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ALWAYS checked my feedback comments from exams and essays, then I made sure I was doing
what they suggested in my current and future pieces of work
I always studied at the time of day that worked best for me - I was motivated in the evenings so I
tended to keep those free
Ask for help when you need it - dont struggle through
Getting a good nights sleep and eating well (not necessarily healthy as Im not too good at that,
but getting 3 solid meals) helped me massively
I found a study spot that helped me and made sure I ONLY did studying there which helped me
feel motivated as I didnt associate that room with anything other than school work
I listened to studying playlists which made me so much more concentrated
I took breaks! And went out with my friends! and had days off!
get a good nights sleep the night before (8-9 hours if you can)
stay hydrated - make sure you drink 2 litres of water a day and take a bottle of it into your exam
as well
eat a good breakfast that will give you energy through the day (porridge and a banana maybe)
maintain a good file-folder system for all your notes and assignments (use lots of labels, different
folders, colours etc just find something that works for you and stick to it!)
write everything down on a task list so you never lose track of what you need to get on with
similar to the above, keep an agenda / planner and actually use it!
make sure everything has a place - you wont lose anything then. Always know where you keep
books, notes, school supplies etc
Pack your school bag the night before!
ALWAYS GET FEEDBACK. This applies to everything but especially for getting and
maintaining firsts. When you get a marked assignment back, follow their instructions very closely.
Itll tell you where youve lost marks and where youve gained marks, so process these comments
and then youll know what to do / not do on your next assignment. If you still feel like you need
more info about the good and bad parts of your assignment, arrange a meeting with the tutor to go
through it. Feedback is invaluable and you wont achieve a first without being proactive with this.
Treat your degree like a full time job. Being a full time student doesnt mean its okay to only
study when you feel like it - you need to put the time in and make that time count. Set schedules
and stick to them! My best advice for time management would be to work backwards from your
deadline and set little goals along the way so you know when you need to have things done by.
Do a lot of reading. The wider youve read, the more comprehensive your understanding of the
topic will be. Its no good finding a perfect reference to build your argument around without
having some others to use as further evidence. You might even find a few differing opinions
which is always good.
Dont forget to give your own opinion! If you immerse yourself into your studies and show a
genuine interest in what youre writing about then youll start to form your own opinions on the
topic along the way. Dont be afraid to share these in your assignments! It shows your ability to
think individually rather than taking an academics word as being the only opinion out there.
- I usually remove myself from the task (i.e. if Im sat at my desk trying to do work Ill move away from
it and go in another room), then I tend to pop onto Tumblr to get some motivation from seeing others
being productive and motivated.. setting myself a little deadline with a reward at the end usually helps too.
1. Get enough sleep. Your brain needs it. Set yourself a bed time and fall into the routine of going
to bed and waking up at the same times each day.
2. Drink water and lots of it. Aim for 2 litres a day. This ones easy, you can do it. Ditch the juices
and carbonated beverages, just add a slice of lemon to your water if you feel like something fancy.
3. Allow yourself to switch off. Dont be afraid to read books that have nothing to do with your
studies. Go to the cinema. Work out. Take your mind away from your workload.
4. Take care of your skin. Wash your face every morning and night. Moisturise after every shower
and bath. Dont go to bed with your make-up on, no matter how tired you are.
5. Talk to your friends and family about something other than school. Dont let your studies detach
you from the things going on around you.
6. Work out. Even just once a week, or whenever you can. Go for a walk or a run, maybe just for 15
minutes. Follow along with a YouTube exercise video from the comfort of your own home or try
out some yoga moves.
7. Make time for your hobbies. Studying is your full time job, but theres plenty of hours left in the
day. Dont neglect the things you love.
8. Cook. Sometimes all we have time for is microwave noodles, but dont fall into the habit of
relying on the basics. Youll feel the difference.
9. Dont forget to laugh. Watch a hilarious film. See a comedian at a local venue. Watch funny
videos on YouTube. Reminisce with friends. Itll do you good.
10. Ditch the caffeine. Dont rely on Starbucks. Its delicious but you dont need it. Save up all the
money youd usually spend on coffee and treat yourself to something instead.
11. Make your bed every morning. Youll be grateful at the end of a long day when you can get into a
cosy bed that doesnt look like you just rolled out of it.
Trust me when I say that there are times that I couldnt bring myself to study no matter what.
