Argh! Worried what the hell you’re going to do with that first university assignment deadline coming up?

Don’t worry we’ve all been there!

You may feel like the move to university and independent study has ripped that safety net of sixth form teacher or college tutor away from you but don’t fret about it, everyone’s in the same boat and is having the same concerns.

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So, what can I do?

Don’t keep putting it off, get started at your earliest opportunity. Try to avoid getting into the trap of leaving assignments until the last minute, as that’ll make things worse. By getting it done out of the way, you can revisit it with a fresh pair of eyes before submitting the assignment and you’ll have more time to chill out before the next one lands on your desk.

If you have no idea of where to start or are simply stuck on a few bits…

Ask!

Your university lecturer gave you their contact details for a reason, so use them, talk to them, email them, or even phone them during office hours, and talk through it. Lecturers are passionate and want to talk about their subject and pass their knowledge onto you, they also want you to get the best pass mark possible, they’re there to help and support you.

Remember you’re paying to be at university, and the support from your lecturers is why you pay the £9k+ a year.

You’re never alone in university, talk through the assignment with your course mates. Set up a WhatsApp group and ask questions or share ideas or good articles you may have found, we can almost guarantee that someone is thinking or wondering exactly the same as you about the assignment – there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

And who knows what someone else may have thought of? But when you bring that element into your assignment, with some proper individual research, that one thought on the WhatsApp group could take your 2:2 equivalent grade to a 2:1 or even a first.

Create a study group. It doesn’t have to be anything formal. Just grab a few course mates and go through the assignment. Brainstorm it over a coffee, a drink in the SU. Or if a few of you live in the same student accommodation get together over a curry and work it all out before going off and completing your own assignment.

Just remember that unless it’s a group project. Never work together on actually writing the assignment as that could be found to be academic cheating and that just opens a whole new can of worms for you.

And be persistent, break the assignment down. 9 times out of 10 the assignment question will be made up of a number of elements. Take each individual element and work on it. Then bring it all together at the end.

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Know what you need to write but just got writer’s block?

Here are a few ways to get rid of writer’s block.

1. Skip the intro. And get stuck in with the main body. It’s much easier to write your intro at the end when you know what the main content is all about.
2. Write what you know. Just make a simple list of the key points. No doubt, you already know what you need to cover in the assignment. So, usse this as a checklist to frame your main content.
3. Run, swim, walk. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which can heighten your alertness and energy. After a bit of exercise. You will get the creative juices flowing faster and allow you to crack on with the assignment.
4. Listen to music. Like exercise, music is scientifically proven to get the cogs going. It encourages the creative process and expressive thinking that you need to smash a good pass.
5. Annotate the hell out of it. Annotate your lecture notes, your textbooks and any journal articles you find, highlighting the useful sections or quotes. Then review and build your content around them. It’s probably best not to take a highlighter to a library book. They tend to get a bit upset when you do that.
6. Take a break. As well as exercise, sleep and food are also essential for good brain function. Avoid getting pulled towards the all-nighter. More than likely you will become even more unproductive and the writer’s block will get worse. Your brain will work much better after a good night’s sleep or some tasty food. Try to avoid that dreaded carb coma though!

How do you work your way through an assignment? Let us know on our socials, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.