Here's something I never thought I'd say: I'm really into audiobooks at the moment. After multiple tries at enjoying and utilising audiobooks, something has finally stuck and I'm in a routine of using Audible to enrich my day-to-day life. For years people have been telling me that audiobooks are the best way to fit more books into your life but I struggled to pay attention to them if I was listening to a story whilst doing anything else, and struggled to stay awake if I was listening to a story before bed. I didn't think to fit audiobooks into any part of my day other than the end when I was laying in bed. It was a great way to drift off but I'd go to continue the book only to realise that I had missed parts of the story whilst falling asleep. Annoying. Finding parts of my day which allow my mind to wander was a good way of figuring out when to fit in my Audible time since I could focus on the book with little else on my mind. This is where I've managed to fit it in:

When & Where

I hate commuting. Getting the bus to work, walking all the way to university, it's all very boring and pretty much unbearable without my earphones. I hate having nothing to do to occupy my mind whilst I'm getting from A to B since my mind always tends to wander where I would rather it didn't. This is where Audible comes in. Music does an okay job at making my commute more bearable, but once you know a song well you don't really need to focus on the lyrics at all and your mind is free to wander. Listening to Audible means that I have something to focus my mind on which is engaging, new and interesting. I find myself on autopilot, getting myself to where I need to be, while completely engaged in what I'm listening to. Often I reach my location marvelling at how quickly the journey has passed.


What

In my unsuccessful stints of using Audible, I was listening to mostly fiction. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fantasy novel, but I was getting lost in complex plots and found that unless I was completely focused on the audio, I would soon get frustrated and give up on the book. I have found that listening to self-help books, personal development books and autobiographies has worked so much better for me. I feel like I'm learning something every time I commute and I find I can dip in and out of these books much easier than high-concept fantasy novels. I love that it brings an element of learning to my day no matter whether it's a university day or not, and after listening to a personal development book I often reach my destination feeling motivated and ready to work towards my goals.

Faves on Audible: Atomic Habits by James Clear & Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.

Why

So why was I so hell-bent on finding a way to use Audible that works super well for me? Well, I have always been an avid reader but I have been finding it harder and harder to find the time or the energy to just pick up a book and start reading. I have so many unfinished books and even several books on my shelf that I have failed to pick up since purchasing them. I've missed getting stuck into a book, progressing through the chapters and hanging onto every word and I wanted a way to get all of this and fit it easily into my everyday routine. The time I was spending getting from A to B every day felt like time that could be better spent or optimised and realising this made it click in my head that this could be my new reading time. Using Audible means that I can get my reading in every single day whether I have time to sit down with a book or not.Do you listen to audiobooks? When do you fit in time to read?



Photo by Konstantin Dyadyun on Unsplash

I was at an event where I was mixing with a bunch of A Level students and telling them all about uni life and what to expect when a girl approached me looking like she had a pretty serious question to ask me. We sat to the side and I told her to ask me anything, and she told me that she was worried that everyone else around her seemed to know what they wanted to do post-graduation, even though they hadn't even begun their degrees. "Is it bad that I don't know what to do after education? When will I absolutely need to know?" She's not even in uni yet and she's already worried and anxious about finishing her degree. Here's the response I gave her and the advice I want to share on here with you.

It's okay to go into something not knowing the outcome

Taking risks or stepping out of your comfort zone will help you to figure out what you can and can't do well and what you do or don't enjoy. This even applies to choosing a degree subject or a job. It isn't a case of 'choose this and stick with it forever' and you won't know you enjoy it unless you give it a go. Some people around me have switched degrees and others have stuck with theirs. Some people have gone into a job thinking they would hate it and ended up loving it, others have had the opposite happen to them. A lot of what we do is trial and error, and you won't know whether something works for you unless you give it a try.

We all change our minds 

The chances are that a lot of the people around you who are completely certain of what they want to do will end up changing their minds. As a psychology student, I started out wanting to work as a forensic psychologist and now i'm going into marketing as my career of choice. I have a friend who started out wanting to be a clinical psychologist and now she's set to become a teacher. Some people change their minds later in life and leave their long-time career to pursue something new. Nothing is set and nobody's plans are set. The fact that you don't have a plan will change before you know it, and then your new plan can change too.

