How to Organise Your Time During Your Degree

When i asked my students what is the thing they used to struggle the most with, they said planning out their time

This led them to be rushed prior to handing in assignments, feeling stressed in the pressure of the degree and leading them to feel no hope

So, I created a list of 4 pillars of how to plan out your time during your degree

1) Get to know what assignments and exams you have early on in the process

Most students prioritise lectures and don’t know when their next assignment is due or when their next exam takes place until there is a lecture on it in class

The way you will get your degree is by performing in assignments. Therefore, it is essential at the start of each term to find out what assignments are in each module

If possible early on, get to know the dates each of those are due

Then strategise how you go about your module in order to meet those goals

2) Start a written assignment 4 weeks before it is due, with the goal of submitting 1 week early

In my years of experience as a tutor, I’ve realised that to get a first, it is optimal to spend approximately 3 weeks on a written assignment (except for a dissertation which takes considerably longer).

The first week is focussed on learning the content and coming up with a plan of action

The second week is focussed on writing up a draft

The final week is focussed on improving the draft for submission

If you’re like most students, you start 1 week prior to the submission being due and submit it as soon as you hit the word count

This is highly stressful for students and is the main reason they don’t achieve as they would hope and feel highly anxious during their degree

3) Start revising for exams 3 months in advance

Months 1 and 2: Rewatch on playback parts of the lectures that you struggled with and compile all your notes on the modules that you have exams on. This process always takes much longer than one thinks

Month 2: This time is focussed on memorising the content and testing yourself. Spend half of the time revising and learning content from mindmaps or notes on the walls in your home and test yourself using notecards.

Spend the other half testing yourself with essay based questions. Plan out potential essays and test yourself under time conditions

If you do these steps, you will be more ready to do your exam than not

If you could spend even more time on it, that would be all the more optimal

4) Just start by doing a bit every day

The above 3 points may sound a little daunting. It usually does when I first tell clients that these are the most important factors for success in their degree

But, they feel empowered to take on the challenge when I tell them to achieve their goals, they simply need to start but doing a little bit every day

That little bit will slowly grow into something more

And before you know it you’ll be thriving