Study skills – Sheffield University Management School Postgraduate Blog

My top five tips for adapting to a new education system

By Maria Victoria Hernandez Jurado, MSc Human Resource Management with CIPD pathway

Every country has a different education system, and it can be difficult for international students to understand and adapt to a new system. I’m from Peru, and I’ve found the system here very different! In this blog, I will describe some points that I found different from my home country, and explain what helped me to familiarise myself with the British education system. You can try these things if you come to Sheffield or you are struggling with it. I consider the UK’s system to be quite good; in my experience, it motivates students to work on weaknesses.

1. Grading Systems

Honestly, this was a shock for me. In my country in South America, we normally use grades of 0-20, and in the UK, 50-59 are the lowest passing grades for PGT students and from 70+ start the highest marks. In the beginning, I did not understand it very well, but with time and research, I understood it clearly. I recommend you to become familiar with this before you join.

2. Intro week

The first week of your university experience in the UK is known as ‘Intro week’, where you register at the university and settle in. I attended some workshops related to how to make the most of my experience at the university, which recommended taking part in extracurricular activities or social societies. The University of Sheffield has the best Students’ Union in the UK, and actually, it is. You can meet many people by taking part in these extracurricular activities, and also they are good to put on your CV if you want to find a job after your studies.

3. Critical thinking

This has been a major challenge for me up to now. In my BA, my assignments were more descriptive than critical, and at a masters level the critical aspect is deeper. However, the university can support you in this. The 301 Study Skills centre offers some workshops and personal consultations, which can help you develop loads of skills including critical thinking, as well as others such as revision and essay writing. I am attending some workshops and trying my best to improve.

4. Constant communication with fellow students and teachers

The only way I could understand this system much better is by talking with other students. It was challenging whilst in online learning, but I knew that this would be essential. Another key is communication with academics. Most of them are very kind, reply to an email quickly, and are willing to support you. I remember a module in which I did not know what a term meant, and the teacher quickly calmed me with a good explanation about it.

5. Organisation

The huge tasks that are required when studying for a Masters are incredible; I consider that I need more hours to read and prepare for my tutorials than I actually need to spend in the tutorial. Being organised can lead to have good concentration and your assignments always being on time.

Finally, adaptation to a new education system needs time, patience, and effort, especially in being a critical thinker! But, these are all skills that will be valuable for the future. I hope that this blog helps!

How to be productive working from home

By Vicky Xian, MSc Occupational Psychology

Working from home can be seen as a luxury at first. At whatever time of day, when you wake up, you can be drafting emails or writing that assignment almost immediately. But after a few days, or even a few hours, the novelty wears off. Your flatmates play loud music, parents at home forget you still need to revise for 5 exams. You don’t feel like you’re in class or at work, so why work? Your friend wants to video call you and because you’re not in class or in the library, that should be fine right? This is when productivity becomes an issue. So, here are some tips I’ve learnt that keeps me at my desk, and therefore my productivity levels high.

Create a routine – and stick to it.

Yes, the bed is right there, beckoning you to come back and snuggle in the warm, duvet covers. However, it’s important you incorporate your class/work life into your home. Got a 9am on a Tuesday? Make sure you set the same alarm as if you were leaving the house. Instead, use that time you would be in class to do some work for that module. Waking up early anyway, will mean you will get the most out of your day. What I like to do is try to be at my desk for 9:30am everyday Monday – Friday, and 11:30am if I need to work weekends.

This is where to-do lists become very handy, I write everything I need to do in that day on a sticky-note and place it on the cover of my diary. Breaking down longer assignments into daily, more manageable tasks, or even the little, mundane tasks like reading an email helps me visualise how much I can do in one working-day. Then, in a diary or on google calendar, delegate a time for each task. I’ve learnt to be the most productive when I spend about 3 hours per assignment. Incorporate work tasks with house chores or well-being activities like making lunch or doing an at-home workout.

I find this gives my day more variation, and it also means I’m moving around the house or flat, which gives my brain and body little breaks in the day. Here’s an example:

Ensure you have a dedicated workspace!

This has benefits to both your physical and mental well-being. Having a dedicated workspace puts you into the mind-set of class/ work environments. First thing I do in the morning, for instance, is make my bed. It’s the little things that can have major impacts on your productivity. If the bed is made, my mind becomes more at ease with a tidier room, and it encourages me to not slip back under the covers – genius!

Also, I never work from my bed, as this can lead to a sneaky nap which will disrupt my entire day. Instead I have a ‘workstation’, where I have a place for all things work-related: my laptop, a desktop, all my books and pens. I never relax at my desk and I never work in bed, and this separation is important in having high quality periods of production.