University will introduce you to new avenues you hadn't even considered before

Don't have a plan now? You probably will have one after some time in university. Try out all sorts of new things in university. It's the best place to do this! Join societies, get involved and take up opportunities even if you're unsure of whether they are for you. I decided to volunteer as a Welcome Hero at the start of my second year, which basically meant that throughout freshers' week I accompanied new students on trips around the area, I volunteered at the freshers' fair, and I spent a lot of time standing outside the Students' Union with a big arrow pointing people to events. I loved the buzz of Welcome Week so much that when the opportunity for a summer internship involving preparations for Welcome Week came up, I applied straight away and ended up getting a paid internship for the whole summer working in marketing for Welcome Week, as well as marketing for other aspects of the uni. I loved it so much that i'm now pursuing marketing as a career, something I hadn't even considered before! To cut a long story short, your 'plan' can come at the most unexpected of times, so just take up opportunities where you see them and you never know what might happen!

Sidenote - taking up these opportunities will also look fab on your CV, whatever you decide to do!

Do you have a plan? How has your plan changed?x

Note Taking

I always start my studying by making my notes and printing them out. I go through lecture slides to see if I left anything out on my notes and then I lay them out for ease of reading and print them out. I make all my notes on Google Drive so that I can pull them up on my laptop, phone or on a uni computer so I can refer back to them whenever I am studying. I like to print my notes since it makes them really easy to annotate while I am studying, and it's just so easy to work from a paper copy when I am also using them to plan essays or make revision materials. Nice notes are a great bit of groundwork for your studying!

Flashcards

Flashcards, both physical and digital, are excellent study resources! I tend to mix it up and make both paper flashcards and digital flashcards on Quizlet so that I always have as many revision resource options as possible. Creating flashcards means that you always have bitesize notes to hand when you quickly need to refresh your memory on a concept or topic. As a psychology student, I have always found flashcards incredibly helpful when learning different theories or studies. Quizlet makes it fun and easy to test yourself on your flashcards and the app means that you can take this method of studying anywhere! I always use the app on the bus or when I'm waiting for a shift to start, just while I have a free few minutes to kill.


Video Content & Podcasts

I am super lucky due to the fact that all my classes are podcasted, meaning I can revisit everything that my lecturers have said so that I don't miss out on any snippets of information! I go through lecture podcasts with my printed notes to hand, so that I can add anything the lecturer has said but hasn't put up on the slides. I also play the podcasts in the background whilst I'm doing chores and not studying so that I'm constantly reviewing information. I play these podcasts at 1.5x speed so that I can review each of them at least a couple of times before the exams.

Other video content may be available to accompany your classes. Crash Course pretty much got me through my A-Levels, especially my biology modules which were incredibly information heavy! I have also had course textbooks with accompanying videos on YouTube, like THIS cognitive neuroscience textbook. If you are having a hard time grasping a particular concept or topic, search for it on YouTube and see how someone else explains it! Sometimes, you just need a different explanation of a concept in order to understand it!

Mind Maps

A lot of my studying involves finding different ways to go back through my notes and review all the information I need to know. Cutting down the info into bitesize chunks for flashcards and (especially) mind maps pushes me to select the most important information from my notes, making sure I consolidate this info further while also reviewing my notes as a whole. Mindmaps are a good visual resource and I keep mine in their own separate notebooks per module, so I always have them to hand. When working through practice questions, pulling up a mind map means that you are being prompted only by keywords and headings rather than all the information you need to answer the questions, meaning that you need to push yourself harder to remember! They're really useful tools for your revision kit!


Past Paper Questions

I used to shy away from past papers and revision quizzes because they would make me lose confidence in what I had learned. I mean, how can I possibly take practice exams if I don't feel like I've revised enough for the actual exams? However, over time I realised that while past papers would make me feel unprepared for the exams, this was a good thing because it would light a fire in my belly and push me to work even harder. Plus, occasionally in exams, a question comes up which I have already worked on in a practice paper and I end up breezing through it since I remember how I answered and marked it in the past paper.

