Tuesday 06-10-2020 - 16:03

By Alice Maher

Hey you lovely lot, I hope that you're well and beyond excited to be at Durham! My name is Alice and I am a third-year student studying English Literature and Education Studies! You can often find me tucked into a corner of Chapters tearooms (on Elvet Bridge – you must go!) with my nose stuck in a novel.

I wanted to write to you today because, I don't know about you, but I have the nerves regarding returning to university in the middle of a pandemic. Shifting to an online workspace is going to be new to us all. Having lectures via Zoom does heighten that temptation to hit snooze and stay in bed for an extra hour. However, if you're going to effectively balance your social life, uni work, societies and any other commitments you have, you're going to need to work smartly. I thought I’d share with you my top productivity tips, so that by the time you're settled into halls the idea of managing your time during term won't seem as daunting.

Download Notion

My YouTube feed seemed to be overloaded with people talking about this app, so last year I decided to see what the fuss was about. Notion is a free app for students (use your university email! ) that you can download onto your desktop. It allows you to use readymade templates to quickly and easily organise your whole life. From budget planning, to travel plans, to class notes, to reading lists – Notion has everything you need and makes organising everything in your life to quick and simple. 

Purchase a planner

It's a simple one, but I really do encourage you to invest in a good planner. You're about to get really busy and there'll be times when you find yourself tripping up over plans – that's the beauty of uni. However, it's easy to get a bit overwhelmed. Grab any planner you can find, colour code your life, and be that friend who appears to have everything sorted. If you get into the habit of planning your months, week, and days now, your second and third years will be a breeze.

Download Self Control and Forest

My secret weapons. I'm a huge procrastinator – an odd confession to make within a post about productivity, but I am. I'm very aware that if I'm doing all my work from the comfort of my room, there's a good chance I'm going to be snuggled on my sofa watching Peaky Blinders for the 1000th time, rather than preparing for an essay. These two apps are my procrastinator warriors and leave me feeling guilt-free when I’m spending my evenings having a drink with the girls. Self-Control can be downloaded for free on your desktop and will block specific apps for a set amount of time. Forest is a phone app and allows you to set a specific amount of time to work – for example, a two-hour study session. During that time you cannot use your phone and if you achieve your study time, you grow a tree. It's all very wholesome.

Fake going to work to achieve a work/chill divide

My final tip might appear a little bit odd, but it did wonders for me last May when we sat our exams from home. Dividing the day up between work and chill is hard to do when your day seems to take place all under one roof. I found it so helpful to get up and start my day as if I was still physically leaving my house to go to a lecture. I'd pop some nicer clothes on (rather than sticking in my comfies), do a bit of makeup and really make myself feel like I was going to work, despite my commute being a literal roll from my bed to my desk. I even went so far as to have a set 'home office' mug.

Equally, make sure that you're doing as much as possible to physically leave the confinements of your room (while following government guidelines, of course!). Make lots of coffee dates, library trips, walks with mates, take yourself on a date to explore the city. Don't let your room just become a study space, you want to make sure it still remains a hub where you can chill out and rest.

The key to surviving university is just making sure you stay just that little bit organised. It’s really important to make sure you have time for self-care, socialising and extra activities, and not just study all the time. By planning your time you’re preventing yourself from becoming overwhelmed by the whirlwind that is a term at Durham! I hope these tips come in useful to you, and that you have an amazing first term in Durham! 

Good luck lovelies!
 

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