Time management tips
Fitting everything in and maintaining a healthy work-life balance at uni can be hard.
If you want to get more done in less time, avoid all-nighters, and have time to chill and socialise stress-free, try these efficient study techniques.
1. If you struggle to sit down and study, tell yourself you're just going to do 10 minutes
Getting started is the hard part. Once you've done those first 10 minutes, you will probably find it easy to keep going.
2. If you find it hard to focus, try the Pomodoro technique
With this method, you study for 25 minutes then take a 5-minute break, and then start the cycle again. After four cycles of this, you take a longer break. This helps keep your mind fresh.
Start a 25-minute timer and get down to some focused, intense work—no looking at your phone or getting out of your chair. It’s amazing how much you can get done in these short sprints when you commit to them. You can get phone apps that will do the timer for you.
3. If you have a hard time knowing where to start or what to focus on, try the Eisenhower Matrix
An Eisenhower matrix is a 2x2 grid that has urgency on one axis and importance on the other. To use it, consider whether tasks are urgent or important (you don’t have to draw an actual matrix—you can do this as a mental exercise—but feel free to draw one if it helps). Ideally, you should deal with things early so they don't become urgent; then you can focus on what is important. If you have a bunch of urgent tasks, tackle them immediately and get them out of the way so you can focus on what is important. Then focus on tasks based on their importance before they become urgent.
4. If you struggle to make time for things, use time blocking
time blocking is simply deciding in advance what you are going to do and when you will do it, then putting it in your calendar. It's simple and it works. Putting something in your calendar makes you more likely to do it.
Ideally, you should plan every day the night before, so when you wake up in the morning, you know exactly what you need to do and don't have to waste time thinking about it. This is a great (and simple) technique to overcome procrastination.
5. Turn your phone notifications off
You'll never be able to concentrate if you're constantly getting interrupted and distracted. Take control of your time rather than letting your phone hijack it—turn your notifications off (or at least put your phone on do not disturb mode while studying). Fewer than 1% of messages require an instant response., so save your phone for your study breaks.
Five apps to help you focus, study, and revise
Hemingway App
This free browser app will help you edit your writing to be clearer and easy to read (which makes it easier to mark).
YouTube/Brave Browser
Search for "study sounds" on YouTube and you'll find thousands of multi-hour streams of sounds or music that can help you concentrate and focus. You can choose from endless options, such as library or coffee shop background ambience, brown noise, or chilled instrumental music. And if you use the Brave Browser, its built-in ad blocker will remove ads from YouTube videos for free.
Pomodoro timers
If you want to use the Pomodoro technique, try using an app to automatically handle the timing of your study and break sessions. Pomodor is a simple timer that works in your laptop browser. And Awesome Pomodoro is a simple free phone app that does the job too.
Todoist
This is an excellent free to-do app that will help you stay organised. Unfortunately, the free plan doesn't include reminder notifications. However, it is still a feature-packed, user-friendly app that syncs between mobile and laptop.
Mindfulness apps
when you're busy or stressed, downtime is just as important as getting things done. Mindfulness apps can help you use your study breaks more effectively than scrolling social media. They are great for helping you quickly destress and mentally reset. Calm and Headspace are the two market leaders, and both have free plans. It's hard to say which is best, so why not try them both and see which one you prefer?