How do you study for your exams? I am always looking to try new revision methods! x

You can check out the rest of my student life posts HERE! You can check out my studyblr HERE! x

Mental

I've put mental health first in this post because the trials and tribulations of university life can really exacerbate mental health issues and really take a toll on your mental wellbeing! Constant deadlines, exams looming and the idea that you are paying so much for your education adding even more pressure can really get overwhelming! Personally, my preexisting mental health issues became even worse in my second year of university, leading me to seek help and go through counselling and meds.

If you feel your mental wellbeing worsening, your first port of call could be your academic advisor. This is because your mental health can have an effect on your academic work and you may want to let an advisor or tutor know that you are struggling so that they can support you through this and lessen the impact on your studies. Also be sure to check if your university has its own counselling service, as these are often free to access and closely knit to your university. Talking it out to a trained counsellor can really help you to figure out your mental state and help you to choose the steps you should take next. If you feel that you should seek further help, make sure you are signed up to a local GP. They can help you to access additional counselling services and can offer you other treatment options such as medications.

Before it gets to this stage, though, you can do a lot of things to safeguard your mental wellbeing! Self-care is a big one. Take some time to check in with yourself every day, even if just for a little while. Getting a stress breakout? Chill and do a facemask for a bit. Getting tense? Walk it off or learn some yoga in your dorm room with some YouTube tutorials. It's easy to work full-steam ahead around the clock but take some time out each day to make sure your mind is doing good.

Sleep well, even when you have a deadline coming up. It's easy to leave your work until the last minute and pull an all-nighter to get it done. We've all been there. However, try hard to keep a constant sleep pattern and get those precious hours in! If you have a deadline coming up, work on it a bit at a time so that you don't end up having to try and get it all done at once. Your grades will probably thank you for it, as well as those bags under your eyes!

Physical

You don't have to be a total gym bunny to stay physically healthy in university! There are so many ways for you to keep your body happy and healthy! One way to keep active is just to walk or cycle to and from uni. Lots of people who live off campus pick up a student bus pass and while they are a fab idea, they are so easy to become reliant on. I have a bus pass too but I choose to walk to and from uni each day and keep my bus pass use for work at the weekends and any trips all the way into the city centre. Just walking every day has made such a difference to my body. I'm not the healthiest bean and I still have a soft tummy, but my legs are solid! I don't get out of breath when exercising as much as I used to and I reckon this is because I do a little every day!

If you love a good workout, it can be hard at university. Gym memberships are expensive and you may be budgeting for essentials like food and toiletries over this other expense. However, home workouts can be a pretty good substitute! While you aren't getting to use gym equipment and you may not have as much open space to work in as you may be used to, it can take minimal space to do something like pilates or yoga. As long as you are able to roll out a yoga mat you should be good to go! Another way to get those workouts in is to see if your university run fitness classes at a nice cheap student price. I have been able to try out workouts I had never even heard of, such as Bosu, by signing up for these classes and they can be great fun!

While being a student, takeaways and unhealthy foods can be a massive temptation! However, they can also be a massive drain on that bank account and can have an effect on your physical health. When I was going through a really rough time last year, I lived off of cheap takeaway pizza and this left me feeling sluggish and bloated all the time. My skin got worse and my self-esteem plummetted! I had to wean myself off these meals and found enjoyment in cooking once more. One easy way to keep healthy when eating at uni is meal prepping! I make a fantastic veggie curry and I would cook this in bulk and keep my leftovers in tupperware. I also did this for other dishes and it means that even when you have a hard day and you really don't have the energy to cook, you have a homemade meal ready for you in the fridge! They can also be great lunch options to take into uni with you if you have microwaves on campus.

Emotional

Support networks are key in university! Making all those new friends and starting fresh is daunting in the beginning, but everyone is in the same boat and it is so easy to meet people in university! Even as a massive introvert like me! Setting up your support network in uni can really help you to get through those tough emotional times that may come up. It doesn't even need to be a massive network of friends. Just those few people who just get you and who you know can support you without judgement (with you also being there in this way for them).

Keep in contact with your friends and family back home if you have moved away for university. They're only a text or a phone call away and they can offer excellent advice in situations involving your friends from uni since they aren't caught up in the drama and can offer impartial advice from an outside perspective. I call a member of my family at least once a day. That way, I keep updated with their goings on and can take a break from my hectic life at uni!