In the mornings, I get ‘ready’. I get dressed in a comfortable, yet presentable outfit. Don’t dress in what you wore the night before, I’ve learnt that this will keep my mindset in rest-mode, and therefore my productivity will reduce. I even put on some make-up, while this isn’t for everyone, this helps me feel like I’m in class or the library as it mimics my external work-life.

Finally, it’s so imperative that not only you ensure a work-like environment, but everyone else does too! Tell your flatmates, family members, or partners that you need the respect of appropriate work-life behaviour. Your mate wouldn’t come to your 10am Well-being at work lecture and ask for a chat, right? If there’s nothing that can be done, put your headphones on and turn some on relaxing music. I personally like to really mimic work-life by going on YouTube and playing an 8-hour café soundtrack to help me visualise studying in a coffee shop.

Don’t push yourself.

Sometimes working from home is only because you couldn’t find a space in the library. Other times it’s because you just don’t feel like leaving the house for a couple of days, and sometimes it’s for reasons even deeper than that. No matter the reason, make sure you keep regular checks on your mental health. Working from home, especially for long periods of time, can really put a strain on an individual’s well-being – the term cabin fever comes to mind!

When I get into these ruts, I take a 5-10-minute break. I tell myself it’s ok if I can’t finish what I wanted to do today. It’s healthy for the mind and body to rest and not put too much strain for too long. This is especially significant when there’s a more serious reason for why I’m working at home. I also ensure that I give myself the evening to cool off, and most weekends. I’d like to think my brain has a chance to recharge – like a battery – no matter how much you fill a cup with water, at the end of the day, you still only end up with a one cup of water.

Productivity: Capitalising on your motivation or lack of it!

By Callum Van Dyk, MSc Occupational Psychology

During my first semester at University, I came across an approach to productivity that has enabled me to exponentially increase the amount of work I can complete in a day. Finding this approach has been of great benefit to me, so here are a few of the techniques I use on a daily basis to stay productive.

Breaking Down Projects

A key process in productivity is knowing exactly what to do next. It’s easy to treat an assignment as if it’s just one big task, however thinking like this depletes your motivation. By doing this you picture an assignment as a huge task that cannot be completed in one go. Fortunately, a little change can make you massively more productive!

Breakdown your projects into as many mini tasks as possible.

An assignment is not a task, it is a project made up of multiple tasks. That’s why this technique is highly effective because you’ve taken a single ambiguous project, and broken it down into smaller, less ambiguous tasks. Through doing this you’ll begin to discover that assignments contain fewer tasks than first thought. Also, this approach reduces the total time taken to complete a project because you aren’t spending time trying to figure out what to do next.

Organising Tasks

A large element of productivity is capitalising on demotivation. By this I mean it is important to schedule doing certain tasks at times when you’re more motivated and doing other tasks for when you’re less motivated. This takes a little while to get to grips with, but it is crucial in becoming more productive.

Categorise the difficulty of your tasks and know your energy levels.

By knowing these two things, you can schedule completing difficult tasks to when you are feeling motivated and have a lot of energy to tackle them. For example, I know that I am most productive between 11am and 3pm. Therefore, I attempt my most difficult tasks during that period (e.g. assignments) and complete any other tasks (e.g. correspondence) outside that period.

Reviewing Tasks

I have about 10 reminders a day on my phone. This may seem like a lot but compared to how many other notifications I get, it is nothing. The reason that I have multiple reminders is because I am forgetful! I cannot remember everything I need to do and why I need to do those things. This is why I suggest…

Do a weekly review of your tasks and a daily review of your reminders.

Every Monday I schedule my whole week by creating reminders for each day. These reminders are based on the tasks I need to complete. Every morning I review these reminders and ensure I complete them all by the end of the day. It does take a bit of practice to know the difficulty of your tasks and how many you can complete in a day, but I’ve found it to be well worthwhile.

By following these few tips, you can find and capitalise on your motivation. If you want to go even further, I suggest you read the book Getting Things Done by David Allen (this is where I developed my approach).

Preparing for exams over winter break

By Vicky Xian, MSc Occupational Psychology

As we all know, exams can be very stressful. After many weeks having to settle into your new masters course, juggling assessments and scribbling lecture notes, it’s finally winter break. You’re relieved as you’ve just finished first term, but you can’t celebrate too early as now you have exams in January!

Different courses require different types of exam preparation, and each person has certain preferences. However, here are some general top tips I have found useful to help you prepare for your exams, as a University of Sheffield student.

