You’ve made it! At last, all of your classes and assignments are finished and you can go home for the Christmas holidays. But you’ve already been set exams and deadlines for January. Bit of a festive mood killer right?
Not to worry, this blog will give you some tips on how to manage revision and still enjoy the festive period, from giving yourself enough time off and creating a schedule of everything you need to do; to having a designated study space and making studying fun during the festive period. This means you can still enjoy the holidays and get some well-deserved rest, whilst smashing those January deadlines and getting prepared for the new semester at the same time.
Give yourself enough time off!
After a whole semester at university, you’re likely to be feeling burnt-out and tired. Although you might want to jump straight into working on your next deadlines, this may actually be counter-productive and you might find that you struggle to focus or feel extremely unmotivated. As a result, it’s really important that you give yourself enough time off to fully relax and recuperate.
In this sense, as well as taking the mandatory Christmas days off - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day - you should also schedule a week or two out where you don’t do any university work. This might be the week or so before Christmas, or the week between Christmas and New Year. Although it feels contradictory, taking time off to relax will mean you come back feeling refreshed and get your work done in half the time. The holidays are there for a reason and using them to rest will help you feel more motivated for the next semester.
You should also assess when your deadlines are due in January. If you have exams the first week back, then you will obviously need to study more. However, if your deadline is at the end of January, you might want to do a bit of work towards it and then continue once you’ve gone back to university. The start of the semester tends to be relatively relaxed, with a low workload, making it a great time to get lots done. This should also reassure you that you don’t need to finish everything during the holidays!
Be organised and create a study schedule
To help plan your studying around the festive period, it is worth creating a list of everything you need to do. The more specific you are, the better – for example “read articles X, Y and Z for my dissertation” rather than just “do more reading for my dissertation”. Breaking everything down into smaller chunks will help you see how much you actually have to get done and estimate how long it will take to do it. This will then enable you to allocate a specific time or day to each task and feel less stressed.
It’s easy to feel like you should be studying all the time during the holidays and guilty for not doing so. However, you definitely don’t need to study in the same way or for the same duration as you would at university. For example, you could divide your tasks into 2-hour chunks and tackle one each day, leaving the rest of the day free for festive activities and non-university-related tasks.
In order to be more productive, you should also try and work when you study best. If you’re an early riser, you might want to get your studying done in the morning and then have a festive afternoon. On the other hand, if you’re a night owl, you might struggle to work during the day and find you get a lot more done by studying in the evening. Planning your sessions around the times you work best will help you get more done, whilst minimising the time you have to study. If you find you work better under pressure, you could also set yourself a ‘fake’ deadline by which your work needs to be done and not do any more beyond that point.
Ultimately, you should try and enjoy the festive season as much as possible since you have worked hard to get here and deserve a well-earned rest! You should try not to let university work stop you from doing things that you would normally do at this time of year, such as going to Christmas markets, or spending time with friends and family. Instead, you can make the most of the fact you do not have any scheduled classes to fit your studies around your social life and festive activities. Although it’s difficult, your future self will thank you for taking time off and making memories with your loved ones.
Have a designated study space
It might feel a bit strange to study at home at first, particularly if you usually go to the library or study spaces on campus. As a result, it might help to create a designated study space in your home. This could be a desk in your bedroom, the kitchen table or a home office. It’s important you keep this area separate from the spaces you relax in, such as your bedroom or living room. This will help your brain go into ‘study mode’ and work more efficiently when you are in your study spaces and switch off faster when you leave them. If you do find it difficult to concentrate, you could also study in local cafés or libraries (although you should check their opening hours during the holidays!)
Make studying fun
Even if you do have to study during the holidays, there are ways to make it more fun and festive than normal. You could place some tinsel or a festive candle on your desk, or have a hot chocolate to hand whilst studying. You could also put some Christmas music or a Christmas film on in the background. In addition, if your home friends are also back from university, you could study with them, giving you a chance to have a good catch-up and do something festive afterwards. Although having to study may not feel very festive, there are ways to make it more fun and help you still feel Christmassy.
Happy Christmas!
Whilst you might feel a bit gloomy about having to study during the Christmas holidays, there are plenty of ways to help you manage revision and ensure you still enjoy the festive period. By giving yourself enough time off, you will be able to make the most of the holidays and feel refreshed. Creating a schedule and having a designated study space will also help you work more efficiently, whilst adding Christmassy touches can make studying more fun. From everyone here at Accommodation For Students, we’re all wishing you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a productive new semester!
