5

How to organise yourself for independent study

AIMS

This chapter is designed to prepare you for successful independent learning and academic study with a focus on organisation and time management.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

That after reading this chapter, and engaging with the activities, you will have:
realised that university study in the UK requires you to be an effective independent learner considered the impact of personal motivation with respect to study success realised the time required to be an effective independent learner at university explored organisation and time management issues with a special focus on when, where and how to study started the process of organising yourself for effective study engaged with various activities that have reinforced your understanding of the different parts of the chapter.

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Organisation and time management

In a UK university, you are considered to be an independent learner. Rather than someone who is being taught, you are supposed to be organising your own learning. Elsewhere in this text, we stress that if you are a full-time student, then, even if you have a family, are working 20 hours a week and want to keep a full social life, you are supposed to be dedicating between 3540 hours a week to your studies. This means that as well as attending lectures, seminars and other classes, you are supposed to be motivating yourself to read around the subject, to understand new ideas, to discuss your learning with other students, both in class and over coffee, and to practise your academic writing. This is why we explore how universities work and how to understand your course in Chapters 2 and 3, and why we focus on the nature of learning in Chapter 4; it is really important that you understand very quickly what you will have to do to succeed at university. Unlike when you were at school or college, where you might be described as a dependent learner (relying on the tutors to structure your time and your reading through lessons and a heavy homework regiment), when you are at university, you are deemed to be an independent learner.This means that you have to be organised, you have to work out your own independent study programme, and you have to nd the motivation, discipline and time to study and learn. So, a very basic good study technique is being able to organise ourselves for study to get mentally and physically prepared for study. Organisation is widely thought to be the key to success in business, even in life itself, let alone in studying. Now this is ne if you already see yourself as an organised person, but a bit of a blow if you feel that you are chaotic and disorganised.

Tips: We offer two really useful checklists to help you get organised: 2: Going to university, on pages 367 20: How to understand and pass exams, on pages 2967.

Activity 1: Have you completed your skills review?

In Chapter 4, we asked you to complete a personal study skills review. This review was to get you thinking about the sort of student that you believe you are now. It also gets you thinking about the sorts of skills that you already have, and those that you might like to develop or improve. If you have not already completed the skills review, why not do it now? Discussion: In the skills review, we asked you two sets of questions, designed to get you thinking about some of the issues related to organisation and time management. The rst asked: How positive and committed are you to developing your skills? What are you prepared to do to improve? How much time and energy are you prepared to put in?

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This question is designed to get you thinking about the very real impact of time. It does take time to develop your skills, just as it takes time to study your subject. One danger is thinking about all that time and saying to yourself, I dont have the time to learn how to study Ive got too much to do! While this is a perfectly natural panic thought, it leads to a false economy of time. Without developing good skills, everything else takes more time, too much time. So this is a repeat of the encouragement we offered in the Introduction with good study strategies, everything else gets easier, quicker and more effective. So, try to think about your skills development positively: I am enjoying this. I can really see the point of this. This is working for me right now! This might not be your normal thinking habit (maybe you are more used to thinking, what am I doing this for? This is all taking too long! This will never work for me!). But try the positive thoughts above for a change and see if it makes a difference.

The organisation skills you bring with you

We raised the issue of organisation and time management in Chapter 4. In particular, we asked: How organised are you? (If you have already brought up a family or juggled work with a hobby, you are most probably already used to organising your life to make the most of your time. These are really useful transferable skills.) If you have studied before, did you have set times to work? Do you have a place to study? What do you need here? This question was trying to do at least two things rst, to remind you that you bring many skills with you when you come to university. It is all too easy to focus only on the things that we do not have on our weaknesses and our failings. Not only is this very demoralising, its not the complete picture. If you want to improve, you have to notice your strengths as well as your weaknesses. As well as noticing what you lack, try to realise just how good you already are. This will give you a better picture of the task before you, and it will give you some condence. Secondly, it is trying to encourage you to think about how to adapt the skills that you already have, so that they are really helpful to you in your studies. In particular, this question is asking what organisation and time-management skills you already have. And that is what we are going to focus on here, in terms of exploring when, where and how to study.

When to study
Studying is often really hard work there is reading to do, notes to make and learn, essays and other assignments to plan, prepare and produce. Far from feeling fun and exciting, sometimes this can feel really overwhelming, and sometimes it even feels quite frightening. We can work to overcome this by doing a little bit of work each day.We can read, make notes, plan an assignment, draft a sample paragraph.This can all happen over time, and having study timetables can help. However, several things can hinder working in this way.

