Video Blog #3 – How To Set S.M.A.R.T Goals

Surviving The January Blues

“Blue January”

Well, it’s January again, another new year! No more back to back partying, feasting and making merry, flicking the ‘snooze’ button and snuggling further down under the duvet. Christmas festivities and New Year celebrations, for many people in the UK, mean time off from the usual responsibilities, university, work etc. But now, here we are already, back to reality and the daily slog.

Cold, dark, dismal weather, lack of sleep and excess food and drink leave us feeling sluggish, overweight and frankly, a bit miserable and longing for a little sunshine in our lives. In fact, ‘Blue Monday’ is a name given to the third Monday in the month of January which is thought to be the most depressing day of the year, this year it was 21st January, 2019.

So, do you see it as a new beginning, a time to take stock, to set goals and introduce positive changes in your life? Are you tired of overindulging and feeling like a sloth and are keen to leap feet first back into the real world, or do you have the January blues? The post-holiday slump?

Many people probably have a combination of these feelings, so, be kind to yourself. Whether it’s back to the dreaded January exams, a demanding daily routine or a challenging job and responsibilities. Here are a few tips to make January more bearable.

Make your immediate surroundings cosy, welcoming and cheerful. Bring some of the outside inside! Colourful flowers and lush green plants are a reminder of spring and summer and can lighten and brighten our mood. Seasonal decorations may have been put back into storage until next year, but, there is no reason to store fairy lights and candles. Dark evenings are the perfect time to indulge in soft, cosy lighting while relaxing and keeping warm after a busy day so, kick off your shoes and light up those scented candles.

Despite the weather, there is no reason to stay inside and hibernate until spring. Physical activity can lift your mood, give you more energy and improve your quality of sleep. Winter walks can be pleasurable, so wrap up warmly and head out into the great outdoors for much needed fresh air and natural light. Sunlight is important to boost vitamin D levels. (Inadequate vitamin D levels can contribute to feeling ‘low’ in winter months so it’s maybe a good idea to read about supplements.) Head off to local beauty spots, parks, beaches etc that will be much quieter this time of year and embrace nature and your surroundings. Alternately walk around your local town or city, taking more note of local landmarks and interests, or simply have a brisk walk to the shops. You’ll be fulfilling at least thirty minutes a day of the recommended exercise levels without effort and be on the receiving end of the associated health benefits. However, the primary objective is to have fun and enjoy the experience.

Indulge yourself with delicious but healthy food. Resist the calorie laden, heavy, stodgy food that we seem to crave in winter which result in our bodies feeling ‘heavy and stodgy’! Research a few new recipes and warm up with delicious winter soups, casseroles, healthy stir fries, salad /grain bowls, citrus fruits. You’ll feel fitter, brighter and healthier. Want to try something different? Non-vegans check out https://veganuary.com/  for inspiration.

Drink plenty of fluids and stay hydrated. Lack of fluids can cause many health problems and can cause us to feel tired and sluggish. On average, aim for 8 glasses of water a day. Everyone is different and illness, exercise and excessive sweating could mean that you may need more. Water is best, but most drinks such as squash, tea, fruit juice and water laden fruit and vegetables can contribute to the overall total. Avoid sweetened and caffeinated drinks.

Make plans, organise an activity, try something new! Book a holiday, a weekend with friends, a special evening out! Having something to look forward to is a great mood booster!

Dry January. After the holiday season a lot of people decide to cut down on alcohol, especially if they have spent the preceding weeks overindulging. Some of the benefits of less/no alcohol are weight loss, improved sleeping patterns, more energy and a reassessment of your drinking habits. Not least, the money saved is a definite  bonus! Take a look at the Dry January site for more inspiration https://alcoholchange.org.uk/get-involved/

If all else fails, treat yourself! Head to the cinema, curl up with a good book and a big bar of chocolate, listen to your favourite music, a great mood booster, catch up with friends or make that long overdue phone call and have a good chat with a favourite person.

Take care of yourself and don’t feel guilty about being self-indulgent and appreciating the small pleasures in life!

Remember, it’s almost February and Spring and Summer are just around the corner!!!!

Please Note –

SAD. Not to be confused with the low mood in January experienced by many of the population due to circumstances. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of depression suffered by some people that sometimes starts in autumn and improves in spring. Sufferers can experience a lot of symptoms associated with classical depression and should seek medical help. More information can be obtained from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/symptoms/ The mental health charity MIND also has a fundraising event https://www.mind.org.uk/redjanuary.

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Happy New Year!

New Year, New Goals

2019!
A new year, a new you and a new beginning!
What do you want to improve?
What do you want to achieve?
How are you going to make it happen?

Many people start the New Year intent on realising their newly formed resolutions, only to fail at the first hurdle. Studies show that on average only 8% of people are successful in achieving their goal and many quickly give up. Some reasons for this can be impractical goal setting, bad planning, unrealistic allocated timescales, shortage of finances, insufficient commitment and an absence of regular progress review.

