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Bournemouth Girl

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in Education, Life ·

5 Helpful Study Tips To Meet Your Deadlines

Are you coming up to exam season? Do you have assignments or coursework looming, but struggle with studying? Most students feel like this at one time or another, so you are not alone.

Being in school whether that is secondary, college or university exam season can be incredibly stressful and cause a lot of people anxiety. However, learning how to cope during this time will help you not only revise better but also help you to take care of your mental health as well. Pressure can be good as it is pushes you to work harder and improves motivation, but it is important to make sure that pressure doesn’t get on top of you.

This list of study tips will be perfect for preparing for the UCAT. If you are looking to attend Medical School in the UK you will need to mentally and physically prepare for the test and then to start your studies. These small studying tips will help create the best environment and mindset to achieve success.

Here are 5 study tips that will help you to meet those deadlines and excel in your exams:

1. Organise Your Study Space

Having an organised space is important for you to be able to fully concentrate on what you are trying to do. When you have a cluttered workspace, you are more likely to get distracted by the things around you and think that they are much more interesting than studying or writing an essay for a deadline.

Have you heard the quote: ‘Tidy space, tidy mind’? This means that if you have a tidy and organised environment, you will have a clearer mind. When you think about your study space, it is not just about whether it is tidy or not; there are other considerations that you need to be aware of. What is the temperature like? Have you ever tried studying or working somewhere that was really warm, or just too hot? It is harder to focus. You need to consider making the space the right temperature and using fans, or putting the heating on, or wearing cooler/warmer clothing. Do you have good lighting? Is your workspace quiet? All of these things can affect your focus and reduce your chance of success.

2. Get Consistent Sleep

Sleep is a crucial part of living a healthy and successful life. Whilst affecting your mental health, having a consistent, good sleep routine will help you with your study and effectiveness to reach those immovable deadlines.

Having poor sleep cannot only impact on your physical and mental wellbeing, but it can inhibit your levels of concentration and focus. Research suggests that good quality sleep helps to promote cognition and memory. Sleep strengthens memories you have formed throughout the day, but also helps to correlate new memories to earlier memories. This is why they say that the best way to remember something you have just learned is to sleep on it.

Tips for a better night’s sleep include:

  1. Top drinking caffeine after 7pm
  2. Reduce your screen time an hour before bed
  3. Make sure that your bedroom is the right temperature
  4. Write down any tasks or thoughts you may be worried about before bed
  5. Move your phone away from your bed, so that it doesn’t distract you

5 people sat around a table studying together with their books and notebooks

3. Reward Yourself

Some people can work very well under pressure; in fact a certain amount of pressure is healthy because it is needed to push yourself and to be successful. However, it is important to remember to reward yourself.

Rewarding yourself helps your brain to evoke positive emotions and your brain makes a link between our effort and a positive required. When you continuously practise this, it is more likely to motivate you to accomplish the tasks or goals that you have set. Taking the time to reward yourself can offer a break in your studying schedule.

Here are some small ways you can reward yourself for reaching a goal or milestone:

  • Go for a walk
  • Watch an episode of a favourite show
  • Have a relaxing bath with bubbles or a bath bomb
  • Meet with a friend and go to a local coffee shop
  • Do a bit of online shopping
  • Phone a family member of friend to catch up

So if you are struggling to find motivation to study or work on an assignment, put a reward in place. For example, if you work on a particular assignment or study a particular topic until lunch, treat yourself to lunch out.

4. Use To-Do Lists

To-do lists have a habit of provoking productivity and satisfaction when you get to check things off your list.

When you have multiple tasks or topics to study, using a to-do list can be beneficial in achieving al the tasks because it can stop you missing deadlines as you can see what you need to achieve instead of relying on memory. Writing down your tasks can help them feel more manageable and free up space in your mind to focus on the task at hand.

