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Posted Sept. 10, 2012

4 Ways To Get Back Into The Academic Rhythm After Time Out

We all remember that feeling of returning to study after a long summer holiday, picking up a pen for the first time in months, putting it to paper to suddenly realise you have lost the ability to write.

Getting back into the rhythm of studying after a long time away from education can prove to be extremely difficult, especially if you are returning for postgraduate study. Your time away from studying has meant that academic writing, libraries and 9am lectures have been buried deep in the back of your mind. However hope is not lost! You can easily get back into the swing of university life by following these 4 steps.

Ease yourself back in After coming back to study after having time off the last thing you want to do is rush straight in to studying 10+ hours a day. For the first few days just take it easy, go to all the introductory talks and meet the staff in your department but don't do anything too crazy like a 24 hour library session, it really isn't needed at this point. Don't worry if it takes you a little while to adjust as this is normal and you will soon be back in the swing of things.

Catch an Early Night Time away from studying really does mess with your sleeping patterns. With no reason to get up in the morning, or a job with weird working hours, it is common for sleeping patterns to be all over the place when you return to study. When your back at university, it really does help to get yourself in to a routine. Make the effort to stick to a sleeping pattern when you return to study, it really will help and ensure you are full of energy for the day ahead.

Always Eat Your Breakfast Sounds like something your parents say right? But it really is an amazing bit of advice. Having a good breakfast just makes studying a whole lot easier and a lot less stressful. It also helps you get into a good routine, just like getting a good nights sleep. Having breakfast will supply you with the energy you need to stay awake through those morning lectures or those long library sessions.

Plan Your Time This is a brilliant thing to do as it gives you a sense of direction. You could not do anything worse than turning up to study without organising your time. Believe me, if you don't plan your time, you will be making it 100x harder for yourself to get back into the rhythm of academic life. Its simple to do and doesn't take long to do at all, it really is worthwhile.

Just by following these steps you will make the transition back in to academic life a great deal easier. Soon the memories of sunny days on the beach, or working a full time job will be far behind you. Instead your mind will be filled with thoughts of essays, academic books and revision. The ability to write will soon come back to you and you will be fully be back into the rhythm of academic life.
 

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