How To Set Goals

Setting goals can be a powerful process in both personal development and academic progress, but succeeding takes hard work, determination and good organisation. Some people seem to work hard but don’t appear to achieve very much, thinking about what you want to do and where you want to be in the future can focus the mind. Visualise it as a journey that you need to plan, how are you going to get from A to B?

Goals can be overall long term aims but supported by more achievable short term targets to help you arrive, fully prepared at your destination. Carefully consider your objectives and brainstorm ideas until you devise your strategy for success. Set your goals in writing and use positive language, for example ‘I will’ not ‘I would like to’. Prepare a well thought out action plan and stick with it.

S.M.A.R.T

Specific
What exactly is it you want to achieve? The more specific you are the more likely it is you will achieve it. You may have an overall dream/goal of where you would like to be in 5 or 10 years time, but what is it you need to accomplish to make this happen? Begin by setting smaller, achievable goals to help this vision become a reality.

Measurable
Make your goal measurable so you can measure progress and be clear about when the goal has been achieved. On your list you can tick off progress so that you can see when you have accomplished your aims.

Achievable/Attainable
Be realistic about the goal you are trying to attain. It sounds obvious but don’t work towards a goal you have no hope of reaching. Do you have the commitment, time, funding and the ability to achieve it? If not break it down into smaller areas that will ultimately lead to the same outcome. Remember, it is a process and a culmination of smaller steps.

Relevant
Be clear about why you want to achieve it and is it relevant to your overall aim.

Time Bound
Have a deadline, but make it realistic. A race against time isn’t the idea but having a timescale to work within can keep you motivated, accountable and more likely to achieve your objective.

You can download one of the many online templates or carry out further research if necessary!

Make 2019 the year you embark on your journey of accomplishment!

All the best,

The A2B Team.

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Christmas Student Tips

It’s Christmas

Have a great time in the party season, enjoy the socialising and the festivities on offer, have fun, but be sensible not vulnerable!!!

A reminder of a few points to help you to stay safe and return in January rested, refreshed and ready to begin the new term!

If you’re going out partying, have something to eat to line your stomach.

Don’t be pressurised into drinking more than you want, be aware of your own limits and stick to these. Longer drinks generally have a lesser concentration of alcohol than shots and short drinks and try interspersing these with soft drinks. Don’t ever leave your drink unattended, if you do, don’t drink it and order a replacement.

Charge the battery on your phone before leaving and make sure you have emergency contact numbers.

Keep your keys somewhere safe.

Try to stay with friends and have someone to travel with/share a taxi home. Set up a meeting place in the event you get separated

Keep some money in reserve in case of emergencies, at least enough to cover your full taxi fare if you find yourself alone or others have run out of money.

If you are travelling home for Xmas, remember to secure your accommodation and lock valuables away. Don’t publicise on social media when you are out/away and your accommodation is empty.

Finally, we all hope here at A2B Assessments that you have an amazing Xmas and a wonderful new year!!!

Happy Holidays,

The A2B Team

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Proofreading Tips

Why do you need to proofread?

Constant redrafting / rethinking is ongoing during the writing process, but it is extremely important to leave time to thoroughly revise your work when finishing an assignment or essay. Editing and proofreading are about amending and correcting the final draft. Valuable marks can be gained by thoroughly checking and being critical about your work, and could enhance your grade from good to excellent. Follow these proofreading tips to get the most out of your work.

Editing

There are certain targets and criteria that need to be fulfilled in your work, for example, structure, intelligent analysis, arguments/counter arguments, adequate referencing, word limit etc. Editing is a process where you read your text and modify it to ensure that you have met your objectives and have produced a clear, coherent and accurate work.

Proofreading

Once you have a thoroughly edited piece of work and it is nearly ready for submission, the final stage of the process is to proofread the text in fine detail to eliminate mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation.

A few Editing and Proofreading tips

1.If possible, give yourself some time and space away from your finished work so you can be more objective when you return to it with a fresh approach. Mornings, after some rest, can be a good time to edit.

2. Find somewhere to work where you will not be distracted or interrupted.

3. Take regular breaks and do something else for awhile, it can be difficult to concentrate adequately for long periods. Check out our Pomodoro Technique article for further details on this.

4. Try printing a hard copy, leaving space to write corrections. Try larger text or a different font, sometimes a different format makes it easier to spot errors.

5. A blank piece of paper can be useful to cover text that you are not reading, point with your finger to help you focus on specific words.

6. Read the text slowly to yourself and then try reading out loud, as though reading to an audience. Does it make sense and explain clearly what you wanted it to say? Alternatively, ask someone else to read it out loud for you. At the proofreading stage this can also be useful for punctuation errors, are your question marks, full stops, commas correctly placed?  If you have assistive software such as Claro Read or Text Help then you can also use these to read the text back

7. Check referencing is accurate to avoid plagiarism.

8. Double check facts, figures, dates, names, statistics etc to ensure information is accurate.

9. Some people prefer to proofread looking for one problem at a time, for example, punctuation followed by spelling. If you commonly repeat mistakes, make a checklist of weak areas so you can constantly refer to it.