Know what work you have to do

It’s not a very good approach to just jump right into revision and to think “as long as I plough through, I’ll work things out later”. A key factor in effective revision is before anything else, look ahead. See how many lectures you have to cover, how much time you have to prepare and what type of exam it will be. This will not only help you plan effectively, but also help you not feel rushed.

Keep everything documented

This should be done from day one. But if not, it should start as soon as possible. All types of notes should be filed as soon as you can remember and kept in a safe place. This also goes for the revision period, all revision notes, helpful diagrams or cheat sheets should be carefully filed away in its corresponding lecture and subject in a neatly organised ring binder. You can find ring binders at the school shop in the Students Union at an affordable price. This also applies for your computer, with a document saved in a “masters” file, then in its module code, then its lecture, shown below. This is something that most people look over, but if done early and correctly, finding your feet when you start your revision or even throughout is much easier.

Finding your study space

Whether it be at home , in a coffee shop, or at one of the libraries at the university, everyone has their own preference when it comes to study environments. Personally, I like a mix of both studying at home and the library. I realised that one of the main downsides with libraries is that over exam periods they become extremely busy. It can be difficult to find a space all through January, never mind a computer. To combat this, I have found a couple of tips just to get the most out of your Sheffield library:

Wake up early, in order to grab the best space, in general, you need to get to the library between the times of 8am to 10am to get a good desk/ computer. It becomes more like 7am to 9am for silence study spaces. If you’re not a morning person, some people like to go later and study in the evening.
Check online at https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/findapc/now, as it provides live information on what computers are available at any given time. Not only do they tell you about where free computers are, but they also give you an idea how empty a study area is in general, and also what possible study spaces are available.

And remember, try to not push yourself too hard. Exams are difficult but if you try to study every waking moment, you’ll end up burnt out. The secret to revision is there is no secret: you just need to prepare your revision as soon as possible, to be organised as well as putting in the time to study hard. One important thing I’ve learnt is that you need to take small break throughout the day, as well as at night or in the weekend. Also, try to not study throughout the night as this may affect your sleep quality.

How to manage your time better

By Zaneta Gudowicz, MSc Management (International Business)

Time is precious, isn’t it? Especially now in December, when most of the students are in a rush dealing with deadlines and exam revision. So, how to become more productive during this busy period?

In this case, you’ll need good time management! These are my top five tips to help you to achieve this.

1. Write everything down

Write down each of the deadlines of your assignments, exams etc. in either a calendar notebook, daily planner or schedule organiser – anywhere that you would check every day. Notebooks and organisers have become popular, so there are plenty of choices with different variety of design in shops.

If you would prefer to get reminders about upcoming deadlines or meetings, you can use your laptop’s calendar, Google Calendar, or apps created for time/project management and productivity, such as Trello, Wunderlist, or Evernote. There are loads of them available, so search and find the one that’s right for you. You can use traditional or more ‘technological’ solutions. Personally, I am a fan of writing in my planner, but mixing it up might be a good idea too – find a way that fits you the best

2. Prioritise short- and long-term goals

Once every assignment or exam is written in one place, it is a good moment to set your short-term goals. These should be done as first, and as soon as possible to give yourself more time for preparation for exams, or writing individual essays. Those short-term goals can be things like group assignments or short essays, and completion of these easier things will make you feel like you’re progressing. Once you’ve tackled some of the smaller tasks, you can move onto the bigger, long-term goals.

3. Prepare a to-do list for every single day

Of course, it is not necessary to list every single activity you’re going to do, but just point out things which should be done on a particular day. You may make two separate columns, such as ‘studies’ and ‘spare time’ (such as shopping, cleaning, meetings, etc.). I find the best time to make these lists are before I go to sleep, so that I know exactly what my next day will look like.

4. Start your day with your MITs (Most Important Tasks)

If your classes or part-time jobs are not held in the morning, it is an excellent time to spend on your most important and challenging tasks when you are full of energy, and your brain had enough rest. Afterwards, you have more free time during the day. You will also be less stressed that you have not done something that you had to. Having said this, I have some friends that are more productive in the evening, so it’s really important to get to know your strengths and how you work!

5. Don’t be afraid to reschedule your plans

We know that not everything goes well and smooth as we planned. However, it is crucial to not become overstressed and don’t panic jsut because you had to postpone something. Reschedule your plans in a way that will be convenient for you – if you’ve taken the time to plan ahead, it’ll be easy to modify your plans and still meet deadlines.

Those are my tips which should be helpful for everyone who is struggling with deadlines! Good luck!

P.S. If you’re interested in time management and productivity, I’d recommend you read the book Eat That Frog!