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I can only work under pressure of a deadline

We know we are supposed to start work weeks before the deadline, but usually we start two or three days before.

There are many students who do not start work until a deadline really frightens them. In our workshops at our university, students will rush up asking us to look at their essay draft quickly because it has to be submitted in half an hour. No matter what useful comments we might make, these students have not left any time to act on that advice. Further, because they have not paced themselves properly throughout their course, they have not given themselves the time to understand new material, to extend their learning with additional research, and to plan, prepare and rene their assignment. These students never give themselves the time to do themselves justice. Their work never reects what they are capable of and never receives the grades they might get. They never get to feel good about themselves as students.

Tip: Get used to doing a little bit of work: reading, writing a paragraph, talking new material over with other students, every day. This may seem impossible at rst, but working consistently in this way ensures that you make the most of your time and produce really good work.

It all seems too much, I just cant start!

I know what I should do, I really know . . . but I just cant face it.

Studying can feel like climbing a mountain. But there is more than one way to face a mountain! For some, a mountain is so large and dangerous that they are afraid of it. For others, a mountain is an exciting challenge. For still others, a mountain is just a thing to be tackled sensibly one step at a time. How do you view the mountain? Whatever your normal attitude, try to approach the mountain and your assignments one step at a time.

Tip: If you feel that it is all so overwhelming that you cannot even begin your work, read Chapter 8 on creativity this will give you ideas on how to start assignments.

But I have no time and never seem to feel like studying

I have my job or Im looking for a job. I have my family. I have no time.

Nobody leaps out of bed in the morning, going Wheee this is the day that I tackle that huge assignment! So do not rely on nding time or on feeling like studying. You have to put a study system in place and you have to make the time.

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While schools do set homework, and colleges and universities give reading lists and set assignment deadlines, every university student has to work out for themselves just how much time they are prepared to give to their studies (35 hours or more per week).They have to decide how much work they are prepared to put in, to get the results in crude terms, the grades that they want.

Checklist: So when should I study?

When studying, a good rule of thumb is to build up to one-hour study periods and to then take a break. The second rule is to plan a timetable. When planning out your

time, think about:

Whether you are a morning, afternoon or evening person try to t your study times around your maximum performance times. Work with your strengths. Consider how much time you spend travelling: reading on the bus or train is a really effective use of time. How much time you would like to give to friends and family your studies are important, but most of us would like to have friends and family still talking to us when our studies are over! How much time you have to give to chores we need to keep our homes at least sanitary. Watch out though housework and all chores can become excellent excuses for not working.They become displacement activities sometimes it feels as though it is easier to completely re-build the house, rather than write an essay! How much time you have to give to work these days, we need to earn money while we study, and sometimes universities help by tting lectures and other classes into one or two days a week. Beware, this does not mean that all your studying can t into two days. Remember, you have to give 3540 hours a week to your studies if you cannot do this, you will be in trouble. Whether you will be able to keep all your hobbies and interests going do you ght to keep your hobbies now, or do you plan to take them up again after your studies? Do you acknowledge time limits and decide that, in the short term, your studies become your hobbies? Or, can you juggle time effectively and so t more in? Time for rest and relaxation as we have said, studying is hard work it can also be very stressful. It is important to get sufcient rest while you study, and it is useful to build stress-relief activities dancing, exercise, meditation, massage, yoga into your timetables right at the beginning of your studies. Timetables timetables give you a strong guide to your work, if you keep to them. But more than that: without timetables, you may feel that every time you are not working or spending quality time with friends and family, you ought to be studying.

You may not do that studying, but you worry, and this is exhausting in itself. Eventually, it may feel that your whole life is work, work, work. Something will have to go, and it could be your studies!

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Things to think about

Study timetable: This is a 24/7 timetable (twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week) that covers how many hours per day go to non-study, and how many go to your studies. It is where you can plan which subjects to study and for how long. It takes some trial-and-error and experiment to get this right, so do give it that time. Assignment timetable: This is a record of all the assignment deadlines that are coming up either in a term, a semester or across a whole year. Fill in deadlines and pin up on your wall, and place in your folder and diary. Never let a deadline take you by surprise. Exam timetable: Similar to the assignment timetable, this is a record of all the exams you will be taking. Note dates, times and locations. It is all too easy to turn up at the wrong time, on the wrong day and in the wrong place! Revision timetable: At the appropriate time, each student should devise their own revision timetable, where they work out when they are going to test their knowledge and practise for the exams that they are going to sit (more on this in Chapter 20.Tip: follow the checklist there now!). Make lists and prioritise tasks. Keep a diary and note when you plan to read or write.