5. Take Regular Breaks

When you have a bigger workload especially if you are coming up to exams and the consequence of that is you push to work harder and for longer periods of time that you would usually. This is why you should make conscious decisions to rest. Do not feel guilty for removing yourself from your workload as it can really help with your health and your studies.

Taking a break can take many forms:

  1. Watching a film
  2. Having a nap
  3. Exercise
  4. Meditate or another form of relaxation

If you do not take regular breaks, it could cause you stress, tension or anxiety. You do not want cause a burn out because you will lose concentration and be less likely to accomplish your goals.

Here are the benefits of taking rest breaks from studying:

  1. It improves memory – shorter learning sessions with breaks in between increases your concentration and helps you to memorise all new information
  2. Can give you an energy boost – rests allow your body to recover. Activities such as 20-minute power naps can be a great way to feel refreshed. But, remember to set an alarm as you do not want it to go on for hours – we have all been there!
  3. Reduces stress – research has shared that students are more likely to experience high levels of stress. So, taking breaks can help reduce or relieve those symptoms.

These are just 5 study tips that are going to help motivate you to keep focused on your studies and to help you reach those deadlines that are coming and good luck!

Do you have any study tips that work well for you? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Off a Small Island says

    Great tips! I’ll find these useful as I’m planning on taking a language course for work soon! And it feels like a lifetime since I’ve been a student now! Did you find it challenging to get back into that routine?

    Reply

    • bournemouthgirl says

      Ooo, what language course? I would love to learn another language. I actually found it quite easy to get back into it. Finding the balance was the hardest with fitting everything in.

      Reply

  5. Sunshine with Savannah says

    I’m about to do the same thing—get a certification through my work at the local college. I’m excited to get back into being a student again, and staying organized! I love your planner and all of these are great tips. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  6. Gemma Jayne says

    I love the idea of breaking down big goals into smaller ones- definitely one way to stay motivated! I also love to take regular breaks and sometimes I even time my work load and then time a break so it keeps me focused and then I work towards that break haha xx

    Reply

  10. Bexa says

    These are fantastic tips Lauren! I’m not studying anymore, but when I was I was also all about the revision cards, colourful notes and making mind maps, I think I enjoyed that more than the actual course, he he! Taking breaks are so important, I found that I got to a certain point and I just couldn’t take in any more information, so I went for a walk or had a bath and felt refreshed again. I really admire that you are working, blogging and studying, you are doing amazing! Also, where did you get the washi from in your planner? It’s so awesome, I love it! 🙂 Thank you for sharing you suggestions lovely, fab post and all the best with your studies! <3 xxxx

    Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com

    Reply

    • bournemouthgirl says

      I am not going to lie, it is difficult trying to balance everything but I am trying my best. Are you not studying anymore? I thought you were back with OU. The washi tape, was a pack and a bargain from Poundland 👌🏼 thank you lovely xxxx

      Reply

  11. Simply Michelle says

    great tips! i haven’t been a student for a few years now but these are all the things i would have done in school. planning out my day was the most important thing for me. i’d even schedule in shower breaks so i had something to look forward to xx
    mich / simplymich.com

    Reply

  12. The diary of Ellie says

    I’m not in education anymore but when i was revising for GCSE’s i couldve done with something like this, id either do too much studying or not enough and i think things like setting targets and rewards can really help!

    Reply

  22. Kim says

    These are some great tips. I’m not studying at the moment but swore by colourful notes, highlighted and mind maps in college. I’ve also adopted some of these practices in my daily working life, especially in seminars or meetings. I think taking regular breaks and reward yourself afterwards are vital, if only to prevent burn out.

    Reply

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  1. […] Working 5 days a week, studying, trying to fit in family or friends and then blogging, is very time consuming. I have definitely learned that I can fit in a lot more in my day than I thought. Using every minute I can to plan or write a blog posts, planning my weeks to ensure I have enough time to achieve each task. I have definitely become even more organised with my time. If you want to see how I plan my weeks I have posted all about it in study tips I find useful. […]

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