How to Become an Academic Weapon - A Guide to Time Management in University

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 How To Become An Academic Weapon

A Guide To Time Management In University


 

Thursday 14th December 2023


By Ria Jassal, Kennise Friday, Grace Toy and Asha Distelbrink

 

Have you recently started at university? Are you being engulfed by assignments, exams and deadlines whilst trying to balance your sleep and social life? If so, we are here to help you to master your new schedule.


 

Deadlines



The amount of deadlines you will have at university can be overwhelming, so it is important to create strategies for managing your work. This will make things so much easier for you!

 


 

Procrastination means putting off work until a while after you intended to do it, which may affect the quality of your work. It is important to set yourself your own deadlines, and hold yourself accountable in meeting them. Ariely and Wertenbroch (2002) found that students found their own deadlines more effective, which also increased the quality of their assignments.

 

 

Another way of managing deadlines is by having a planned-out schedule. UCL and University of Warwick advise that you should prepare for your assignments in advance. This is important because by staying organised, your assignments and deadlines will seem less overwhelming, which can also increase your motivation to work. This may also include organising academic tools for your work, such as Notion and Quizlet.


Downtime



Time pressure can negatively impact mental health (Zuzanek, 1998). Therefore, ensuring that you always have some personal time during each week is a way of prioritising your mental wellbeing and a form of self-care. Everyone’s version of downtime will be different as individuals enjoy different activities;  including things like meditation, a break from social media, going for walks or a calm night in with friends. 

 

 

Having personal time has proven to decrease stress levels and potentially lead to improved performance in academic achievement (Pearsall et al, 2023). So even if you feel guilty for not studying for a day for the sake of your mental health, it will have a positive effect on your academics in the long term.  

 

 

The pomodoro technique is a method that involves combining productive tasks with break intervals for downtime. For instance, you can take a 20-minute break for each hour you study or a 5-minute break for each half hour studied but this can be adjusted to suit your needs. This method has helped improved procrastination and the ability to focus on individual tasks (Dizon et al, 2023). 



 

Social life



It can be hard to find time to do both your coursework, and to meet people at university. Although you may want to focus on your studies, finding time to do activities outside of your course is important at university, so building time management skills is very crucial. 

 

 

 

One way to manage this is to create a schedule. Planning your week out not only means you are setting aside time for both social events and work, these social events will give you encouragement to complete your work so that you can hang out with people without the idea of your work taking over your thoughts (Shah, 2023). 

 

 

 

Another way to balance academics and a social life is to join a society or sports club. It works in a similar way of having encouragement, but the club will have pre-determined dates to meet (i.e sports clubs will have training and matches set in a week), making it easier to plan around, and to build relationships as you’ll see the same people often thanks to the club (Khan, 2023).

 

 

Sleep schedule



Whilst at university, it is so important to maintain a healthy work-life balance and one imperative way of doing so is making sure you get the right amount of sleep every night. This is because insufficient sleep can result in poor focus and reduced cognition all the while putting yourself at higher risk for developing an illness (Singh & Pacheco, 2023).


An adult requires 8-10 hours of sleep every 24 hours and the benefits of sticking to this schedule are immense. Not only can getting a good sleep boost your immune system by producing more T cells but also helps to improve your mood and regulate your blood sugar (Gallagher, 2021).


 
A few tips for ensuring you are able to stick to a sleep schedule is by having a regular routine, sometimes known as ‘sleep hygiene’ (Suni & Vyas, 2023). By creating habits such as going to bed at a fixed time you can allow yourself to wind down beforehand. This could look like doing mediation, reading a book, or simply listening to music.
  


Maintaining a positive sleep schedule will not only fulfil you personally but also academically. Thus do try it for a few days and simply observe the beneficial changes within yourself!


References


Ariely, D., & Wertenbroch, K. (2002). Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self-Control by Precommitment.

Psychological Science, 13(3), 219-224. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00441

 

Dizon, R. J., Ermitanio, H. D., Estevez, D. M., Ferrer, J., Flores, S. J., Fontanilla, K. M., ... & Sugay, J. (2023). The effects of pomodoro technique on academic-related tasks, procrastination behavior, and academic motivation among college students in a mixed online learning environment. Globus: Journal of Progressive Education A Refereed Research Journal.


Gallagher, A. (2021 October 27). Eight benefits of a good n night's sleep. Private healthcare.

                https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/benefits-good-night-sleep

 

Khan, J. (2023). A students's guide to balancing academics and social life https://www.vitastudent.com/en/blog/productivity/a-students-guide-to-balancing-academics-and-social-life/

 

Morley, D. (2021). How to manage a heavy workload. https://our.warwick.ac.uk/how-to-manage-a-heavy-workload/


Pearsall, J. L., Beffert, U., & April, D. T. (2023). Clinical to Simulation Ratio: The Impact on Quebec Nursing Students’ Success, Cognitive Load, and Mental Well-Being. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 78, 18-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2023.02.006 


Singh, A., & Pacheco, D. (2023, December 8). Why do we need sleep? Sleep Foundation. 

                https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/why-do-we-need-sleep


Suni, E., & Vyas, N. (2023, December 8). Mastering sleep hygiene: Your path to quality sleep. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene

 

Warwick Business School. (2023). How I balance my studies and social life. https://www.wbs.ac.uk/blogs/student/undergraduate/how-i-balance-my-studies-and-social-life/

 

UCL (2023). 7 ways to manage several assessments and deadlines. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-business-school-health/news/2023/apr/7-ways-manage-several-assessments-and-deadlines

 

Zuzanek, J. (1998). Time use, time pressure, personal stress, mental health, and life satisfaction from a life cycle perspective. Journal of Occupational Science, 5(1), 26-39 https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.1998.9686432 

 

 

  

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