Have you thought about the ‘new (academic) year – new you’ yet? I was reading the Metro paper the other day and an article by Susan Griffin on productivity caught my eye. Here is the resolutions list she devised: Start …

We come up with New Year’s resolutions, why not for the new academic year, too? Read more »

Postgraduate study is a totally different animal. What do I mean by this? First of all, you are more mature and experienced than when you started your undergraduate studies. You should be more focussed as well. Which direction do you …

A brief look at the life of a postgraduate… Read more »

How did your academic year go? Do you normally judge your success and contentment by the marks you get? Have you ever thought that you could learn from your mistakes as well as your successes? Reflection Reflection is mighty important …

It’s the end of the year – try some reflection Read more »

Around Easter time, it is final hand in for a lot of you, from essays to end-of-year reports or dissertations. Now you have done the hard work researching your topic and formulating your arguments, how do you make sure you …

The artful editor – all you need to know at this time of the year Read more »

Did you know there is a difference between taking notes and making notes? Notetaking means taking notes from original source (later you decide what to quote or paraphrase). Notemaking, however, is your active engagement with what you have read/ heard …

Taking good notes might sound boring to some but read on… Read more »

It’s good to take a break and do something completely different.  It resets your concentration, stops you getting stressed and makes for an effective working pattern.  One popular technique first established in the 1980s is the “Pomodoro Technique” (named after …

Studying 25 to 5 – the importance of being distracted to effective study Read more »