After secondary school, finding the motivation to work and study at the start of your undergraduate degree can be hard. Sometimes, you may feel too overloaded and anxious to accomplish anything. Being at university forces you to become more autonomous and self-reliant. Connected to that is the importance of developing independent study skills. Let us discuss ways to develop your study skills, while dealing with the stress that comes from becoming independent.

Becoming independent at university

At secondary school, I relied on the teachers to inform me on how to behave and learn. At university, I became more accountable for how I act. That includes punctuality, attendance and contributions in class.

Attending classes consistently and on time is so important and shows accountability. You are in control of your life, but becoming more independent does not mean you get to slack off and disrespect the rules. There are, of course, circumstances where you may run late or can’t attend but what I am saying is try your best and only miss out when you are truly unable to come to class. There is nobody to hold you accountable but yourself and that’s something you will quickly learn regardless of the fact your’re living at home during your university years or away from your family. I’m telling you that regardless of your circumstances, you need to hold yourself accountable and be respectful of your teacher’s time and your own. 

Studying when stressed

Independence at university comes with a lot of responsibilities, different from what you may have had before, regardless of your age. It is an increase in pressure and you need to learn how to accommodate for this, especially when dealing with the new workload. I believe that the best way to combat stress is planning. Find out what your timetable is and build your work around it. For instance, if I had no classes on Wednesday, then I would spend that day preparing for the upcoming week. It makes more sense in practice but, essentially, set time aside to plan how you’re going to work. Plan around your schedule and fit in time to relax.

Also, find out what works well for you and stick to it. For instance, I procrastinate a lot and prefer to do things under pressure, so this worked well for me: I would prepare for my seminars the day before, using the lecture notes and going through the readings. So it was fresh in my mind, I would also go over them on the next day on the way to School. It gave me something to do on my commute. Preparing for your seminars is so important, so you can come up with questions to ask in class, and participate in the discussions.

Some important skills to have

• Note taking: find out how you learn best, whether it’s visually or something else and reflect this in how you prepare notes. I make my notes on paper sometimes and online other times as I like the variation. I like jotting down important things I hear and then developing those points when I get home for future essays. There are different ways to make notes, so find out what are the most effective ways for you.
• Critical thinking: some of the most important skills for university are discussion, comprehension and assessment. Read critically and attempt to question the text.

Overall, I was heavily inspired by Youtuber Dr Amina Yonis when developing my study skills and would recommend her channel. Hope this helps and good luck!