Do you have any additional advice which I haven't mentioned? I would love to know!x

Prioritise

One of my biggest pieces of advice is to hoard your work holidays for the exam period. You will need that time off to revise, especially if you have long hours at work. You will have more of a chance to revise and you also need to rest and conserve your energy for studying! Taking time off during exams is such a lifesaver, and I would rather have those dates off than just a random weekend chilling in the middle of the semester.

Don't take on too much! Obviously, your set hours are a bit hard to control so what I mean is don't take too much overtime on if you don't have the energy. Also, always prioritise assignments over overtime. Yes, the extra money is nice, but you also need to focus on the reason you are in university and really focus on your assignments.

Shift Patterns

Ah yes, the dreaded decision. Evenings or weekends? Well, I have tried both, and I have even worked late night shifts. I have found that weekend work is so much more manageable than evening work. You can dedicate your weekdays to university and weekends to work in a nice division of time. I am not thinking about my weekday job in university and I focus on my studies in the evenings. When I am in work at the weekends, I get to take a break from university for a while and it really takes my mind off the goings on of the week.

If you can, I would also go for set shifts. I had a shift pattern which changed weekly when I worked in fast food. It was disrupting my weeks and making it difficult to make any plans. I told my boss that I was thinking of quitting due to the job's effects on my studies and my mental health and I ended up with a set shift. All I had to do was ask.

Energy

It's not just the hours you work and when you work them. It's about making sure that you are not burning yourself out during the course of the week. When you overwork yourself and tire yourself out, that's when your grades may fall or you may not be as social as you want. I know it's easier said than done (especially when you need to work long hours to keep yourself financially secure) but please don't burn yourself out! University is supposed to be enjoyable and a great experience, and this can be hindered by being exhausted all the time.


Distance

I would recommend applying to part time jobs within walking distance of where you live or study. Last year, I was able to walk to work in under 15 minutes, whereas this year I changed jobs and now I have to take the bus. Believe me, the bus money really adds up and I hate how much I spend on transport to and from work! As a student, being able to cut down on these costs is so necessary and needed. If you cycle, this would also be a great alternative to paying for transport to and from work.

If your job is near your uni, it can mean that you are able to go to the library before or after work and get some extra study time in around your job. Every moment of study counts and being able to easily nip into the library is a great chance to get some work done!

Envy

Finally, while some of us have to work part-time, many do not. It is not helpful or healthy to envy the people who do not have to work part-time alongside their studies. I am sure that given the chance we would just focus on our studies and not work, however there are things that we just cannot help. Envying others is not the way to go. Just embrace the opportunities which you are getting from your part-time job!

What work/study balance advice would you give?x

Summer is passing by quicker than ever! I have been working 7 days a week so the days have been feeling like only minutes lately! After just focussing on my health, job and internship for the past month, it's time to think ahead to my final year at university and really gauge how I'm feeling right now. I can't believe that I will be graduating in less than a year, but I have so much to do before I get there!

Excited

Third year is already looking amazing! I have dropped a psychology unit to take up a couple of interdisciplinary courses and I am so excited to expand my knowledge of business and marketing! I am also so ready for my psychology of politics and society module! I have started looking through the reading and I am already finding it so interesting! I am so ready to get stuck back into my  degree and really work hard this year!

I also have a lot of amazing opportunities coming up this year which I am so excited to jump into! I am on the committee for a mental health society in my university! Last year, I got really involved in this society and even co-set up a mental health mentoring scheme for students! Becoming the peer support officer on the committee means that I can keep up the hard work and oversee the scheme as it grows and develops! I can't wait!

I also have a role in my course's peer support scheme, which aims to help first years to settle into university life and excel from the start of their degrees! I can't wait to help to facilitate the constant improvements in this scheme and I truly believe that it will be bigger and better than ever with our coordination team!

Nervous

I am pretty worried about stress and workload. I went a bit off the rails in terms of my mental health last year and cut myself off from a lot of people. My grades dropped and I developed a nasty spending problem! Lately, I have been able to get myself back on track and I have really improved my physical and mental health. I am just hoping that I can keep this up once i'm back in university. I think that what I am going to do is book onto the fitness classes I have been attending over summer and this will help me to break up my days and have a good workout on my lunch breaks. It will help me to bust my stress and clear my mind!