10. Reading backwards is a good tip to check spelling mistakes as it makes you focus on individual words instead of sentences. Use your computer spellchecker but remember this has limitations and won’t correct misused words, for example, whether, weather/ wear, where. Also make sure it is set to ‘British’ English, the default setting is usually ‘US’ English.

11. Do use a dictionary!

12. Finally, try asking someone you trust to do a good job to proofread your work for you, maybe ask another student and offer the same favour in return. It is useful for someone to look at a piece of writing, written by someone else, from a fresh perspective.

 

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7 Revision Tips To Boost Your Exam Performance

Exams are stressful. We get it. If you’re you feeling overwhelmed or nervous, try not to panic, help is at hand!

In this article we’re going to go cover 7 Revision strategies you can implement to increase your exam confidence, performance and hopefully your results.

1) Know the Syllabus

This sounds obvious, but being clear about key objectives means you can focus on necessary information and not waste time on irrelevant content. Ask your lecturers if they can supply you with specific syllabus details so you can then create a concise revision plan.

2) Plan a Revision Timetable Well in Advance of Exams

Last minute cramming is not effective and can be extremely stressful. Many exam failures are due to lack of preparation and planning. Make a timetable as detailed as possible, taking into account when your exams are and targets for each day.

3) Allocate Regular Breaks

Be realistic with your timetable, add plan plenty of rest/refreshment breaks. Scientific research indicates that having regular breaks means you have a higher chance of retaining relevant information. Check out the Pomodoro Method described in more detail in a previous blog post, adapt it to your needs.

4) Review Notes Regularly

Make notes from studying easier to revise by summarising information with bullet points. Make your notes visual by using coloured post-it notes, diagrams, mind maps etc. Devise a system to make it easier to focus on relevant information. For example,
– Highlight key words
– Circle quotes or formula
– Draw a box around place names
– Underline dates
Be sure to check with your tutors anything you don’t understand or are unclear about.

5) Practise Past Papers

Practising past papers will get you used to the exam format, timings and give you some indication of how thoroughly you know your subject, as well as areas you need to improve. Remember, the purpose of revision is partly to identify the things you don’t know well! Time yourself and plan your work as though performing under exam conditions. Although you cannot predict questions based on previous exam papers, examiners do re-use or re-word questions and there is a limit to the number/combination of questions that can be asked. Tutors will usually issue you with past papers and you can download them from examining board websites.

6) Group Study

Group study is not for everyone but a useful activity for some. Revising with others can make the experience more enjoyable and is a good way to share and discuss key concepts and stay on track. Allocate a different study topic to each of the group, learn thoroughly then brainstorm together, lighten the load. If you can explain a topic clearly to others it shows you have a good understanding. A word of warning, enjoy the group experience but don’t treat it as a social gathering and become too distracted!

7) Relax

It is important to relax, everyone wants to do well but remember not every success story is based on academic achievement! Take time out, try to eat healthily, get plenty of sleep and make time for some daily exercise. Be kind to yourself and do an activity you enjoy. However, if you feel overly stressed and anxious it is important to seek further support to help you deal with this. Most universities have a Student Health Adviser, University Chaplain or Disability Team who you can speak to in confidence, they will listen and help you to decide the type of support you need.  You can also check out our previous post and video on tips to relieve stress.

Good luck!

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What is Dyslexia? – A Brief Overview

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is one of a family of Specific Learning Difficulties which affects 10% of the population, 4% severely, it primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. It is a life long condition, usually hereditary, and can range from mild to severe. It can affect people of all races, is not reliant on social class, ability, gender and occurs independently of intelligence.

What impact does it have?

Individuals who are dyslexic can be affected in different ways in and with varying levels of difficulty. Some of the areas affected are :

-Reading
-Writing
-Spelling
-Information processing
-Speed of processing
-Sequencing
-Working memory
-Short term memory
-Time management
-Organisation
-Orientation
-Navigating
-Expressing thoughts

Other traits …

Many people with dyslexia have other strengths that can compensate for some of the difficulties they may experience, these can include: excellent problem solving skills, good spatial awareness and a high level of creativity. Some famous people with dyslexia are :

Under the ‘Disability Discrimination Act’, Dyslexia is an officially recognised disability and should not hold anyone back when applying for university, reasonable adjustments should be made to enable dyslexic students to be on an equal footing with non- dyslexic peers. Students are usually entitled to access support from the DSA and it is important that this should be applied for as soon as a university place has been confirmed. Support can vary and is dependent on a person’s individual needs but can include :

-Exam concessions, these can include extra time, a scribe, reader etc
-Extra time to complete assignments
-Extra tutorials to aid understanding
-Assistive technology
-Disabled students allowances
-A Study Skills tutor
-A Mentor

Albert Einstein, the famous theoretical physicist is also thought to have been dyslexic.Famous quotes include:

“The words of the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought.” (Hadamard, 1945, 142-3; see also Wertheimer, 1959, 213-228).

“I very rarely think in words at all, a thought comes and I may try to express it in words afterwards” (Wertheimer, 1959, 213)

 

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