How To Avoid Assignment Stress

Final year stress is creeping up... with 5 assignments due before Christmas I have been finding ways to manage my workload without feeling too overwhelmed. 

The last thing I want coming up to Christmas is being stressed about uni work, the Christmas shopping is stressful enough no need to add the stress of having no time to do it on top, so I come up with some methods to help reduce stress and get the work done on time. 

Diary 

Ok, here I go again...a diary. Honestly I can't stress this enough, a diary will save your life at university!! Knowing what assignments you have coming up and when they are due will motivate you to get them started. 

As well as writing in the actual deadline date, I also like to write the date in a few days before in order to remind me that it's creeping up in order to avoid a late night session trying to get the assignment done. 


Prep

As soon as I know I have an assignment due I like to open up a word document, write the title and start a plan for the assignment. 

I like to write down everything I already know about the topic before I go into further research. 

Plan out the structure of the assignment, put in titles, subtitles, any quotes you want to include and start a bibliography list. 

This helps you to feel like you have something started on the assignment and will make it less daunting to think about, as you feel that you have already started. 

The easiest part of an assignment is usually the introduction, so start there. Having this part of the assignment done early on will make the assignment seem like less work as you will already have ticked of the introduction, which is usually around 250-350 words, so a good chunk of the word count. 

In the introduction, introduce the topic you will be discussing, state what the assignment is going to involve and why you are doing it. This is information that you likely already have in your module guide, so getting this down straightaway will be a weight off your shoulders. 

Don't overload your brain 

Don't try and do all your assignments in one day all at the same time.

Work on the assignments bit by bit leading up to the deadline. Allocate time in everyday to focus on one part of one assignment. For example, schedule in time in your day to do the research for one assignment and write up what you found. If you start early enough you should be able to gradually work on your assignment up to the due date and should do this stress free as you are never overloading your self with a lot of work to do all at the one time. 

This will also help you to stay focused on each individual work piece, making you stay motivated to complete the work.

Take breaks

If you are going to take a full day to just do uni work, make sure that you take regular breaks.

I find if I am working on uni work all day, I need to have regular breaks in order to keep me interested and motivated so that I don't get distracted and give up. 
Taking time to have a coffee or have lunch will help you to refresh your brain so when you come back to the work, you are ready to go again for a few hours. 

Taking a break will help you to manage your stress levels and avoid you feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do. 

PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN 

Definitely easier said than done...

I find that if I have my phone near me when I am trying to get work done, I will procrastinate and go on my phone for hours at a time. 

However, if my phone isn't near me, I tend to be more interested in the topic I am working on and get it done a lot quicker. 

I like to put my phone on charge when I am doing uni work as it restricts how much I am able to use it as it is connected to a charger which doesn't stretch far enough to where I am working at my desk. In find this also helps me to not think about my phone, so I don't even want to use it as much. 

Putting it on silent is also a good tip, as if you hear your phone go off you are likely to get it and go on it and end up still on it hours later. 




These are just some of the ways I am trying to manage my workload this year in order to do well in final year as this is the year that really counts towards my degree! I hope some of these tips help you and can be incorporated into your uni work routine.

Thank you for reading.