Does anyone have any tips to help manage university work?

[Chlwen1]

Currently I am attending online university, this is the first schooling I have attended in years.

University has been hard for me, because you have to set your own study schedule and seek out a lot of your own information. When I try to make my own schedule I have a hard time because I feel like everything has to be perfect, I often obsess over one thing and neglect my other work, So I feel myself getting overwhelmed by it all and never sticking to my schedule, then I fall behind and start stressing when my quizzes and assessment pop up.

Does anyone have any advice to make studying a bit less stressful?

 

[Thinx]

Yes I think it's extra hard probably with online studying, is this due to Covid probably? What are you studying?

I have trouble organising myself, think it's common for those with ASD or ADHD. Is there any support for you with the online study? Do you have a diagnosis that may help you get support? And/or is there support with study skills for everyone, there's usually some.

I find it helpful to use a paper diary, and block in time when I m going to do tasks, I break down large or broad tasks into chunks I can do in an hour or in half hours if that's helpful, like when it's something I am finding difficult or boring...

I try to keep to the plan, but stuff happens, so I can replan if I don't get time or get sidetracked. I have all my deadlines or appointments etc in there too, and just need to remember to look each day!

 

[Mia]

It's achingly difficult to work as a perfectionist. During life study classes in art, I would throw away most sketches and a few lazy students would remove mine and others sketches from the studio garbage cans and present them as their own. Eventually I learned to rip them into pieces. And really, the sketches that I threw away were adequate. But not for me at that time.

Perfectionism is a difficult way to go through life. It's an internal idea that can be unrealistic and is sometimes motivated by fear of how others might think of you. It causes anxiety and is often counterproductive to realistic achievable goals. I think the only way I was able to overcome it, was that I had very little time to devote to a single subject at school. I worked a job at the time, so I could only allot so many hours for each subject. Simply didn't have time to tweak it all.

 

[Juliettaa]

Currently I am attending online university, this is the first schooling I have attended in years.

University has been hard for me, because you have to set your own study schedule and seek out a lot of your own information. When I try to make my own schedule I have a hard time because I feel like everything has to be perfect, I often obsess over one thing and neglect my other work, So I feel myself getting overwhelmed by it all and never sticking to my schedule, then I fall behind and start stressing when my quizzes and assessment pop up.

Does anyone have any advice to make studying a bit less stressful?

If you have a diagnosis for ASD (or another condition), you may be eligible for mentor support; someone who can help you plan and prioritise tasks and help you with channeling your thoughts. This support is often available through universities, colleges and schools here in the UK and can also be available in the workplace via Access to Work. But, I believe that in order to get the support, you have to have a diagnosis.

Would this be an option for you?