While you may not be cheering the end of the winter holidays, the start of semester 2 marks the halfway point for the year. Which means the end of the year (and the summer holidays) are just around the corner. But before you get to pop on your denim shorts and hit the summer festival circuit, you’ve got to make the most of the next four months of uni.
If the most productive thing you did all winter holidays was binge-watch season 6 of Game of Thrones, then check out our 5 tips to help you get organised and get sh*t done this semester.
Plan out your due dates
The last thing you want when the sun finally returns at the end of spring is to be stuck inside cramming for exams and finishing up all your assignments because you didn’t start early enough. Sit down at the start of the semester with your class syllabi and assignment due dates and add them to your diary or calendar. You’ll probably have a few weeks where everything is due and the sooner you plan for this, the better. Also note down any weekends away you’re planning, special events or the release date of your favourite Netflix series (hey, you can’t study all the time!).
Schedule time for each assignment
So it might feel a bit premature to start on that assignment the very day you receive it, especially when it’s not due for months. But the sooner you get started, the sooner you can figure out what resources you’ll need and whether you need to ask your lecturer to clarify anything for you. As soon as you have your assignment due dates, schedule out chunks of time to work on them. Break out your sessions into researching, writing and editing, then add it all to your schedule. You’ll feel a whole lot less stressed handing in a well-written and researched essay the morning it’s due (plus you’ll be able to hit the uni bar early for a celebratory drink).
Take advantage of on-campus resources
Chances are your uni offers a whole heap of resources to help you succeed now and when you finally graduate. But very few students actually make the most of these. Not only can these save you time and money (free health checkups FTW), they can also help you maximise your study efforts and improve your results. Check out your uni’s student services portal for everything from study skills classes, free tutoring, career advice, housing and legal advice, and health services.
Review your goals and progress
If you made some goals at the start of the year, now’s the time to review them. Take out your planner (or wherever you wrote your goals down) and use this as a chance to check in with your progress and where you might need to adjust. Ask yourself the following questions: Have you achieved any of your goals? Have any of them changed? Are you on track to achieve the rest in the time you set? And if you haven’t set any goals yet, now’s your chance. Think about what you’d like to achieve in this year and create some short-term goals that will help you reach them.
Find yourself an accountability partner
The thing is, when it comes to uni, you have to develop a lot of motivation and self-discipline, but those skills don’t come easy to a lot of us. We know that it’s often a lot easier to reach our goals when we’ve got someone beside us, encouraging, motivating and working towards something similar. Don’t feel like you have to go it alone. Enlist a friend or classmate and schedule regular study sessions, where you can review your coursework, chat about what you learned in class and help each other with your assignments.
Ready to tackle the new semester? Students get 10% off all year round – just sign up here.
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Article expertly written by our friends at Mi Goals.
