I’ve been a student for 7 years. Here’s my golden advice for all students.

For context, I completed a Biomedical Science degree from 2016-2019 and I’m currently studying Medicine (2020-2025). That’s 7 years of living away from home. 7 years of organising life as a student. 7 years of exams. 7 years of iteration that led me to the productive lifestyle you see me living now.

If anyone has the right to speak about managing a healthy student life, it’s me. I have more experience than most at doing it well. You have all this information in one place, for free. Use it well.

If you want to live a productive, successful and fun life as a student, take action on my advice.

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Mastering University Life: 7 Must-Know Tips for Students

1. It will take time before you figure out your ideal study system.

Don't expect to come in on day one and to have everything figured out. Too many students do this and panic when they don't have things figured out by the first 2 weeks.

It's absolutely fine if you haven’t.

It took me a few weeks to figure out my system and then I was smooth for the rest of my degree. Be patient with yourself and give yourself time. You can read these posts below to learn more about efficient study systems.

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1. Make friends with the students in the year above you.

Older students have literally done the exams you're about to do, and they were successful. Learn from them and ask them for the best advice on:

• The exams
• The study content
• What's difficult & not difficult
• Which periods are high intensity and low intensity
• Which topics are high yield or low yield for the exams
• Who to watch out for 👀

They probably made mistakes and if you ask them they'll tell you what the mistakes were, and that saves you from making them. They’re more than happy to help. I’m currently in my 4th year of Medicine and I’m always happy to help younger students.

The thing is, the lecturers at university can't give you the same experience that the older students have. They can't tell you what it's actually like being a student in that year. Make sure you take your advice from the right students. Don’t ask the person who failed how to pass exams. Don’t ask the lazy student how to manage time.

Note: If you have study questions, DM me on Instagram to get a response. For any medical students reading, please see my Medical School Survival Guide before you ask anything, as I’ve answered a lot of FAQs there.

1. Balancing your health and social life is just as important as your studying.

People forget that aside from being a student you’re also a human being. If your study technique is amazing, but:

• You’re sleeping poorly
• You're not eating well
• You don't exercise

You're probably not going to be in the best of health. Which means you won't be able to perform to the best of your abilities.

Mundane life activities like cooking, cleaning, eating and sleeping make all the difference to your experience as a student.

People don't give much importance to these things. This is the side of productivity and healthy living that isn’t sexy. It’s not really spoken about much because who cares about your laundry, cleaning routine and groceries? In reality, if you want a balanced life don’t neglect these things.

1. You need a system for organisation.

Use a calendar to stay organised. It helps you visually see the entire week and shows you which days you have more free time. You can read this post about how I use a calendar to organise my life. Subscribe to my YouTube for a more detailed video about this which will be coming in the next few weeks.

1. Use external resources wherever you can.

Your University will give you lectures, but YouTube and the things you can find on the internet are unmatched. You can literally find

• Pre-made flash contacts
• Pre-made notes
• Apps with summary pages

If you want to be smart about your studying, you could actually go through without ever taking notes. This applies to medical school but is also possible in other degrees. Using the resources on the internet will help you save so much time to do the things that you enjoy while still acing your exams.

1. Prioritise speed with your studying.

Don't underestimate speed. This has been an absolute game-changer for me in Medical School. In the last few years, I have learned how to:

• Increase my reading speed
• Increase my listening speed
• Increase my typing speed
• Efficiently make notes

These skills helped me get through everything in half the amount of time that the average student does. It made my life so much easier and opened up my free time to cook, clean, make content and do all the other things in life.

The only reason I can do all of this is because when it comes to studying, I'm very quick. I just get it done as fast as possible so I can spend all of my other time doing these and other important things in my life.

1. Find enjoyment in everything you do.

There will be times in university you'll be studying something and you have no interest in the topic and can’t be bothered. It's difficult to find the motivation to study and continue going in those moments.

The way I counteract that is by thinking back to when I was applying to medical school. I used to pray to be where I am right now. For me to be ungrateful is a disservice to my younger self.

That's one mindset shift that really changed my whole perspective of medical schools.

I also think about the privilege I have with what I’m doing. As a medical student, I get access to intimate and sensitive personal information from patients. The decisions that I’ll be making as a physician in the future are literally going to impact people's lives on a day-to-day basis.

That's insane.

I’m so privileged to be where I am. For me to sit and complain after putting so many years of hard work to get to where I am, it's just pointless. There are many people who didn't get in and wish they could be in my position.

Try having a positive approach to your study. Approach it with the mindset of a young enthusiastic student. Even in the darkest times when you're not enjoying things, try and search for that in the back of your mind.

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What if that doesn’t work?

This is a common problem among all self-help content and advice. An influencer like myself gives what seems to be the golden advice, people try it and it doesn’t work.

Please remember that there are a million ways to live. I am just sharing what worked for me over the last 7 years. I implore you to at least try these methods because they are mostly backed by personal experience and science.

That being said, if you did all of this and didn’t find success, maybe the right advice for you is somewhere else. Please. be open-minded to look at different sources, try different things, and accept that just because something worked for me, it may not work for you.

Although I hope it does.

As always, thank you for reading and you’ll hear from me next week.

Take care.