Sunday 12 April 2015

Monday Student hack!- How to survive deadline week(s)




We have all been there.... High School, College and University the likes!
We have all had the pressure of having a deadline for work... and in the UK we are very time sequential and have to have strict timely measures in place to ensure society is rolling on positively. 
I currently have 8 deadlines for the next two weeks, sadly they are mostly on the same days ie i have three deadlines to hand in on Wednesday next week. 
I thankfully do not have any exams this semester but instead my uni have decided to hump me with deadlines :))))

So to survive... or my manual to survive the deadline week, otherwise known as the Apocalypse.

1) SLEEP!!! do not go out... I know the temptation is HUGE but it is so much better to get all your work done and out the way. Of course, you can look forward to the idea that when you are done your deadlines you can get as drunk/ pished/ trollied/ tabled as you like and dance like a maniac. But seriously guys, sleep is your friend... its your guardian angel. How good and underrated is sleep? Sleep loves me and I love sleep.
When your friends are calling you names for not coming out because you are "whipped" by your uni, you can laugh at them knowing that they will end up with early wrinkles and bad livers while you welcome your friend, sleep into bed with you. 

2) MAKE A TO-DO LIST!!! this might be the Monica Geller that possesses me here, but I love completing lists. I love making lists... I love the very being of lists. Just organizing your time into slots to get something done. It makes it clear and concise... and if you want, you can colour code your Freedom times to make it more fun. 

3) SPOTIFY IS YOUR FRIEND!!! so spotify has this wonderful category called Genre... You can listen to the most chilled out music while you work and you actually can be so much more productive. Actually, as a researched article i read recently, by listening to music that is played in the background of games such as Super Mario Bros will help your productivity because it is tuned to make you concentrate on whatever you are doing. And while I can never say I have tried this, it makes perfect sense and I would like to try it at some point. 




4) GET A CALENDAR AND MARK DOWN ALL OF YOUR DEADLINES FOR EACH MODULE!!! this is a huge main chunk of deadlines... if you miss them... you are pretty much screwed. But if you make sure that you have a date to work to then you may get along better! So organize yourself at the beginning so you know what to work for and when to have things in place. Trust me, this will make your life less confusing.

5) ORGANISE A NIGHT OUT FOR AFTER ALL OF YOUR DEADLINES!!! if you have something to look forward to you can force yourself to get things done quickly and efficiently. By having this celebratory night out for when you have finished all of your deadlines you may actually work faster and be more positive. Because if you succeed or screw it all up you will be able to drink and party. And what student doesn't love that?


6) PERHAPS WAIT TO ORGANISE A NIGHT OUT FOR AFTER YOUR DEADLINES!!! this could also be a counter-productive move. I was supposed to be studying for one of my many exams in Germany in early January but got too wrapped up in my Birthday party plans... I spend most of studying time organising and buying things for an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party. The theme alone took about 2/3 days to come up with. So just ensure that if you are making plans for after your deadline week(s) you are not taking away too much time to study and write. 

7) TAKE BREAKS DURING EACH DAY!!! I cannot stress how important this is to you. I Tried so many days in Germany not having dinner because I just did not have the time for it. This was partly due to the fact that I had left things to the last minute and had to rush to finish things, which is also terrible... but we are not talking about me here... Just 15 minutes per hour and a half worked can reassemble the brain and help you focus more. 

8) HARVARD REFERENCING IS A BITCH SO USE AN ONLINE GENERATOR!!! Neils toolbox is the best thing in the world. I mean seriously, it is a life saver. http://www.neilstoolbox.com/index.htm is the link, you will want to visit it to get these annoyances out of the way!

9) TRY NOT TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT PARAGRAPH OR QUESTION YOUR FRIENDS ARE ON!!! Just because they seem to be further on that you does not mean that they are going to get a greater mark. You could be taking your time with your work but that does not in any way mean that you are passing by less than your friend. Or failing. However, if they are finished their work and you have not started yet, you should probably get your finger out (ew) and get on with you work quickly. 

10) DO NOT STRESS!!! after having years of strict deadlines, it is important to know that you should not get too stressed out about these things. Seriously, being stressed will cause mistakes. If you ever feel like you're getting to the point where you are saying "I cannot do this" then that means you are stressed. De-stress by taking a breath, go for a run, take the dog out a walk. You need to take a break and get your thoughts together.
And most importantly, MAKE SURE YOU GET THESE DEADLINES DONE!
getting them finished earlier than you require is excellent. 

Good luck City cats and I hope you pass everything well!

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