Dealing with deadlines

With deadline season very much upon us and with students more uncertain than ever, it has never been more important to understand the best way to deal with those dreaded deadlines.

Whilst I’m definitely not an expert and I am definitely the king of procrastination, here are some of the tips and tricks that I have found helpful to deal with my deadlines.

Give yourself a plan of action

This is probably the best piece of advise I can give. As a huge procrastinator, I will do literally anything to get out of doing what I’m supposed to be doing. But, when a plan of action is put in place, it gives you a step-by-step guide to what you need to do and how to complete it. With this, it takes a lot of the thinking out of what you’re doing, so you can just get it done.

Understand the importance of juggling

I know this may come as a shock to you, but it’s probably inevitable that you will need to juggle deadlines.  With your plan of action in place, however, you should be able to map out exactly what needs to be done for any given topic/module, so you have the most amount of time to complete it to the best of your ability.

As well as this, once you understand that you will have to work on multiple assignments at once, you will have a better understanding of exactly what you need to do and potentially reduce your time-wasting on any particular module. From past experience, when you have time to work on just one thing, you’re likely to overthink it and cause yourself much more stress… trust me, you’re doing fine!

Take time off

Whilst you may think you have to spend your entire life dedicating yourself to crafting the most amazing essay imaginable, you’re wrong. You’re a young adult, you’re at uni – you are allowed to have some fun! It’s equally as important to take some time off and enjoy yourself than it is knuckling down and doing work. Stay in tune with who you are and what you like do for fun – don’t let the deadlines consume you, because that can cause even more problems. Whilst at the moment you might not be able to go out for a coffee, or spend your night dancing with your friends – there’s still plenty of fun to be had. Paige gives you lots of great ideas for things to do during lockdown in her latest post!

These are just a small selection of my best tips for how to deal with the dreaded deadlines. If you’d like to learn more about how students are dealing with deadlines, I’d recommend the Fresher Take Podcast – available to listen to on all major streaming sites like Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Remember to stay safe, have fun, and try not to stress!

This article is also featured on Learning at Lincoln. 

Please note: This content was created prior to Coronavirus, and some things might be different due to current laws and restrictions. Please refer to the University of Lincoln for the latest information.