Because my grades fell last year, I have to really work twice as hard this year to get myself back on track! I am nervous that I will continue to work hard but not see any improvement in my grades, just as I did last year. However, I know that I feel more connected to my units this year and way more enthusiastic about them. I know that I will be engaged and I will (hopefully) enjoy my units this year!

Eager

This is my final year and I need to jump into it head first! I will be so busy trying to smash my degree, figure out what I will be doing after graduation, and balance my extracurriculars and part time work! However, working 7 days a week this summer has taught me that I thrive when I keep busy. When I am busy, my days have a solid structure and I do not have time to over-think or dwell on events which have occurred in the past. I can't wait to get back to the grind of university and I can't wait to see what the future brings!

If you're in education, how are you approaching this coming year? x

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

I've been a student for a good amount of years now and I've constantly searched for new ways to get productive throughout my time as a student, be that at high school, college or university! I have gathered a lot of tips, tricks and techniques over this period of time and I am so excited to share these with you! Before I set up this blog, I used to run a study blog over on Tumblr and I really learned a lot about productivity from this experience, as well as from studying and trying different things for myself!

There are so many great productivity apps on the market and so much choice that it can be hard to see which ones actually work and help you to get productive! I have tried and tested so many apps and I have finally settled on my handful of staple productivity apps, which I keep in a folder on my phone for those study/work days!

Forest

If you haven't heard of Forest, it is an incredibly popular app on the app store and possibly the cutest productivity app out there! It asks you to choose an amount of time that you want to focus for (I always go for 25 minutes as per the Pomodoro technique) and it plants a lil tree for you. As long as you do not go on your phone and exit the app for this length of time, the tree will grow. If you go on your phone and procrastinate, the tree dies and you are left with a dead little tree in your forest. It's a fun and cute way to get productive!

You can download Forest on the App Store HERE and the Google Play store HERE. There is also a Chrome browser button that you can download if the app isn't your cup of tea!

• Quizlet - a great app for students who are trying to revise!
• Canva - for making great graphics on the go!
• Google Calendar - gotta have a good calendar!
• To-Do - simpler than Priority Matrix!
• Dictionary - you never know when you'll need it!

• My Passion Projects
• Career Contessa
• Career Girl Daily

September is almost only a month away and it can be a very exciting time for those of you who are about to start university for the first time! This summer is yours to do with what you want, but with just over a month left until university starts, here are a few things you can do to get ready for the big move!

Spend time with friends

If you are moving away from home, or if you have friends who are, use this summer to make the most of being able to see each other regularly. Make as many plans as you can with them and take lots of pictures together! Whilst you will be making lots of new friends at university, you will miss your friends from home like crazy! Live near the coast? Have one last big get together at the beach. Live in the city? Have a night out on the town! Whatever you all enjoy doing together, make this summer one last hurrah before you move away. Make it memorable!

Research your new home

Moving somewhere new is always a daunting prospect but you can make it a little easier for yourself by researching your new home and finding out more about the spots related to your hobbies and interests. Find a good gym if you're interested in fitness. Find out where all the best shopping spots are. Look for veggie/vegan restaurants or where the best pizza place is. Just familiarise yourself with where you will be living for the next few years and really get to know the feel of your new home!

Read around your subject

If you have chosen your subject of your degree, I think it's pretty safe for me to assume that it's something you enjoy or find interesting. In university, you will likely be expected to read academic papers and it may be useful to get to know the layouts of these before you go (although you don't have to do this, it may help). It may also come in handy if you build up your subject knowledge as degrees are pretty tough and any extra knowledge comes in great handy. If you know of a textbook you will be using, pick it up from the library or buy it and have a read of a few chapters. Before I came to university, I read up on the areas of psychology which I figured I may want to pursue as career paths and that really got me thinking about my career from early on.