My experience of the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme

By Abigail Cook, MSc Management

A significant aspect of my University experience this year was my involvement in the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme. This is available to all taught postgraduate students within the Faculty of Social Sciences and aims to provide work experience with organisations that may otherwise be unable to take on an intern. Each of these internships are 100 hours long, and you can receive a bursary to cover expenses.

I undertook my internship from January to March 2019 with Breast Cancer Care, the only specialist UK-wide charity which provides care, support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer. As a member of the Community Fundraising Team, I was involved with several different projects and tasks during my internship, including bucket collections and leaflet distributions in addition to office-based administrative responsibilities. However, my main role was to support the planning and delivery of the Pedal the Pennines fundraising campaign, an annual office-based cycle challenge with companies from across the UK competing against each other to cycle a virtual 350km route.

The event took place in March and was a huge success, raising almost £30,000 for Breast Cancer Care. Before and during the event, I was able to visit several different companies within Sheffield and meet all of their participating teams. The two-day event was really fun and exciting for everyone involved, and it was great to see all the hard work that we’d put in over the previous few months paying off!

The internship was an incredibly valuable and unique experience that provided me with the opportunity to develop my personal and professional skills outside of my degree. I enjoyed being involved with the local community external to the University and knowing that I was doing something worthwhile in addition to studying for my degree. I also made many long-lasting friendships within the fundraising team and enjoyed learning about the important work that the charity does.

I would highly recommend applying for the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme as it provides unique opportunities to gain valuable work experience, establish links with external organisations and enhance your CV. It’s also a great way to meet new people and explore Sheffield beyond the University.

My favourite things about studying MSc Management

By Abigail Cook, MSc Management

I am currently in my second semester of MSc Management and have particularly enjoyed a number of things about my experience so far.

One of the main things that I like about MSc Management is the variety of subjects covered by the modules. Having never studied anything related to Management before, I started the course with no knowledge of the subject whatsoever. However, in just the first term, I undertook modules in Accounting and Finance, Marketing, HR and many more. Now, in my second term, I am studying a whole new set of modules in an entirely different range of subjects, including Strategic Management, Economics and others. I feel that this has given me a broad overview of many different areas and allowed me to experience a wide variety of topics before I decide what I might like to pursue further or specialise in. I think this is a valuable opportunity that MSc Management offers, especially in comparison with many other courses which have a narrower, more specialised focus.

Another aspect of MSc Management that I have enjoyed is the opportunity to work in teams and undertake group assignments. For my undergraduate degree, I never worked as part of a team, so this has been a new experience for me. Working as part of a small group of students provides the opportunity to develop communication and teamworking skills, as well as the ability to compromise and co-operate. I think that these are valuable skills that will be beneficial in the future and help me to work with potential colleagues collaboratively and productively. It can also be fun to work as part of a group as it allows you to share your ideas and receive informal feedback and support from other students.

One final thing that I like about my course is the range of different assessment techniques. All of the modules are assessed in different ways, such as individual essays, presentations, group reports and exams. For one module, we even had to produce a video! This has given me the chance to experience new methods and techniques that I hadn’t previously experienced, as well as developing new skills and abilities. This also means that the workload is spread evenly across the year, which helps to relieve the pressure during exam seasons!

How I developed my critical thinking skills

By Jing Zhao, MSc Human Resource Management with CIPD Pathway

As a postgraduate student from China, one of the biggest challenges I faced beginning my studies in the UK was learning the critical thinking methods adopted by UK universities. I found that I struggled with my understanding of critical thinking, literature reviews, and researching. I believe that a majority of students from non-native English-speaking countries may face the same, as it’s not really something that I had experienced in my undergraduate studies in my home country. When I began my Master’s I was keen to develop these skills, especially as critical thinking is crucial to achieving outstanding performance in postgraduate modules. Fortunately, after a semester of intensive courses and extensive exercises at the Management School and the University, I have explored some approaches to facilitate the development of critical thinking. If you’re in the same position, here’s what has helped me!

Tip 1: Make the most of the available resources

There are plenty of learning resources at the University of Sheffield which can help you. The 301 Study Skills Centre, which I learnt about when participating in the orientation programmes, offers a wide range of lectures and workshops such as maths and statistics, academic skills and study skills. I signed up for lots of sessions – Essay Structure and Planning, Developing an Academic Argument, Planning and Developing Presentations, Critical Thinking and Writing, etc. I have benefited greatly from these courses at the beginning of my academic studies. If you need further help, they also provide one-to-one tutorials. The ELTC (English Language Teaching Centre) also provides English Language Support sessions for Master’s students, which are extremely helpful both for English skills and academic performance. ELTC also provides some really helpful online seminars covering various topics on academic and language skills development.

