Heyo!
Deadline season is well and truly upon us, and I know that
my fellow third-years are really feeling the pressure with all of the deadlines
surrounding us, as well as the dreaded dissertation. I am counting down the
days until I hand in my dissertation and all of my other assignments before
Easter, so I can have some much-anticipated (and well deserved) time off from
university work for a bit.
I have been so busy with university work that I didn’t
actually realise that last week was a reading week for the whole university, so
I could’ve gone home had I realised and booked the train tickets in advance.
This new crushed me, but I decided to do the best I could with my current
assignments and booked pods at uni every day to get as much work done as
possible. I managed to go in for five out of the seven days off, and I feel
that this was a very good accomplishment as usually I only have uni 2-3 times a
week because of the coursework-based modules I have chosen. I then went to
university all of this week, trying to do even more work so I could have this
weekend off and go and do something fun and different. I’ve ventured out to
Kent for a couple of days of much-needed friend and fun time, seeing Matt for
his 21st birthday and catching up with some pals. Even though it’s
five-and-a-half hours there and the same back on Monday, I know it’s worth it
(and it worked out half price to do it this way, I’m a sucker for savings so
saving £25 gave me JOY!)
I have been able to do a fair amount of university work on
the way to Matt’s, I’ve done another 700 words of my dissertation, fix my
referencing, have a nap, plan my marketing report in full and re-read the first
100 pages of Helter Skelter for an essay I have due in a couple of weeks. I
know what you’re thinking, how did she fit in a nap too?! It’s mainly because
I’ve become very accustomed to working on public transport due to the times I
would go home in first and second year (even around deadlines I tried to go and
see my mum and get some quality time with some pals and Misty!) So if you’re
like me and find yourself on public transport be it home, to university, into
town on the slowest bus possible or visiting people, I thought I would share
with you some of my top tips for studying on the go and making sure you
actually get work done!
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Bring the essentials
This sounds really obvious, but the amount of times I have
overlooked something as simple as a pen when going somewhere and then I have to
make a note in a book for a great quote or I have an epiphany about what an
author meant about something is ridiculous. Bring a pen, a highlighter, your
laptop (if you can/have one) and any books you need immediately. Don’t lug
around excess books just in case, be realistic as to what you can get done in
the time you’re travelling or on the go for, that’s room for snacks or water or
other things!
Combat potential travel sickness
I suffer really badly with travel sickness on coaches and in
most cars, so for long journeys such as coaches to London and long train
journeys home I wear travel bands. These sound stupid to some people, and it
might just be a mind-over-matter thing, but they really do make me feel better
and I’ve never thrown up whilst using them (I have without!) They’re my saving
grace when trying to look down and read whilst on a train or a coach, so if you
suffer like I do then these are a worthwhile investment! Alternatively, you can
get anti-sickness tablets which work whilst travelling too, but I prefer the
bands because I hate taking tablets.
Stay hydrated
Dehydration makes you feel sick and tired and gives you a
headache, and nobody wants to try and study whilst they feel gross! Make sure
you’ve got a bottle of water, or at least access to it if you need it. That
also goes as a general study tip too, as it will seriously affect you
physically and mentally, so drink up before you travel if you want to study. I
always make sure I have 500ml for every two-hour journey, just in case I need
it. If you’re travelling for a while, maybe grab something different like a
smoothie or a coffee/tea as well, as this can perk you up. Some people I know
feel amazing after a smoothie due to the sugar rush and it hits them like a
small coffee hits me! The sugar/caffeine rush will help you feel more focused
and bale to get the work you want to do done, just don’t have too much
otherwise you might feel a bit icky.
I was going to put thee down as essentials, but I feel most
people my age, or reading this post, already take some form of headphones with
them everywhere. I know I’m playing to the stereotype that young people would
rather disconnect from the world with headphones, but public transport can get
really noisy and distracting if you’re trying to do work. For example, on the
three-and-a-half-hour coach journey to London, the woman sat next to me fell
asleep and snored the whole way there. If I hadn’t have had my headphones, this
would have been even more annoying and would have led to me getting nothing
done out of frustration. Headphones help you block out any potential
distractions, and let you listen to music, audiobooks, podcasts and other
helpful resources for your studies! They also help a journey go by so much
quicker!
A good playlist
This leads on very nicely from the last point – a good
playlist (or at least good music or albums to listen to) not only help speed up
any journey, but they can be very helpful in assisting you hitting that word
count or writing up the pan for the essay or exam you’ve got coming up. I have
different playlists for different things, and my ones for study vary in the
types of music depending on what I need them for. I listen to faster and often
louder music when I am simply typing out words because I subconsciously want to
type closer to the beat of the music. If I am reading, I go for more
instrumental music so as not to get distracted from the words on the page and
the story it is telling. For general revision and study, go for something
that’s not too lyric-heavy, but something that will cancel out any background
noise. I really like thing like the Electronic Concentration playlists on
Spotify, check out their revision/study playlists if you’re stuck, or make one
yourself with more chilled music you already know and love! Good bands to study
to for me are Arcade Fire, The Vaccines, Front Bottoms, Bombay Bicycle Club and
Muse.
*
I hope these tips have been somewhat helpful to you all – if
you have any more tips then please let me know in the comments below!
B x
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