The purpose of today’s post is to give some tips and guidance on how to navigate your law degree and succeed.

HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY

I think for me, it was vital that I spent my time efficiently. This essentially meant dedicating certain time towards studying and revising. Usually, I would make it a routine to study for at least 3-4 hours after my lectures. What really helped was consolidating the work into digestible notes.

A simple yet important tip which most people can easily forget is to turn off any distractions including your phone! This makes a lot of difference because by filtering out distractions, we are able to focus solely on the task and concentration levels are higher- meaning studying is more effective.

It is important to divide study time into manageable ‘chunks’ to avoid burn out. It’s often advised to study for 45 minutes to an hour and then take short 10-15 minute breaks in between. This supposedly improves concentration and efficiency, especially when revising a complex topic.

My biggest piece of advice that got me through University and one that I’d emphasise to others is ‘work smarter not harder’. By dedicating time to study each day, even if it’s a few hours, makes all the difference. By studying simultaneously it means that firstly, you are not having to cram everything in last minute but also, you’ll have sound knowledge which is easier to build on closer to exam season.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR TIME

One of the key skills to be a lawyer is time management. Managing your time effectively is important because it allows us to complete tasks well before the deadline in order of priority or complexity. Part of having good time management is being organised.

One tip that really helped me during University (and even to this day) is making ‘to do’ lists and checklists for tasks that need to be completed along with their deadlines. It can be as simple as using sticky notes and writing down the list of tasks to do and once a task has been completed, you’ll get the satisfaction of ticking it off. This is a great way to assist with effective time management and I’d recommend this to anyone who may be struggling with balancing various tasks or projects. It’s definitely a great way to actually visualise the tasks so that you can stay on top of your workload.

Another effective method for time management is setting your own deadlines. This can be a ‘soft’ deadline a week before the actual ‘hard’ deadline. This soft deadline creates a sense of urgency and prevents procrastination if that is something you struggle with. Setting your own deadline allows you to complete the work before the actual deadline and allows plenty of time to check through and review your work several times before sending it off. Checking your work is very important as lawyers must have good attention to detail to check for any errors in their work. The less mistakes and errors equals higher quality work.

Breaking down large, time consuming projects into smaller, sizeable tasks makes tackling the overall project much easier. At first, a large project can seem daunting as we often don’t know where to start. However, breaking up the project into smaller, actionable steps makes the project feel manageable and approachable. This improves focus as it is easier to concentrate on a clear, specific task. Additionally, completing smaller tasks gives you a sense of progress and boots motivation and momentum.

HOW SHOULD YOU STUDY?

The question that I’ve at times asked myself and I’m sure many other law students find themselves asking: HOW SHOULD I ACTUALLY STUDY? Mostly because many students find themselves ‘lost’ in the midst of tons of content and have no idea where to start. This is something that I’ve learnt to tackle over the years, especially as I am now studying the SQE.

During my law degree, I found that writing condensed notes from the University’s PowerPoint slides very much helped to consolidate the basics. To achieve a high grade, it is important to go above and beyond the lecture slides, as they only provide the basic knowledge and foundations of the module. It is fundamental to look at the reading lists provided by your University which provide options for extra reading. Always complete the extra reading as this will give you a much better chance of securing a higher grade. By doing the extra reading, you’ll be able to implement the extra knowledge you’ve acquired and add this into your assignments. You don’t have to necessarily read all of the suggested books in their entirety. You should aim to read a sufficient amount to supplement the lecture slides and build to your knowledge.

One study technique that really helped me during my degree but also now for my SQE is making flashcards. They are a great way to summarise your notes into the main points and provide an effective way to actively refresh your memory on the key topics. For SQE 1, I created my flashcards on the Quizlet app and sorted the flashcards into folders depending on the module. This was a really efficient way and something that I found particularly useful because I found that typing out the notes proved much quicker. I’d recommend using Quizlet to create and organise your flashcards for added efficiency and organisation.

Finally, on top of the extra reading as well as note making and flashcards, I’d recommend completing past papers where possible. I understand that there isn’t much in terms of online resources for past papers. This is why it is especially important to complete any mocks or ‘formative’ assessments your University carries out. This is a great way to see what you did well but more importantly, see where you went wrong. Asking for feedback is also super important and something that definitely helped me in my final year. Feedback is extremely useful to see where and how you can improve for next time.

To summarise, studying effectively means dedicating certain time every day towards your studies, preventing distractions and dividing your study time into manageable ‘chunks’. For maximum time management, it is important to stay organised by creating ‘to do’ lists, set your own deadlines to avoid procrastination and break down large projects into smaller, sizeable tasks. Effective studying techniques include making condensed notes from lecture slides, creating flashcards either by hand or by using Quizlet, completing mock assessments and asking for feedback.

If you are to take anything from today’s blog post, it would be utilising your time effectively by breaking down large tasks, keeping track of your tasks and deadlines with ‘to do’ lists and actioning your feedback!