Tip: Photocopy the timetables below, and play around with using them to help you focus on your work and get the most from your time.

Where to study
Everyone deserves a nice place to study, but real life is not always as convenient as that, and sometimes we just have to adapt what we have and make it work. And, just as it is important that you decide when to study and work at it until you get it right for you it is important that you work out where you are going to study and you make that place work for you. With most of these things, there is no right or wrong, there is only what works for you. So take the time to nd out what does work for you. There are some things that you may need to think about though.

Your study space

Negotiate a space with family or atmates: your studies are part of your life now, and they must t in. Creating a study space helps everyone in your life including you realise just how important your studies are. A good place to study needs light and air you need to see and breathe but does not necessarily mean a completely quiet place; some people really do work best with a little bit of background noise going on.

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You will need space to lay out your work, pin up your timetables, deadlines and notes. Have your textbooks out and visible. Have subject les neatly labelled and ready to hand. Write up all the new words that you are learning, so that you are immersed in your learning. All this is practical and also helps you to feel like a student. Leave out work; do not tidy it all away. Having your work visible keeps it alive in your mind; putting it all away can give the false impression that youre nished. You need pens and pencils to hand, and also highlighters, a stapler and staples, paper clips, correction uid, Post-its, coloured pens, and all sorts of different sizes of paper. All these resources make it easier to write notes, annotate source material, mark important pages in books, and so forth.The different-sized paper gives you paper to make notes on, paper to make plans on, paper to print work on. Further, if you play around with materials and colour, you feel an injection of energy and enthusiasm, and this just makes the job easier. You should also have access to a computer. A computer allows you to word-process work so that it looks neat and tidy, and makes it possible for the tutor to read and mark. More than that, it makes it easier to draft and re-draft work till you get it right. Once you have a study space sorted out, you should practise using it positively. Say to yourself as you sit down: Now I am working, I enjoy being a student.Try to avoid those old negative thoughts: I dont want to be here. This is too hard. Id rather be. . . . Negative thoughts have a negative effect, while positive thoughts have a positive effect. Remember to make that study space work for you. Get into the habit of giving 100 per cent whenever you sit down to study. Act as if you and your studies are important they are, and so are you.

Tip: Experiment with working at home, in the library and when you travel (being a commuter adds hours of study time to your week, if you take your books with you). But whether you want to work in a library or on a bus, you will also need a study space at home.

Activity 2: Sorting out a study space

1. If you have not already done so, sort out a place to study. Make sure that you can use this space at the times that you have planned to study in your timetable. 2. Over time, collect the resources that we have mentioned above. 3. In the meantime, make a list of all the resources that you need.What materials do you have already? Which ones are you going to buy? Which books can you get easily from the library? Which ones are so important that you ought to buy them? How many can you afford? etc.

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Having that study space: some comments from other students

It felt really good having my own study space. It made me feel like a real student. I felt that at last I could settle down to some real work. I felt a bit frightened at rst, you know? Like, now I couldnt put it off any longer! Id have to take it seriously. Sometimes I use my space to sort of trick myself into working. I think, Ill just sit there for a minute. . . . Next thing I know, Ive been working away for an hour and I feel really good. I felt guilty at having to cut myself off from the kids. It just felt so selsh. I have to work really hard at still giving them some time. I used to get so frustrated; it was like every time I sat down to work, they would start demanding things from me. Now, we all sit down to work at the same time, even if they are just crayoning or reading a storybook. This has helped us all feel better. I still like going to the library to work, but its great having a proper place for my stuff at home. It really does help.

Discussion: As you can see from the student comments, there is no right or wrong response to having your own study space. For each of us, there is only our reaction, and what we choose to do about it. If having your own space makes you feel like a proper student (and there is no one model of what a proper student is), then you will only have to sit at your table or desk to put yourself in the right mood to study. You can always do what one of the other students (above) does and sometimes trick yourself into getting some work done. If it makes you feel a bit lonely or frightened, console yourself. New experiences are often frightening, at rst. It might help to say to yourself several times, I am a proper student, each time that you sit down to study. If your family always chooses that moment to want you again, do what the other student did, and try to get them to study at the same time as you. Depending on their age, this might mean real study, in which case the tips in the book will also help them! Or it could be nearly study if they are very young. If that will not work with your lot, you may have to wait until they are in bed to study. Whatever works for you.

