How I beat my study slump: advice from a Walbrook staff member

When it’s difficult to get to the end of your journey, it can help to revisit the beginning. Why did you enrol on this course in the first place? What is it about this subject that originally sparked your curiosity? Remember how pleased you were when you got accepted?

If you can recall some of these early feelings, you may reignite that flame that drives you. For me, it was frustration at social issues that prompted me back into academia, and remembering this helped me conjure motivation to continue studying.

Think about your end goal too. What is it you wanted to achieve by getting this qualification or learning this material? I wanted to learn more so that I could actively do something about the problems I cared about, but a more common reason for undertaking higher education is to gain a certain job or move higher up the career ladder.

Whatever your original motivation, use it to your advantage – use positive thinking to envision yourself where you want to be at the end of your studies. Think of how proud you’ll feel when you achieve what you set out to do all those months ago.

And you might think it cliché, but creating a vision board or a 5-year plan can really help to bring these visions to life and remind you of your goals! They certainly did the trick for me!

If you’ve ever joined a gym or a running club, you’ll know that working out with a friend or a coach makes a huge difference to your performance and motivation. During my studies, I was lucky enough to find someone in my cohort who was geographically close to me (Louise). But even an online classmate or friend can help bust you out of a study slump!

Often, Louise and I would text each other for advice on how to approach an essay topic, or how to avoid wordcount penalties. We managed to meet up in person a couple times too, and shared a few drinks and some cheesy chips in the student bar while discussing the complicated reading we’d been set. But in times of uncertainty and plummeting confidence, Louise was more than a study buddy – she was my lifeline (and I was hers!). We would use each other as a soundboard to test out a potential argument, hype each other up and grant one another new perspectives, which always injected some much-needed enthusiasm into our studying. It was also even more enjoyable to graduate with a familiar face by my side.

And if you're studying online with Walbrook, a study buddy might be closer than you think. Every online module comes with its own discussion forum, so you can swap ideas, ask questions and compare notes with people working through the exact same material at the same time. It takes the pressure off finding someone yourself – there's already a whole cohort in there with you.