Motivation is peculiar and unfortunately youve got to want it it wont just come about suddenly. Be
strict with yourself and establish a routine of studying that you can fall in to with our without the
motivation that you are reliant on. Once studying becomes a habit for you it will be much easier to
get everything done, and you wont be as conscious of whether you feel like doing it or not.
19.I do a lot of extracurricular activities, so its hard to find time for me to do my homework
and study. What should I do?
I think its important to find the balance. I would recommend printing out a weekly planner (I have a
selection on my printables page) and starting by marking on there the hours you are committed to
i.e. time spend at school, travel time, extra curricular activities. Next, mark on meal times, shower
times and sleeping time. By now, you should see where youre true free time is. Are there any clear
gaps? Are your weekends free? Identify these times and contemplate whether youll realistically be
able to complete all your studying during these times. Think about how it would work at busy times of
the year, when you have a lot of tests or essays. If you dont think youd have enough time, it might be
time to scale back your involvement in your extra-curricular activities. These activities are important
and rewarding, but your grades shouldnt suffer because of it.
20.Should I use one large folder / ring binder or lots of smaller ones?
This really depends on your workload and how much you want to carry each day / how far you have
to carry it. At university I preferred to keep all my notes in one folder as I didnt need to take them to
class with me. I would write in a notebook and then transfer that page into a section of my ring
binder when I got home. For A-Levels and GCSEs where youre likely to have a lot more work, I
would recommend keeping a separate folder for each subject. Dont take these to school everyday
though. Invest in an acordian organiser which you can take to school each day with a specific
section for each class.. that way you can just take the notes or pieces of homework you know you are
going to need.
From my experience, time management and effective planning are the two essential elements
necessary for doing well with essays. Lets think about them both:
Time management: This is really important as you dont want to rush your essays or run out of time
through poor planning. The day your essay is assigned, come up with a rough timetable of when you
want to get it finished by. From my experience, it is easier to plan your time by working backwards
from the submission date. I like to leave myself at least 4 days between the essay submission date and
the date I actually finish the essay, just for ease of mind. I find that when I finish the essay early my
mind is more relaxed and I never have to deal with last minute essay panics. My essay technique is to
gather all my references / readings, then plan a structure, then write the essay. It usually takes me 2
weeks to write the essay (possibly less or more depending on the word count though!) and half a week
to a week of checking / proofreading / editing, so I factor those areas into my plan. Gathering
references usually takes me 2-3 weeks. Seen as at my university we were given at least 5 weeks to
write our essays, this worked out for me and I always adapted my plans depending on how
comfortable I felt with the essays and what other work I had to complete during this time.
Planning: Ive already discussed some of this in the context of time management, but essay planning
is really important. Fail to plan, plan to fail. A teacher once told me that and Ill never forget it -
and its true! I like to gather all my references and readings prior to writing the essay and then
structuring it around those readings. If you read enough relevant material youll find that your essay
starts to structure itself. If youre struggling with structure, have a look at your lecture notes as this
might give you an idea of how the lecturer / professor structured the relevant class/classes for that
essay. Once youve done this, structure your references according to relevance and how they relate to
each other. Remember that its okay to have references which show conflicting opinions, and it can
also be a great idea to show your own opinions or reflections - this is essential in your conclusion. I
like to make a rough essay plan with my references and ideas which is about half my word count /
page count - this makes it much easier to write it up formally in a format that can be submitted. I also
found it was easier to write my introduction after Id written the rest of the essay. This might sound
strange, but I struggle with introductions and it was much easier to write when I already had the
essay sorted!
I have an essay planning printable which may help you with essay writing.
22.My friend wants to borrow my notes but I am reluctant to give them to her. What should I do?
Situations like this can be tricky, and there isnt one set way that you should go about letting your friend
know how you feel. I think its important to make it clear to them that they wont learn in the way theyre
supposed to if theyre just copying your work. Encourage them to study themselves, which you could
maybe facilitate through group study sessions where you each take one subject to learn and then feed
that back to each other as a teacher would do.
23.I have a blank notebook and I dont know how to fill it. What do you suggest?
There are many ways that you can make use of empty notebooks. Here are a few ideas:
Make it into a 'one line a day diary .. split each page into 5 sections and then write one sentence
a day on each page for 5 years. This is a great way to look back and see what you were doing in
the past!
Use it as a list making book. Keeping lists is a great way to stay on top of your workload.
