Academic Year Planner
First of all, think about buying yourself a big wall chart calendar for the year. Most good stationary shops sell them and they are a great way to get a clear picture of the year ahead. If you get there at the beginning of the academic year, you’ll find that Southampton Solent University’s Student Union gives away wall chart year planners. However, without a wall chart, our Academic Year Planner can be used for the same purpose. 1. Look at your academic calendar, unit guide, myCourse page or anything that gives course dates, assessment dates, term dates and dates for any other significant event in the academic year. 2. Mark all of these dates on your wall chart or planner. You could think about using different coloured pens for different kinds of date – exams, deadlines, beginning and end of term, etc. 3. Highlight, mark up, put stickers or stars on, or use any way you like to point out times when you can anticipate a heavy workload. These might be times when deadlines clash or a lot of assignments are due. 4. Block out weeks in the year that you know you will need to give up to nothing but study. Avoid planning parties, festivals, holidays or social events during these blocked out study weeks. Weeks like these are necessary, but the advantage of having them displayed on your year planner is that you can see that these study blocks do not take up the whole year. 5. Plan in ‘down times’ when the workload is less –