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How to study
This is the longest section and it will cross-reference with information that you will be getting in other parts of this book. The whole book is also designed to get you studying in more successful ways. However, here are some practical tips on how to study. Want it: Everyone should know what they are studying and why. Make sure that you do know what you want from each course that you are studying, and how your life will be changed when you reach your goals.

Tip: Remember to write your goals on Post-its and stick them up in your study space. Fill in your learning contract (Chapter 4) for each course, module or unit that you do.
Get the overview (see Chapter 3): When on a course, do not drift from week to week wondering whats going on. Work out how the course has been put together. Know how the course is being assessed. Read the assignment question at the beginning of the course, not the end. If there are to be exams, check out past papers at the beginning of your studies, not the end. All this gives you a sense of how the course has been put together and where you are going each week.

Tip: Use the Get Ready for Your Exams checklist, in Chapter 20. The advice there will help you to plan and use your time throughout your course.
Epistemology: We mentioned this in Chapter 2. Remember, every course has its own theory of knowledge what counts as argument and evidence for your subject. Make sure you know the what, why and how of all your subjects.

Tip: Read the journals to get a model of how to argue and write in your subject. Use a dictionary and a subject dictionary.

Be positive: Just as an athlete will perform better if they feel like a success and think positive thoughts, so a student will learn more if they can adopt positive attitudes and develop self-condence.

Tips: When your motivation runs low, role-play, or act like, a successful student. Remind yourself that you can be a successful student. Read Chapter 9 on dealing with your emotions.

Timing: Set those study timetables in motion. Remember, work for an hour then take a break. A short break will recharge your batteries and make your work protable. Long study

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periods are not the most effective way to work, yet one study myth is that this is what we must do.We might sit there for hours, but not much work is getting done.This belief can make you very frustrated, angry and tired, but it rarely produces good work.

Time tips: We concentrate best in 15-minute bursts. When we study, we have to get into the habit of regularly recharging our mental batteries to wake up our brains. We can do this by: taking a short rest changing what we do making the task very important making the task interesting, stimulating or more difcult.

Prioritise time: When working, we need to be strategic, note which assignments carry the most marks, and note which deadlines are coming rst.When you make lists of what needs to be done and when, do rst that with the nearest deadline; give more time to the assignment which carries the most marks.

Tip: Have a diary and note when you are going to do what. If you dont do something, re-schedule.

Use the time: We know students who sit down to study out come the pens and paper they get rearranged. Out come the books and the highlighters they get rearranged. They go for a coffee. They go for a glass of water. They put one lot of books away and get out another set. They look at the clock oh good! An hour has passed, so they put their materials away. But they have done no work! Watch out for this.

Tip: Goal-setting will help you benet from independent study time.

One worry at a time

One thing that can stop people achieving enough when they sit down to work is too much worry. They sit down to write an essay, and worry about the two other essays that they also have to write.They worry about the weather or the bills.They worry about anything and everything. If we worry about everything, we do nothing. One of the hardest tricks to being a successful student is to learn how to worry about one thing at a time. It is as if we need to set up a set of shelves in our brain. We then need to put all our different worries on the shelves. Learn to take down one thing at a time and

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give it our total concentration.When we have nished with that, put it back on the shelf and take down something else. Like everything else recommended in this book, this is a skill that has to be learned and developed through practice.

Goal-set: Before you sit down to study, set yourself some goals. Know what you are doing and why. Do not just start reading a book because it is on the reading list. Know why you are reading a section of that book. If you are not sure, have a look at the assignment question and nd a bit of the book that will help you with a bit of the assignment.Then you will know what you are doing and why. This makes all the difference.

Tip: Read Chapter 11 on reading. Each time you read, brainstorm rst: what do I know? What do I need? Which bit of the assignment will this help me with?

Be active: When studying independently, be just as active as when you are in a lecture or joining in a class discussion. Read actively, asking questions as you go.Think about the information that you are receiving: what does it mean? Do you understand it? If not, what are you going to do about that? How does it connect with what you already know (things that you have heard in class or read in other places)? Connecting up information in this way is a really important part of active learning. Make active notes typically, key word notes in patterns (more on this in Chapter 12). Revise those notes actively.

Tip: Before reading, re-read the assignment question make notes that would help you answer that question.

