Self-care over the Summer

To help residents still studying, completing coursework, and sitting exams, the Residential Welfare Team have put together suggestions for self-care and some small and practical changes you can make to better your study environment, helping you increase your productivity and improve your mood. 

Your learning environment
If you prefer to study in your room, it is important to remove distractions. Remember to hit the do not disturb button once in a while and try limiting screentime to maximise your focus. It might be difficult to do at first but will easily become a part of your studying routine once you see how your productivity increases! There are lots of different apps and browser extensions to help you set limits on social media and Netflix etc such as ‘Freedom’ & ‘Stay Focused’.

If you like to socialise with your flat throughout the day, let your flatmates when you will be studying. You then won’t be distracted, and this is also a good way to let flatmates know you need them to mindful of noise levels and interruptions.  

There is a book called ‘Make Your Bed: Small Things That Can Change Your Life’ which takes the view that the little things in life matter, completing these smaller tasks lead us to bigger successes. Written by US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven, he states ‘if you want to change the world, start off by making your bed’. Making your bed in the morning can be the first task you accomplish for the day, gives you a small sense of achievement, and it will encourage you to do another task, and then another – creating a more productive day. This small message is a powerful one – one of the hardest parts about completing tasks is the motivation to start, so begin with something small. 

Creating a tidy, organised, and comfortable place for yourself to study in your room so you can feel at home is one of the most important and worthwhile things you can do. This way, it will be a place you enjoy spending time and feel happy in which will impact on how well you work in that environment.

Something to look forward to
A great tip for motivation is to plan something to look forward to and this does not have to be a trip out or anything fancy. For example, say you have planned out your day to focus on an essay from 10:00am – 12:00pm, or until you have written 500 words – then pause for one hour and reward yourself with an episode of Netflix, or having a coffee and a chat with flatmates. 

If you are looking for a way to better manage your time and tasks and to stick to any revision timetables you may have made for yourself, using the ‘Pomodoro Technique’ has been a popular method for students to maximise their productivity whilst taking regular breaks. This will also help you breakdown tasks into smaller chunks to avoid becoming overwhelmed. 



Self-care tips
Along with taking regular breaks and giving yourself rewards for completed tasks – taking care of yourself physically is also important to your wellbeing. Make sure that you are giving yourself enough time to get yourself ready in the morning, when we do this, we go about our day feeling more confident and ready to take on tasks. Remember to be yourself, do not compare yourself to others on your course or elsewhere, achievement is relative. 

Take charge of your own wellbeing, emotional and physical – do not bottle things up, talk to friends and family and ask your department for academic help. 

If you find yourself struggling or know someone who is, please make sure you use the support available to you. Our team are here to support residents so if you find yourself in need of a chat and some guidance you can reach out to our team at residentialwelfare@qmul.ac.uk. Reaching out to someone can be the hardest part but is a sign of determination and resilience.

If you would like to find out more about our team and what we do, check out this article and be sure to look out for more articles like this one over the summer under the Wellbeing section of the website. 

The Residential Welfare Team
In everything we do, our ultimate purpose is to promote student wellbeing