Leaving school and moving onto university can feel like a fun and freeing experience. If you don’t meet those all-important work deadlines, however, or devote enough time to exam revision, there is a risk things might not turn out the way you want.
Ywione Darrell and Daniel Osset have been university students for over three years. Mr Darrell is embarking on a Masters of Science in Economics for Development at Oxford University, having completed his Bachelor’s of Science and Political Economy at Kings College, London. Mr Osset is in his final year at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, studying Finance. They shared their time-management tips for meeting all your deadlines, while still having fun.
WORK 9–5
This might be something you were hoping to put off until post-university, but they both recommended treating university like a work day. This can prevent last minute, late night cramming: “I like to work a 9 – 5, or 6,” said Mr Osset. “Have all my classes and studying within that period and take breaks, then, after that have your social time. That helps you stay focused for a set period of time. Shorter on less busy days.”
“That strategy helped me this year with my dissertation,” added Mr Darrell. “The way my course was structured, I had all my lectures the first days and for the rest of the week, I had nothing. If I treated it like an extra two days to the weekend, I would get no work done. So, I adopted that strategy.”
SCHEDULE WORK IN YOUR CALENDAR
Mr Osset recommended students use their phone calendars to help manage their time: “Break up blocks of time to do your tasks. If it’s a project, for example, set aside one hour a day to work on that project. And, when you see that block of time on your calendar, actually do it. Don’t put it off and delay another hour.”
POMODORO AND PUT THE PHONE DOWN
In order to study effectively, Mr Osset uses the Pomodoro Technique of 25-minute stretches of focused work, followed by a five minute break. During that break, however, you mustn’t look at your phone: “You work for that concentrated period and then you can take a five minute break to take some water, eat some food, walk around, but not touch your phone,” he said.
“When I don’t touch my phone for a four hour study session, I get everything done in four hours. If I touch my phone, it will take an entire day because I will message friends, get distracted.”
USE TECHNOLOGY, BUT MIX IT UP
With all the different devices available and the answer to any question being just a click away, the advantages to using technology to get your work done, are obvious, but, advised Mr Osset, do a mix: “Use technology and your laptop but also try and do some of it by hand as that will help you memorise better.”
Mr Darrell said this method stopped him getting distracted by YouTube videos: “One of the ways I try to stop myself is I study a lot by writing things down in books. Making big posters. Even for text books, go into the library in person and read, and sit, and write. I think that helps me be less stressed and helps with my time management because the Google chrome tab is not a click away.”
BALANCE
Yes, you need to work hard towards your degree, but, in order to do that most effectively, you also need down time: “Something that’s definitely underrated is how you balance working time, with time with friends to get outside and enjoy yourself,” said Mr Darrell.
“There are times at university when things are really hard, where you’re struggling. One of the things I learned to cope and help me with my time management, and help me with the deadlines that kept coming, was learning to force some moment of breaks. Force some moments to myself. Time to speak to family. That helped alleviate a lot of that stress and made me more productive when I went to put my head down.”
