ā³ A Freshers Guide to Maintaining the Perfect Study-Life Balance

Freshers 2024
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Maintaining a healthy study-life balance is vital for both academic success and positive physical and mental well-being. Devoting enough time to studying and doing things you enjoy outside of university is the key to performing well. Here are some tips to help you live a balanced lifestyle as a student:

1. Find the Right Study Spots

  • Your study environment is crucial to ensuring you stay focused with limited distractions. Choose your favourite study spot near or on campus where you know you can get the work done on time. You may find it useful to set designated study hours too.

2. Create a Weekly Schedule

  • Planning your time by creating a schedule is the cornerstone to maintaining a healthy study-life balance and is a fantastic way to ensure you are managing your time effectively. Include your lecture and seminar timings and other commitments, such as work, social events, or the gym.

3. Set Realistic Goals

  • It is essential to set achievable and realistic goals. Be honest with yourself about how much you can commit each day to avoid feeling overwhelmed. And remember to celebrate these goals along the way!

4. Take Care of Your Health

  • There are many ways to look after your health during university- eat healthy and nutritious meals, get at least 8 hours of sleep, and exercise regularly. This way, you can maintain the energy needed to get through your busy schedule.

5. Spend Time with Friends and Family

  • Always take some time to meet up with friends and family, especially when you need to seek emotional and mental support.

6. Prioritise Tasks

  • Setting priorities is a great way to manage an overwhelming amount of tasks. Focus on completing the ones that are the most important and urgent. This may mean attending social festivities later on once these tasks have been carried out, which ensures efficiency.

7. Avoid Procrastination

  • Procrastination is a common challenge many university students face- it is a normal human behaviour. However, it harms our ability to stay productive. Therefore, it is recommended to break down your goals and tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks.

8. Learn To Say No

  • It is perfectly okay to say no to social events if you need to focus on your upcoming exams or assignments. It is most important to look out for yourself and your future.

9. Join a Study Group

  • Why not get the best of both worlds by studying with a group of friends! Taking part in a study group allows you to encourage and motivate eachother through your assignments and exams, making learning much more enjoyable. By combining the two, you are able to focus on your academics while socialising.

10. Take Breaks

  • Regular breaks in between long study sessions can help you unwind, recharge and rejuvinate, increasing your ability to be productive.

Conclusion
Balancing both your studies and a social life can be tough, but is essential in order for you to maintain your overall well-being. Your academic performance is important, but so is your personal life. By ensuring you create a schedule, implementing time for yourself, you will be motivated to power through that hectic week with ease!

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These tips are super helpful! Iā€™m always struggling to find that balance between studying and having a life. Do you have any specific recommendations for creating a weekly schedule that actually works? Like, how do you balance everything without feeling overwhelmed?

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Do you have any tips on how to avoid procrastination? I usually find myself leaving thigs until the last moment because I lack the motivation :weary:

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I recommend separating each of your fixed commitments such as lectures and seminars from your flexible commitments and tasks such as the gym, studying and going out. Assign dates and deadlines for each of these, making sure you prioritise the most urgent and important ones first, dedicating enough time for each. Remember to fit in regular breaks in between to avoid feeling overwhelmed and spread everything out instead of trying to squeeze a lot of commitments into one day.

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I also tend to procrastinate, however I have found that starting small is extremely useful, even if you begin with only spending 10-15 minutes on the task. Once you begin the task, it naturally becomes much easier to continue. You could even try time management methods such as the pomodoro technique developed to help individuals overcome procrastination. Always remember to look at the bigger picture and find the positive in the task you are completing to increase your intrinsic motivation.

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