Make it into your own personal dictionary.. every time you find a word you dont understand /
want to remember write it down with its definition in the notebook.
get a lot of questions about how I take my lecture notes, and so I thought a quick post might be
helpful! Ive said many a time that I dont do anything too complex with my notes, nor do a re-
write them - but this system really works well for me!
Each section of the lecture is given a subheading, which I will underline - again after the class has
ended, usually at home. I use the subheadings which feature on the PowerPoint, but rather than
writing the information shown on those I base my notes off of what the lecturer is saying.
Indentations
I indent my writing for examples and for the text that follows them, as you can see with 'the
diggers and my definitions of the green economy. I find this makes it much easier to identify and
follow as you re-read your notes.
I use little right-angle arrows like you can see at the top of the page for my 'follow through
points, which act as consequences for the point that is mentioned above. I will use three dots
{like this } as a symbol for 'therefore. It concludes the points that I have made and is usually
based off of how the lecturer has summarised the point they are making. This makes my notes
much more coherent.
I hope this has been informative and has maybe given you a few ideas on how to do your own
lecture notes! xo
P S A: W HAT IS R E V IS IO N?
Do you ever see studyblrs taking about revision and not know what it means? Do you wish you knew
how to revise?
Well revision is defined as rereading work done previously to improve ones knowledge of a subject,
typically to prepare for an examination. So essentially, revision is an umbrella term which applies to
the act of studying for an exam. Chances are, if you didnt know what revision was before now, then you
were already revising without even realising!
As far as I know, revision is a term more commonly used here in the UK {sorry, it may be used elsewhere
too} we dont tend to use the term studying as much as revision. Also, when you hear people talking
about revision it will most likely always be applied in the context of tests and examinations, but broadly
speaking you could also revise an essay through redrafting and editing.
Always always always get feedback on work you submit, assignments, tests and exams - take it
all on board and make sure you act on the feedback! Dont just ignore it because its hands down
the best way to bring your grades up in my opinion.
Actually study. good grades dont just happen youve got to work for it
study actively
Always ask if you dont understand something. Teachers are there to help you and you shouldnt
neglect their potential to help you when you need it the most.
Make your lifestyle conjunctive with good study habits - practice efficient time management, eat
well, plan everything and get a proper nights sleep.
2. plan everything
13.11.14, 2:39pm // I am the worst at making unrealistic to do lists which ultimately makes me
lose my motivation, so today Ive kept it short and concise which is working so much better for
me.
14.11.14, 12.27pm // I love these long, lined post it notes (pictures left under the book tabs) for
making notes from literature that I can use in my essay. My to do list is concise again today and is
a mix of academic and personal. #friyay
16.11.14, 12:35pm // today my to do list is short as I want to devote the majority of my time to
working out all the phrasing and grammatical mistakes in my essay. This part of essay writing
can have a really big influence on your grade! Im also keeping my pens in this cute mason jar.
17.11.14, 14:32pm // whats on my desk?
laptop, usually on an essay or tumblr
a mason jar filled the most used items in my pencil case
a refillable cup, usually filled with water
my academic diary, complete with 1000 post-it notes of things I need to remember!
clean post-its for those mental sparks
earphones - classical music makes me study harder!
burts bees lip balm
22.11.14, 16:09pm // its official, I am in love with sharpie pens. Theyre so ergonomic for me
compared to the triplus fine liners, and dont smudge or print through the page. Win! They way
they make my handwriting look gives me all kids of feelings.
16.1.2015, 4:51pm // sometimes Im just not in the mood for studying on my laptop. Pen
and paper is so much more satisfying (and less distracting hah)
Adobe Acrobat DC - amazing for reading PDFs on the go! I used this all the time for journals and
ebooks.
Google Calendar - make the calendar on your PC then sync it with the one on your phone. I
always recommend people to have a proper, tangible planner but having an electronic version is
also great for on the go.
8Tracks - because listening to study playlists is the greatest.
Google Drive and Google Docs - get into the habit of backing your work up onto Google Drive.
If you download these two apps you can make your documents available offline to read
through/edit from your device. Probably works best for iPad.
Pomodoro - this is a good app for using the 20 minute work/5 minute break technique. Itll keep
you motivated!
http://theorganisedstudent.tumblr.com/post/123257118689/hi-i-was-just-wondering-what-your-best-
tips-are
http://theorganisedstudent.tumblr.com/post/123246105762/hi-ellen-ive-been-really-inspired-lately-
from
http://theorganisedstudent.tumblr.com/post/123239300772/hi-ellen-any-tips-on-what-to-do-when-
one-feels