Simple New Years Resolutions to start Semester B with a bang

It’s the start of the new year and semester B is soon to begin. I wanted to share with you some of my go-to New Years resolutions that I will try to commit to for the whole of the second term in order to optimise my studying. These are so simple and I genuinely think that even you could give these a go (if they’re not on your list already).

1. Give yourself an earlier deadline

I try to get my work handed in and submitted a week before the deadline. This gives me an earlier deadline to work to and allows for emergency time should something come up that was unexpected. You may think that a week is too long, but if you start a piece of coursework early enough – it’s certainly doable.

2. Give yourself a study time allowance

So I love a good study sesh, but of course I have to be in the right headspace for it. As a motivator, I like to set myself so many hours of study time a week OUTSIDE of my room. This can be in either library, a university building, or even a group study session in the flat! For my undergrad I used to allow 15 hours a week, 3 hours a day (Monday – Friday, typically in the evenings after dinner) and then for my postgrad I do 25 hours, which is a lot easier considering I’m only in university Mondays and Tuesdays.

3. Treat university like a 9-5 job

One of the best pieces of advice I was given in my first year was by a lab technician in JBL was that he treated his undergrad like a 9-5 job. Despite his lectures and seminars, he would wake up at 8 and be ready to study for 9am and then close his laptop at 5pm that day after studying solidly (with food breaks in between). This allowed for free time in the evenings and time to work a part-time job on the weekends. He came out with a First and then went on to study for his PhD!

4. Celebrate after a submission!

If you’ve worked your absolute hardest on a piece of coursework or on an exam at the end of the term, go and celebrate submitting! You’ve put your all in this work so make the most of the pressure being lifted and being one more step closure to gaining your degree. Treat it as an accomplishment!