Tip 2: Join a study group

Making new friends at university is really important – it’ll not only improve your social life, but also your way of working! Exchanging ideas in class or during group work means that you’ll be communicating with a group of students with diverse study skills, and you can learn research techniques, analytical thinking, statistical skills and leadership skills. These not only benefit preparations for exams and coursework, but also help you to develop reflexive thinking. And more importantly, you can always have fun together in exploring and discovering the beauty and charm of the city and the campus!

Tip 3: develop a personalised way of critical thinking

A Chinese proverb states ‘there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes’. The implication here is that you should comprehend and develop your own approach of forming critical thinking. If you’ve tried the above tips and are still finding it difficult, why not also search for some essays or blogs about critical thinking in your native language, which provide you more accessible introductions or clearer overviews of the topic. With researches and practices, you will soon identify the way that best suits your learning method.

What studying for a Master’s degree has taught me

By Nicola Hodson, MSc Marketing Management Practice

When I first began my Master’s, I expected to learn a lot, but what I didn’t expect is just how much extra life experience I would learn. You don’t just get a degree from Sheffield, you get so much more than that – it sounds cliché, but it’s true. I wanted to share some of the things I have learnt since beginning my MSc.

Time management

Definitely one of the most useful skills I have learnt whilst doing my Masters is time management. As the deadlines begin piling up, staying on top of your work and maintaining a social life can be challenging, but I found that I learnt to do this quickly. This is a skill which will prove incredibly beneficial to have when entering the world of work and will ensure you are able to balance working hard and having fun!

Learning about different cultures

Studying alongside other students who have come from such a wide range of countries is amazing- I find that I now have friends from all over the world! From Ecuador, to India, to China, I have been able to learn about so many different cultures. Some of my friends are currently trying to teach me Mandarin!

Confidence

My Master’s course has given me a huge amount of confidence when it comes to presenting my work to an audience. We are regularly given the opportunity in seminars to present what we have been discussing in our groups. I was terrified of this at first, but the more I have done it, the more my confidence grows and I even enjoy presenting now! Having this skill will be really helpful when it comes to interviews and future careers.

Teamwork

Master’s courses often involve a lot of group work. Whilst you may not always see eye to eye with your fellow group members, teamwork is such a valuable life skill and one which is very rewarding. Listening to other’s ideas can be really interesting, particularly to see the different ways in which everyone approaches the work. One of my favourite moments so far was celebrating a successful group presentation with my team by going out for hot pot at a Chinese restaurant!

You are guaranteed to learn so much at university – sometimes the most valuable things you learn aren’t what you came to study! My Master’s course is not only teaching me all about Marketing, but I have found that it has taught me much more, and I will leave university as a more well-rounded individual than when I first arrived.

Time management tips

By Nadia Zulhasni, MSc International Management

When I first came to the University of Sheffield, I told myself that I only get one shot at this – I wanted to achieve my goals. Ten months on and here I am; juggling my company project, a paid pla cement with a charity organisation under the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme (PAS) and assisting the Management School as a Postgraduate Ambassador while aiming for a Distinction in my Master’s course. I am also maintaining my social life by travelling around at every opportunity I get!

Life can get overwhelming, but I love constantly being on the go. Here are some tips that I’d like to share in terms of time management: –

Work out exactly what you need to do to achieve your goals. At this stage of your life, you don’t need to have everything figured out, but it’s crucial to know what you want so you can aim clearly.
Set a time frame based on deadlines and then develop smaller sub-goals for each month, week and day. If necessary, split days into hours allocated for each goal.
Make lists for each objective to be completed and crossed off as you go. You can do this with Microsoft Excel or a project management app which will mean you can visually see how much time you have left for each particular task. In my case, I like to go old school and carry a small organiser wherever I go.
Always review your progress and motivate yourself in order to keep your momentum going towards your goals.

It’s important to note that you should multitask only when you HAVE TO. Doing two things or multiple things at once, like singing while cooking, is not the same as texting someone while writing a research report. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can multitask jobs effectively, especially important tasks that require your full attention. When you multitask, you’re shifting your attention back and forth between the activities quickly and mindlessly. Thus, your work tends to suffer AND takes a longer time to complete, as switching tasks means that your brain will need time to get

into a new train of thought. To overcome this, prioritise your tasks. I personally think that it’s better to focus on doing one thing really well than multitasking inefficiently.

While working towards your goals, don’t forget to have fun, explore the world through travel and forge bonds with people around you. Always add a little spice to your life no matter how busy you get.

Good luck and have fun in your journey towards your goals!