Review actively: At the end of each study session independent study or a lecture or class take some time to reect on what you have read or heard. Check what you have done. Recall what you have learned. Make brief notes to make the learning conscious.

Tip: Complete a learning log at the end of every day or week (see Chapter 10).
Study partners and groups: Study is best when undertaken actively and interactively; this is where a study partner or a study group can be invaluable.Talking over new information with other people is the easiest way to understand and learn it, to make it your own. Further, if you encounter a problem you can talk to (or phone) your partner. Probably, they will not know the solution either. Oh, the relief! You are not alone and you are not stupid. Then the situation changes as you work on the problem and sort it out together.

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Tips: If you have not got a study partner, persuade a friend or family member that they are interested in your course and talk to them. If your course has an online chat space or discussion board, use that to air your views and ask your questions.
Dont end on a sour note:Try not to end a study session on a problem it is de-motivating and it can make it that little bit harder to start studying again. As suggested, use a study partner, friend or online discussion space to talk it over.

Tip: Make a note of the problem and sleep on it sometimes the solution comes to you when you wake up. But dont lie awake fretting all night this does not solve the problem, and you have made everything worse by losing sleep and gaining stress.

Relaxation and dealing with stress: Remember to make time to rest, relax and let go of stress. This is important. You need rest to carry on. Stress relief allows you to let go of tension, and this helps you to perform better. When we are stressed, our body releases cortisol, a hormone that has a direct impact on the brain causing the cortex to shrink. Further, stress releases adrenalin, the ight or ght hormone. The combination of these hormones eliminates short-term memory and produces the narrow, tunnel vision necessary for ght or ight. This might save our lives when escaping from a burning building, but works against us when studying, where we need breadth and depth of vision.

Tips: Read Chapter 9 on dealing with your emotions. Practise positive thinking. Take up yoga. Do it! Review it!
As always, the advice given above will only work if put into practice. But much of it is there to be played with and adapted to suit you. So note the useful points and try them out. After a while, review how they are working for you and adapt them, so that they become more tailored to the sort of student that you are, and thus you do become a more effective student.

Conclusion
In this section, we have considered some basic organisation and time-management techniques via a discussion of when, where and how to study. Remember, though, that none of this will mean anything unless and until you put the ideas into practice. If it seems too difcult to put them all into practice at once, sort out one thing at a time. As you do this, take the time to reect on how the things that you are doing are working for you. If something is not working or stops working change it.These tips work best once you adapt them to suit yourself.

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Review points
When you reect on this chapter, you might notice that you have: considered the impact of personal motivation on study success realised the time commitment necessary for developing effective study skills and academic practices, and for being an effective student explored organisation and time-management issues started the process of organising yourself for effective study engaged with various activities that have reinforced your understanding of the different parts of the chapter.

Activity 3: Filling in your timetables

Below, there are several timetables, including a blank 24/7 timetable. Complete all your timetables, but rst follow the guidelines for your 24/7 timetables. Filling in the 24/7: 1. Fill in the rst one, indicating when you expect to work, sleep, do chores and so forth. Think about the time that you have left. Put in times for study and relaxation. Think about it are you being realistic? Make sure that you are not underworking or overworking yourself. Run that programme for a few weeks. 2. After a couple of weeks, review your success in keeping to the study times that you set and in achieving the goals that you had in mind. 3. Change your timetable to t in with reality! Use the second blank timetable for this. 4. Remember to do this every term, semester, year. Keeping a timetable Mark in the following details: Tip: Use a colour code

time in paid work time which must be spent in college or university time spent travelling personal/family commitments (children, shopping, etc.) any important, regular social commitments hours of sleep required time for independent study.

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Table 5.1 Blank 24-hour timetables

TIME MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00 16.00 17.00 18.00 19.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 23.00 24.00

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Table 5.2 Events and deadlines calendar

EVENTS AND DEADLINES Write down the dates of the following events each term:

Course 1 Course title Exam(s) Essay deadlines(s) Laboratory report Deadline(s) Seminar presentations Field trips/visits Project report or Exhibition deadlines Bank holidays or other days off Other events (specify)

Course 2

Course 3

Course 4

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Table 5.3

Term plan
Term Plan what is happening over your terms/semester? Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Longer term deadlines:

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Table 5.4 Weekly plan

Keep a WEEKLY PLAN key events and activities each week Week Number: 8am 9am 10am 11am 12 noon 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm 11pm 12 midnight 1am Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun