With University starting again and the first week of lectures and seminars beginning you might be suddenly faced with the horrible confrontation of all of the work that needs to be done. All the reading and deadlines for essays and assignments that need to be completed. It might feel all too much and impossible to be able to finish it all.
But don’t worry! If you plan ahead you will find out that it is all doable.
Why should I make a plan?
You should make a plan for each semester so you can start on the right track. It will enable you to see an overview of the semester, giving a clear idea of how much time you have before each deadline as well as showing you that there is plenty of time for relaxing and other activities.
How do I make a plan?
A useful way to plan your work is to create a spreadsheet showing every week in the semester. Then plot down when you have lectures, seminars and deadlines for each module – highlighting the deadline dates in a bold colour so it stands out.
Then estimate how much time you will need to complete each task. Try to fit this alongside all of your other work and activities. This could mean that a good essay can take up to a week to write!
Example:
Now, in order to incorporate this into your plan, simply work backwards from each deadline. For example, if there are 4 essays due in on the 20th December 2019 just plot down 20th Dec on your plan and then give yourself one week for the first essay. So 16th-20th Dec; then 9th-13th Dec for the second essay; 2nd-6th Dec is for the third essay and finally 25th-29th Nov for the fourth essay.
This gives you enough time to properly focus on each individual essay instead of cramming it all in at the very last minute. Allowing for flexibility and adaptation is key.
If you do this for all of your assignments you will end up realising that you have enough time for everything. So relax and take it easy knowing that you have a good plan to work with.
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