Library & Learning Services

Exam season is a time of focus and long hours in the library. It’s essential to remember that maintaining a healthy personal life is just as important as acing exams. In this blog post, we’ll explore strategies for mastering the balance between academic success and personal wellbeing during the challenging exam period.

It is crucial to recognize that maintaining a healthy personal life is not a luxury but a necessity. Neglecting self-care and personal relationships can lead to burnout and compromised mental health. By prioritizing balance, students can optimize their performance while also nurturing their overall wellbeing.

Effective time management is key to balancing exam preparation with personal life. Creating a study schedule that allows for breaks, exercise, and outside activities can help maintain productivity. Additionally, adopting effective study habits, such as using active learning techniques and minimizing distractions can maximize study efficiency and free up time.

Amidst the long hours of study, self-care often takes a backseat to academia. However, prioritizing self-care is essential for maintaining your health and happiness. Simple practices such as getting enough sleep, eating nutritious meals, staying hydrated, and engaging in regular exercise can help alleviate stress and improve focus. Maintaining meaningful relationships and social connections is vital for combating feelings of isolation and maintaining a sense of balance. Whether it’s a study date with classmates or a coffee break with a friend, nurturing relationships can enhance overall happiness and academic performance.

It’s essential to celebrate progress and successes, no matter how small. Acknowledging achievements, whether it’s mastering a difficult concept, completing a challenging assignment, or maintaining a healthy work-life balance, can boost confidence, and morale. Finding balance between academic responsibilities and personal wellbeing can seem like a difficult goal to achieve. However, by prioritizing self-care, nurturing relationships, and setting reasonable goals, students can navigate the challenges of exam season successfully. Doing well in exams is not just about mastering content but also about nurturing the holistic well-being that fuels academic achievement and personal fulfilment.

Hi, I’m Lawrence, I’m a current Business and Management student and one of the Student Advisors within the UniSkills team. This blog is designed as a day in the life; but as a current third-year student, making the final push in the last few weeks of my course – most of my days currently revolve around studying. Writing a dissertation is no joke!

I’m a commuting student, so I typically head to campus for around 9am, after I’ve walked the dog and grabbed some breakfast, then it’s straight to the catalyst! Over the three years, I have tried a lot of different ways of studying, but working on campus is the most effective for me, making use of the Second, quiet floor in Catalyst or if it’s deadline day – the silent third floor!

Typically, I spend the first few hours of the morning proofreading what I have written the day before, it’s amazing how many mistakes you spot when you look at something with a fresh pair of eyes! After this I’ll move on to finding sources on Discover More and reading journal articles and textbooks I’ll need to reference later on.

However, when you’re studying it is so important to schedule in some study breaks: the longer you’re staring at a screen, the less productive you can become. Normally I like to take a mid-morning break around 11am and head to one of the various coffee shops on campus for a well-earned caramel latte and a brief change of scenery!

After a coffee break I’ll normally move onto the academic writing process either working on my dissertation or one of the other assignments that’s due soon. I’ll normally work through this for a few hours until around 2pm then head to one of the food outlets on campus for some lunch and if it’s sunny, have a walk around campus to clear my head and take in some of the fantastic views at Edge Hill – if you’re lucky you might even spot some of the campus wildlife!

After lunch is the perfect time to change up your workspace and pick somewhere different in Catalyst to work. Usually, I like to find a computer with two displays at this point so that I can work on referencing what I’d written before lunch – having two displays means I can have the Harvard Referencing Guide or Harvard Referencing toolkit open on one display and my work on the other!

Keeping on top of the referencing is so important in ensuring every source is added to your bibliography, accurately. I like to save this until the end of the day so I can work through something a little easier before heading home for the day around 4pm in between the school traffic and rush hour. I always like to play an uplifting playlist on the way home to help unwind after the day!

I find studying on campus helps achieve a good study-life balance, meaning I can switch off when I arrive home and stay away from the laptop for most of the weekend, making more time to spend with friends and unwind. Even when I have a full week of lectures, I prefer this way of working!

I’d recommend completing a revision timetable to help see your current study life balance, find any gaps to maximise keeping accountable to a schedule – it can seem daunting at first without one.