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I would never ever admit to biting off more than I can chew. However at 3am this morning I was still reading for my 9.15am seminar. Being up at this time without having consumed alcohol is never fun and often unproductive. I am usually quite good at time management; I do everything I have to do with time to spare for lunch and nights out. Yet this is not without effort and numerous 8am starts. Currently I am in my third year, choreographing a musical, teaching dance classes, working three shifts a week, writing for campus media, having driving lessons, preparing for Fusion 2010 and having a social life. I love being busy but at times it can be tough to fit everything in. Here are my tips for coping with a busy and sometimes stressful university lifestyle.
Procrastination is the source of all evil. Facebook is one of the best and worst inventions for a busy student. I used to look at updates and inbox messages; which I neither care about nor have time to reply to. Now instead I check Facebook twice a day, once first thing in the morning and once before I got to bed. This sounds incredibly sad but I can pick up on what I need to know without being drawn into the tedium of people’s lives.
Rely on friends to help you through. By this I do not mean ask them to write your essay for you or go buy your groceries. Friends can be excellent at calming you down. I bet if you ask half the people on your course, they are all in the same boat, just about managing to keep their heads above water. Ok, so third year is a bitch. There is more reading and less time to do it in. However let’s remind ourselves that they do not expect us to read everything off the reading lists. We are not superhuman library machines.
Since becoming a student it seems to me that there is a stigma attached to asking your tutor or supervisor for help. I regularly ask my seminar leader questions and she always answers. Why worry about not understanding a concept when you can just ask. At the end of the day we are here to learn. We are not experts so we cannot be expected to know everything back to front and inside out.
Getting stressed is probably the worst thing you can do when you are in a tense situation. I personally find that playing Sex on Fire as loud as your speakers will go is a great remedy to panic. My housemate and I often have ‘dance off the stress’ moments, largely involving jumping around and singing very loud. This kind of thing does work… trust me.
Consider how long simple tasks will take and try and stick to it. Make check lists and tick things off when you have done them. You will be able to see that jobs are being done which is an incredibly gratifying feeling.
Finally try and enjoy the stress. We are only here at uni for three years and as a third year myself I can promise you that it goes quickly. Surely we would all rather be doing something than be bored to tears? Push through the odd few hours of stress and look forward to the fun stuff. It will all be worth it in the end.
Sounds a lot like my life right now - thanks very much for your advice.
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