Look up societies

One of the easiest ways to make friends in university is by joining a society. You will be meeting and interacting with people who share a common interest with you and this is a great way to connect! Most universities have a society for pretty much anything! By setting a plan of which societies you may be interested in, you are saving yourself a lot of hassle at the societies fair in Welcome Week when you will be confronted by countless societies who want your membership!

Get the decor ready

Maybe the best thing about moving to university is all the shopping beforehand. Obviously, focus on the essentials first, like the kitchen utensils, pots, pans, towels, etc. but also think about how you're going to transform your dorm room into somewhere that feels like home! Cushions and nice bedding are always a good place to start! Think about bringing a touch of home with you, like a soft toy or ornament to always remind you of home. My favourite way that I decorated my dorm room in first year was my photo hanging! I had my favourite photos of family and friends printed out polaroid-style and I bought some twine and mini clothes clips. I hung the pictures up along the twine and used command hooks to attach this to my biggest wall. It was such a nice personal touch in the room and really made it feel like home!

Work and get some savings together

I could have saved more in the summer before I started university and I really should have! Yes, student loans exist, but mine didn't cover my rent and I relied on my part time job in uni and some food money from my family to get by. If you gather some savings before uni, you really take off a lot of the money pressure and actually get to have a trouble-free start to uni! Just a bit of overtime each week really adds up and makes a difference (as long as you don't spend all your savings at once like I did)!

Take a well deserved break

While it is important to make the most of your summer, perhaps the most important thing for you to focus on is getting a good rest and recharging your batteries! Make sure you get some time off to yourself and you get to do all the things you love to do to relax! In university, like goes at 100mph sometimes so it's important that you take all the time you can to properly relax and take some time to chill. Your body and mind will thank you for it!

What are you up to this summer? x

With summer speeding by, it may be time to start thinking about the next academic year a little bit. I imagine that some of you are eagerly waiting to find out if you have a place in university, which is a super scary time. Preparing for university, however, can be super exciting and the smallest things such as buying kitchen utensils can be super exciting! If you're going into student halls, here are a few things to think about which will make life a little easier!

Bring non-generic kitchen items

We're talking plates, cutlery and all those essential utensils. You don't need to go all out and break the bank, but buying kitchen items which look a bit individual can save you from a whole lot of stress in the kitchen! In student housing or halls, cutlery has a nasty habit of going missing and people can be pretty quick to place the blame when they've cooked dinner but can't find any of their forks. I bought a cutlery set from ASDA which had a stripe pattern indented at the ends of the handles. Some of my flatmates had plain cutlery and so they would war over who had taken the wrong spoons and I would be safe in my stripey cutlery situation. The same goes for plates and pans. If you can easily recognise your own things, they are less likely to go missing or be mistaken for another person's items.

Speak up

If someone is up too late and their music is too loud, let them know. If people are having a party in the flat above and you have to get up for work in the morning, ask them to keep it down. Don't let people walk all over you and wind you up. You are all living in the same building and they should respect your needs as much as you respect theirs. If you need sleep and music is keeping you up, ask them to turn it down and they may be more careful with the volume of their music in the future. Otherwise, nothing will change and you will have an awful time!

Buy headphones

This is sort of similar to the last point, but you will be living in close quarters with a lot of people, and these can be noisy and social places. Get a pair of headphones to drown out the noise when you need to work on an assignment, study, or generally just get a bit of peace. They are an absolute lifesaver!

Be social

Try and make a point to get to know your flatmates in your first week together. These may be the first people you meet in your new home and living with them for the whole academic year could forge some very strong friendships! Hang out in the kitchen or offer to help someone with their bags when they're moving in. Introduce yourself and don't be scared to have a chat. A lot of people bring a doorstop with them when moving into halls so that people can introduce themselves when passing rooms.

Clean up after yourself

It goes without saying, really. You will be living in the same space as your flatmates for quite a while and you don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Keeping the communal spaces tidy after using them will show your flatmates that you respect their living space and encourage them to do the same. Plus, living in a messy student flat can be a nightmare!

Make your room as homely as possible

Student rooms can feel very isolating and cell-like if you are hit by a bit of homesickness. Be sure to make your room homely and inviting so that you like spending time in there and don't feel like you're not at home. I grew to love my room in halls and you will too, it just takes some getting used to and making it feel more like home can definitely help!

