Work - and how to avoid it.



Don't be floored by the apparent volume of work. Book lists are to help you not terrify you. Be selective, not only from the list but also from the individual book.



Priorities work. Assessed work is more important than work which is not assessed, however, this work does have to be done to complete a module.

Read the handbook. It is very useful regarding how marks are worked out etc.,.

Don't skip a seminar because you haven't done the reading - you'll miss a lot of useful information and end up further behind - if you can't finish the book ask someone how it ends - or rent the video - but be aware that a great deal may be left out of the film.

If something's difficult to read, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, read the authorised crib first, it goes a long way to explaining what is actually happening in the text, although remember you still have to read the original.

Get started early - if you've got six essays to do over the holidays do as much of the background reading early on while the kids are still at school. The longer you leave it the more the pressure will mount. The hardest part of the essay is getting started - once you start you may find that the question isn't as hard as it looked.

Arrange your timetable to suit yourself. Most tutors will let you swap to a different seminar, so try to arrange a free day - Wednesdays and Fridays are usually the least busy days and you may be able to have both of them free. Lecturers don't want to work Fridays.

Don't hand in essays late - the extra time spent on them will be wasted by the number of marks you lose. If you need to - ask for an extension - you will usually get it. If not take a 'good enough' approach i.e., "this is the best I can do in the time available", then hand it in and move on.

Don't be afraid to voice your opinion in a seminar, it's far better to say something and have your questions answered than sit there wondering what everyone is talking about. You're here for you, make it work for you.

If you have the choice of a presentation or an essay, consider choosing a presentation. It gives you a deadline and makes you do the work, also it avoids having two essays to do at the end of the course. OK so you should spread the essays out but not many of us do. Also a presentation will help with self confidence.

You don't need to go to all lectures. If you think the lecturer is rubbish or boring, use the time to do something more constructive - ask friends what it was about and if you think you missed something worthwhile borrow notes or get the tape of the lecture from the tape library.

Nothing is carved in stone. If you realise that a particular period is not for you , and you have signed up in your third year for several more courses of that period, you can change. The earlier you do it the better. You can't change halfway through.

If you get distracted working at home by kids or housework - go and work at the local library.

Minimise your degree, try to do subjects that complement each other, you will gain a good working knowledge of a period this way and also cut down on your reading.