Hannah Brewster is an MA Religious Studies student at Lancaster University. In her guest post today, she explores ways to keep organised and sane at postgraduate level, and offers her own personal advice and tips to keep on top of both work and life.
Organisation and staying sane seem pretty easy to do. But when doing postgraduate studies, it is easy to lose your way and feel bogged down under the pressure of it all, and this is where good organisational skills really comes into play.
When doing my undergraduate, I realised that I needed to keep my entire life organised in order to stay on top of deadlines, and this has had to carry over tenfold when doing my Masters. This post will hopefully give some useful tips for keeping organised and staying sane in the world of academia.
1. Weekly planner
This is by far the best way to know what you’re doing and when you have to do things by. Having a weekly planner that you can always see on your desk reminds you of all the important stuff you have to do, from reading to partying. Breaking the day up into set times (think: school) is a really helpful way to categorise and prioritise your workload and social life, as there is not a lot of contact time in postgraduate studies. This means it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can just sit on your bed and watch Netflix all day. But by having a planner, Netflix gets pushed to an evening after you’ve done what you need to for the day, and therefore you don’t feel guilty for binge-watching! It’s also really motivating to see the words “relax” and “party” at the weekends, meaning you're more likely to get that work done.
2. Get to grips with reading
It’s all very easy to write down when you’re going to do your reading, but knowing how to do academic reading is a great way to stay organised. Never leave seminar reading to the last minute, because it’s almost always longer than you had first anticipated! And only do additional reading if you have the time; don’t push yourself too hard, otherwise you’ll burn out. I do additional readings if I really enjoy that particular topic or if I’m going to do that topic for an essay. Reading is vital for postgraduate studies, but you don’t want to become bored of it!
3. Have a set meal and rest time
Staying organised at uni is not all about prioritising work and knowing your timetable off by heart. It’s about keeping on track of all the other things you have to keep doing to live, such as eating. Setting a time for dinner gives you a goal to work towards during the day and you always know you can have a break at that time. It’s also really helpful to plan your meals at the beginning of each week, so you can look forward to your fish fingers all day! Setting a time to stop working is something that I find really helpful when at uni. I never work past 9pm, which works for me as I can chill for an hour or two before going to bed. This time away from my desk allows my brain to switch off from academia, and then I’m ready to go again the next day.
4. Week 5
Most uni terms are 10 weeks long, and this means Week 5 is the half-way point, and the time to get serious. Knowing this from the beginning of term is a great way to stay organised because you can mentally prepare yourself for the workload you will give yourself at this midpoint. Week 5 is the best time to start thinking about essays as you feel more comfortable with the content of your modules and you still have a while before deadlines. It may seem early, but you will thank yourself once those essays are finished.
5. Give yourself a break
It may seem like keeping organised is all about timetables and work work work. But taking time doing something completely different is great for the mind. Even when deadlines are looming and you feel the last thing you want to do is go and do the weekly food shop, do it. Staying sane when doing a postgraduate degree really is about balance. You do your readings for the week, and then you watch some TV. You write up a presentation, and then you go for a walk. Taking whole weekends off may seem like a lot, but cherish those two days. Seeing friends and family, doing reading for yourself, petting a dog… they’re all amazing at keeping you sane. And when you're feeling happy, energised, and not like you want to sleep for 200 hours, your organisational skills and uni work flourishes.
This is not an exhaustive list of how to keep organised, or of how to stay sane when doing a postgrad degree, but it works for me. Having the ability to construct your life in such a way that you can stay on top of everything is a very rewarding skill and allows you to go through your (academic or non-academic) life with a smile and no stress. (Okay, no stress until deadlines, anyway*).
*But stress will be kept to a minimum if you’re organised
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