If you find academic writing genuinely difficult — not because you don’t understand the subject, but because getting ideas out of your head and onto the page feels almost impossible, you’re far from alone.
Take a few minutes to think about which sensory inputs you find most draining. Is it noise? Bright or flickering lights? Crowded spaces? The smell of the canteen? Being clear about your specific triggers means you can plan around them rather than just hoping for the best.
Read ahead — even briefly. Spending 10 minutes reading the lecture title and any pre-reading means your brain has a framework to hang new information on. You don’t need to understand it all, just familiarise yourself with the key words.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by a busy week at university — lectures at different times, deadlines creeping up, unexpected changes to your timetable, you’re not alone. For many of us, unpredictability is one of the hardest things about university life.
