How are you approaching your time at university?

With the new 2023-24 academic year now well underway it’s a good time to get a handle on your approach to learning, studying or research. A model of learning that may have served you well (or at least OK) at secondary school is unlikely to serve you so well at university. Here are a few quick pointers/questions to ask yourself, some equally relevant to whether you are an undergraduate, postgraduate (Taught) or postgraduate (Research - PhD/Doctoral research). There are some issues especially relevant to postgraduate study, e.g. to a one-year Masters or to doctoral research.

• Do you spend a lot of time worrying about how well you are doing?

• Do you constantly compare yourself with others

• Do you sometimes ‘feel’ like an impostor or ‘not good enough'?

• Do you work late into the evening/night and have trouble getting up in the morning?

• Do you procrastinate e.g.scrolling through YouTube videos, because of a sense of overwhelm?

• Do you get anxious about deadlines, exams, giving presentations, working in groups?

• Are you a perfectionist and find it difficult to judge when something is good enough to submit (or even can’t comprehend the idea of ‘good enough’).

• Do you feel anxious, angry or sad about the future and climate change or loss of the natural world (experience eco-anxiety)?

Is this causing you distress or difficulty in coping with your studies? Then elsewhere on this website and blog you will find some useful resources that can be a starting point for you to begin to understand what might be going on and how cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy might be suitable for you. Don’t hesitate to reach out if so. See for example:

• Worry - what is it and how to deal with it?

• Procrastination - a waste of time?

• Unwritten rules - I should, I must, I need......

• Perfectionism - the modern scourge?

• Social anxiety in class?

• The lost art of taking notes!

• A sense of ‘Self - your own identity

• Use ‘active revision’ to re-frame your approach to exams

• Exams - it's all about technique!

• Learning, assessment and exams – a mindful approach

For those of you doing a PhD or other doctoral research, then you may find my bi-monthly facilitated online PhD Peer Support group a useful way to get to grips with the uniqueness of the PhD position and process and the challenges that can pose (next meeting 12 June 2024). Booking is via the Eventbrite page.

See also previous blogs on this at:

• Anxiety and depression among PhD students

• Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

And if the climate crisis causes you anxiety keep an eye out for my next workshop on eco-anxiety (likely to be in the first half of 2024) - see my Eventbrite Collection for further information and booking, and see my webpage on eco-anxiety.

Give yourself permission and time to look after yourself at university; if you find yourself struggling then do reach out.

Bill Sheate, 25 October 2023