In case you are new to this space – hi, I’m Bianca. In the final term of my MSc Management degree at the point of writing. The workload’s tough (would even dare say it has been way more intense than my Biochemistry degree), and you can imagine me as a swan paddling hard beneath the waters to stay afloat whilst trying my absolute best to appear like everything’s going fine on the surface.
Nah I’m joking. I can be more of a sinking ship at times.
But as much as how hectic and messy my life probably sounds like, I thought of sharing a little bit about how I try to introduce order (and calm) amid the chaos. Let’s get right into it.
Forget about following someone else’s routine. Figure out what works for you
You may have come across those “14-hour Study with Me” or “My 5 AM Revision Routine” YouTube videos, met that one stereotypical model student who always seems to be on top of whatever they are doing, or believe that there is a specific work routine that everyone ought to be adhering to in order to maximise productivity. Well, to a certain extent, I would agree that there are several best practices you may want to seriously incorporate into your lifestyle such as not pulling all-nighters every single day and not leaving things to the last minute (for obvious reasons).
However, I still believe that university is a time for you to experiment with different studying methods. Try to figure out your learning style, optimal study time, environment, duration, whether solo or group study works best for you, music or no music, and so on. And the simplest reason for that is – everyone’s different!
Some of us can wake up to study straightaway at 5 o’clock in the morning, whilst others may have the best memory at 1 am in the kitchen. Sometimes your friend works best when studying in his or her bedroom, and you may need a silent library and a mug of coffee to fully concentrate. What’s more, if you are the type who needs to take a break from reading every 15 minutes – that’s okay, and there’s absolutely no need for you to compare yourself to a friend who can be glued to a desk for six hours without breaking focus!
Remember to draw boundaries between your work and life
Especially during COVID-19 times, it can be very easy for all of us to fall into the trap of working without giving ourselves a break. At least for me, I’m certainly the type who will get exhausted from sitting at the desk for a long time (heck, even an hour might be a bit of a stretch at times).
So, do make it a priority to do other things like exercising, cooking, reading a book because you want to, talking to a friend, going out to buy yourself a snack from Tesco’s, take a nap… basically, anything besides studying.
Basically, the key thing to take note of is that taking regular breaks – even if it is for only ten minutes – can actually help you to regain your energy and focus, and it can be a way to help you “stay sane” amidst an intense degree!