Don't be afraid to call maintenance

At the start of first year, I hated reporting issues to maintenance. I felt like a pain and a hassle. However, a lot of student homes and halls can be a little run down and constant living in the space can take its toll. In my first year halls, I had recurring problems with the window in my room in the middle of winter. I had to report issues to maintenance a lot and if I hadn't then my room would have been painfully cold.

Top up your laundry card in bulk

Living in student halls can lead to the worst thing about being a student. Overpriced laundry facilities. In my first year I was paying around £4.50 every time I did laundry. This really added up and this is one issue. However, I worked in fast food and had to wash my uniforms quite a lot. The worst thing was when I had walked all the way to the laundry facilities and I had no credit on my laundry card. I would recommend topping up your card in bulk when loans come in or when you get paid. It's way better than having to put more credit onto your card every time you needed to do laundry and it can save a lot of hassle!

Get vaccinated

Here in the UK, we are offered a free MenACWY vaccine before starting university, to prevent meningitis. It is definitely worth getting up to date with your vaccinations before going to university! It could save your life!

Make the most of it

Living in student halls can be a fantastic experience and you could even meet people who you will be friends with for life! Definitely enjoy it while it lasts and make some great memories! I definitely wished I was back in halls when I moved to my student house during second year!

Have any questions about starting university? Pop them in the comments and I will help you with what I can! x

I was laying in bed ready to sleep last night when I was suddenly hit by a number of post ideas. These have been few and far between over the past few weeks so I immediately grabbed my journal and scribbled down any plans I could. In this sudden rush of ideas, I came up with a three-step method for getting motivated. I have no idea where this came from, maybe one of the 'Finding Motivation' courses I took last semester, but it seems to be working! I am on a motivational high today!

Step 1: Assess

Before you start the motivation process, you should first figure out what motivates you and how you gather motivation. Some people are very intrinsically motivated. They are able to motivate themselves with thoughts of goals and future. Their rewards for their motivation are feelings, rather than external factors. They act because they know that they will feel satisfied or accomplished once they have completed their task.

Other people are extrinsically motivated. They act because they want to accomplish something external. They study for grades, not the feeling of achievement. They complete tasks because they want recognition or praise.

Our own 'motivation style' sits on a gradient of extrinsic and extrinsic. If we figure out what motivates us and where we lie on this gradient, we are one step closer to getting motivated.

When assessing your motivation style, you should look at past events. Think about when you have felt motivated and pushed to do something. It could be studying for an exam or picking up a sport. Think about why you did it and how you were able to motivate yourself.

Step 2: Access

Time to access your 'motivation materials'! Apply what you have learned about your own motivation style to how you gather your materials. These all belong in your 'motivation toolkit', which is your arsenal against being demotivated.

If you find that you are intrinsically motivated, focus on things that emphasise this. Find quotes that focus on self-satisfaction and personal development. If you're trying to motivate yourself to study, think about what learning means to you and how you will feel when you improve your own knowledge. If you are thinking about getting fit, think about how it will make you feel healthier and about the positive effect it will have on your wellbeing.

If you are extrinsically motivated, motivating yourself without something to actually work towards can be tough. If you are studying, focus on taking practice tests as you study. Seeing the grades that you attain improve will push you on to keep at it. If you want to get fit, maybe sign up to a marathon or start tracking stats of your workout. You will be working towards something, like being fit enough to have the achievement of running a marathon, or improving a reps number or fastest time.

Gather your motivation materials from many sources and keep them all in your 'motivation toolkit'. It can be physical or mental. Think about your motivation style when choosing what to put on your Pinterest boards or which quotes to write down. Think about your motivational style when choosing your goals to work towards. Keep refreshing your toolkit and adding to it!

Step 3: Success

Congratulations, you are now hopefully more motivated, or at least know more about how to get motivated! Now, go out there and crush your goals!

What do you need to motivate yourself for? x

I love education. Learning is a great passion of mine and I love to branch out far from my actual degree and to read about all sorts of topics! There are a wide variety of free learning resources out there and I figured I would compile a list of all the ones I have found so far! However, the list is endless and if you know any good ones which I have missed out, please let me know!