10 Tips to avoid overwhelm in your studies!

As a starting point I wanted to start with some of my best tips when it comes to finally taking back a bit of control in your studies and in your home life and some of the simple tools we use day to day in both work and life.

1. ‘Your focused few’- Understand that you cannot get everything done in a day and rather than trying to do so, you should focus on three key objectives each day to move you closer to your goals. This is why we created this section in the Semester Student Planner.
2. Reduce your to do list – Stop making really long lists of things that need doing. Simply looking at them is enough to overwhelm you. Assess how much of the things are truly important when it comes to your studies and go back to point 1.
3. Brain Dumping – In my book I called it ‘taking your brain to the tip yard’ or ‘emptying your head.’ Essentially if there is a lot of things spinning round in your head, get it all down on paper. It allows you to visibly see it and start to work through the chaos accordingly. (This is why I love planning and journaling and why we created the Semester Student Planner)
4. A goal reset – Sometimes we try to work on too many goals (guilty). It sometimes takes a bit of a goal reset for me to distinguish what is the goal I truly want to chase right now. You cannot save everybody in a burning building (Harsh but true) … choose wisely what goals need attention when it comes to your home and study life. The Semester Student Planner includes a full section on goal setting.
5. Tidy spaces = tidy mind – I have recently come to love tidy spaces. I find knowing where everything is, in lovely little organised spaces really helps me. I love a good declutter and I have found this to be hugely calming for the mind. Can you tidy your study workspace? This is one of our growth hacks within the Semester Student Planner!
6. Take breaks – Find places of peace and solitude that take you away from your day to day lives. For me this is camping. A total 24 hours of peace and quiet and no work. When it comes to your studies, yes you need to work hard to complete those assignments, but once done ensure you give yourself a break! Included within the Semester Student Planner is a time schedule. Schedule some rest time too!
7. Limit distractions – Easier said than done. But remove the phone from the table when you are studying or working and remove anything which is going to fight for your attention when you have something else to aim for. It is so easy to get distracted.  Included within the Semester Student Planner is a growth hack called the Pomodoro technique and this is all focused on creating undistracted intervals of focused work.
8. Ask for help – You cannot do everything on your own. Sometimes you need support. Whether that is in a relationship, or in work and business, or your studies. Speak to fellow students. Speak to academic staff. Use a Semester Student Planner to help you become more organised.
9. Delegate (leverage others) – I no longer clean my car or cut the grass. I pay someone to do it. It gives me back the valuable time I need and it avoids adding more to my to do list. It is worth every penny. Is there something you can delegate in your life or studies to free up more time for what is most important?
10. Systemise / Block time – What can be made into systems? In business we now try to systemise as many operations as possible so they become easily repeatable. We create blocks for certain tasks. Can you do this in your home and study life?

    Create blocks of time which you are going to dedicate to different areas. Planning, Research, Writing. This is another growth hack we explain in more detail in the Semester Student Planner.

Try this…

From the above section… which one of these could you start applying to your study life?

Take one of these examples and apply it today to see if it makes a positive impact!

#lets grow together