Reading week is here for students across the UK, and you may be asking yourself how to make the most out of this week. Here are 5 TIPS to make sure you end reading week feeling both relaxed as well as productive and confident, ready to smash the rest of term!
1. Rest. Relax. Rejuvenate.
Even though this week is called reading week, it is important that you take some time out to actually rest both body and mind in order to avoid feeling exhausted at a later stage. Catch up on sleep, eat healthily and take care of yourself. If this means reading for fun (rather than class), getting a head start on Christmas shopping, hosting a dinner or exploring a neighbouring city, treat yourself to some time out – you’ll be thankful later on!
2. Make a plan of things to do (Organisation is your MAGIC key)
After a term of classes, tutorials, talks and events, reading week may seem a little unstructured and you may find that you struggle with setting yourself the tasks that you need to get done. It is therefore important to make a plan and schedule in some schoolwork in between the time you take out for yourself so that the last half of term doesn’t catch you off guard – and it will if you don’t! Think about upcoming deadlines and set yourself manageable goals that leave you feeling accomplished and prepared for the next stage. Remember to take out any library books that you may need in advance so that you don’t miss out on the books you require! Make a calendar for days you want to study, how many hours for each and what the priority things to learn in that course are. Make a calendar for the next term too while you’re at it.
3. Catch up on course work
In the first weeks it can be difficult to get into the routine of university and you may have missed out on readings, caught fresher’s flu or prioritised a night out over next day’s classwork. Take this reading week to catch up on any readings or classwork you didn’t do so you don’t have to do it all when essays and exams are around the corner. Schedule this into your work plan and make it an integral part of this week’s schedule.
4. Enhance your study skills
This week is a great opportunity to brush up on the study skills that could save you a lot of time throughout your studies at university. Whether that means going out and buying a planner so you know exactly when your deadlines are, turning off your phone to avoid distractions or rewriting your notes in a more legible and coherent way, make sure you develop these good habits now so they don’t come back to bite you later.
5. Prepare for the rest of term
When you follow these tips, you should enter the latter half of term feeling relaxed and prepared. Make sure you don’t drop the good habits that you started just because you’re back in class and continue to allow yourself breaks in between studying to keep your stress levels as low as possible. It is therefore also important that you stick to schedules and don’t leave all your coursework until the last minute but stagger the deadlines and make time to breathe. This way you will be sure to smash these last few weeks of term!
If you feel like you require some additional support during reading week, or if you think you are already overwhelmed and/or confused about your readings, or just don’t know what academics require from you to do well, we cannot emphasise this enough – PLEASE get the support you need IMMEDIATELY! We know you’ve been constantly told at the university level you should not be getting close help and it’s otherwise ‘taboo’ to say you got help – this is a myth – Don’t fall for it! Academic coaching comes through contacting your professor and tutors and the free supports at your university. But as you may also know, we set up Über Tutors as the only service provider for university students in all courses and degrees because students do so much better with our one on one academic coaching, extensive and quality teachings and skills building mentorship our tutor/mentors provide. 100% of our university students in London have 100% improved confidence in academic studies and between 10-30% higher grades on their essays, assignments and exams!
So… contact us TODAY (it will be too late too soon, honestly) and ask us about our magic formula which has led to so much success for university students. We will discuss how we can organise for personalised academic coaching and support with our trained academic tutor/mentors.
Call us on 02030867311 or email info@ubertutors.co.uk to speak with one of our helpful and friendly members of staff to get you started in easy breezy fashion!