revision is done in a timely manner. If your deadlines are all around the same time, making sure to prioritise the more time-consuming work will be best choice. If you get those out of the way first you’ll feel relieved and you can then focus on the smaller stuff. You know better than anyone which work is most important so use that knowledge to guide you.
Not everybody can focus on their work while at home and that’s why finding a place to study can be super useful. Especially in student accommodation, it can be noisy and busy which is never a good environment to work in. If you can’t concentrate then it’s going to take you far longer to complete your work and you don’t want to be wasting time! Better alternatives could be the library or even a quiet coffee shop. You’re more likely to be productive in these kinds of spaces and it could save you plenty of time. Find where’s best for you to get stuck in.
Uni work isn’t always easy and that’s why it’s important you ask for help when you need it. If you’re looking to manage your time well, then wasting it fretting over something you don’t understand won’t do you any favours. Instead email your lecturers with anything you’re struggling with and see if they can help. They will most likely have all the answers you’re looking for so it’ll be worth it in the end. It’s also a good idea to forward drafts to your lecturers if they’re happy to read them. That way you can make steady progress using their advice.
Nothing is going to waste your time more than you getting distracted. If you really want to work effectively then limiting your distractions is what’s going to help. Get yourself set up in your quiet location and remove anything that’s going to steal your attention. And yes, we do mean your phone. It can feel really good to zone out of everything for a while and focus on your studies. You can always have breaks when they’re needed but make sure you get your work completed first.
If there’s anything that will really help you manage your time, it’s using the tools and resources available to you. There’s pretty much everything you could ever need online these days so it’s always good to use that to your advantage. Ivory Research is a UK based academic writing and editing company that sets out to help students with their academic work. They have native English writers ready to help you with everything from assignments to dissertations. This could be exactly the tool you’re looking for! They’re even offering an exclusive 10% off when you use code UKSTUDY at checkout.
How do you manage your time at uni? If you have any tips to share with us then we’d love to read them.