{"id":674,"date":"2021-08-09T11:44:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T10:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/?p=674"},"modified":"2023-09-18T18:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T17:10:28","slug":"stay-focused-on-your-studies-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2021\/08\/09\/stay-focused-on-your-studies-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay focused on your studies this summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s the summer vacation! No more assignments, no more exams! Time to kick back and chill till October, right?<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Well, whilst it\u2019s definitely worth having a proper break and fully recharging your batteries, it\u2019s also a good idea to try to stay focused on your studies during the long vacation.<\/p>\n<p>That way you can start the next academic year feeling confident, on top of things and not like you\u2019ve just forgotten everything you learnt last year.<\/p>\n<p>This blog offers a few tips on how to stay on track over the break.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. Plan ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Plan ahead in advance to the next academic year. When the Semester 1 timetable is available, you can view, customise and export it through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/accessing-mytimetable\/\">MyTimetable<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Think about when and where you study best \u2013 what changes, if any, do you need to make to your study space and routine to make sure you\u2019re working as efficiently as possible?<\/li>\n<li>Work through our <a href=\"https:\/\/unihub.bath.ac.uk\/s\/myskills\/links\/detail\/454\">Time management<\/a>\u00a0short course \u2013 this will help you to create a schedule to manage your workload.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>2. Do some research<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Think about the topics that will be covered on your course next year and start doing some background research now. You'll find many articles and books on your topics in the <a href=\"https:\/\/library.bath.ac.uk\/home\/\">Library<\/a> and these are easy to download or read online.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>3. Develop your study skills<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Think ahead about how you might do things differently next year. Take some time to reflect on the challenges of the past year and which study skills you would really like to refine. Check out our recommended <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/online-academic-skills-resources\/\">self-access online resources<\/a> on a range of topics.<\/li>\n<li>Review your notes from last year and think about different ways of organising them and how they could be used to structure your assignments.\u00a0You could also consider alternative ways of <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2019\/08\/28\/reading-note-taking-tips-1-reading-from-the-inside-out-and-not-outside-in\/\">taking notes<\/a> from lectures or from your reading.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you properly digest, understand and log the feedback you received on your recent assessments so that you know how to improve in future assignments. Refer to our quick self-access <a href=\"https:\/\/unihub.bath.ac.uk\/students\/links\/detail\/586\">Engaging with feedback resource<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/feedback-on-your-assignments-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it\/\">glossary<\/a> of the key feedback terms and how to act on them. You could also book a <a href=\"https:\/\/unihub.bath.ac.uk\/students\/infopages\/detail\/154\">1-1 writing tutorial<\/a> over the summer to get some expert advice on your academic writing and tips on how to improve your grades.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>4. Practise maths and statistics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>To stop your maths and statistics skills from getting rusty, why not revisit some of last year\u2019s maths material? If you\u2019re returning from a placement, you could go over the content you covered when you were last in Bath.<\/li>\n<li>You could take a short online course - again, the <a href=\"https:\/\/library.bath.ac.uk\/research-software\/home\">Library<\/a> has good links to online courses for Excel, MATLAB, SPSS, R and Python. You can also check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/bathmash.github.io\/zero-to-hero\/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Skills+Update+summer+2023\">Zero to Hero course<\/a> to refresh your knowledge of maths.<\/li>\n<li>You could also revisit past Moodle courses using the Moodle Archive (remember to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/setting-up-vpn-on-your-device\/\">connect with VPN<\/a> if you're away from campus).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/moodle_archives.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-675\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/moodle_archives.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of University of Bath Moodle, with Useful Links tab clicked and 'Moodle Archives' link highlighted in drop-down menu \" width=\"862\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/moodle_archives.png 862w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/moodle_archives-300x109.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/moodle_archives-768x280.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/moodle_archives-590x215.png 590w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 862px) 100vw, 862px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wishing you a productive summer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s the summer vacation! No more assignments, no more exams! Time to kick back and chill till October, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1438,"featured_media":1032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[91,62],"tags":[143],"class_list":["post-674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-skills","category-maths-and-statistics","tag-staying-focused"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/08\/focus.png","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":472,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/07\/07\/sharpen-up-your-skills-this-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":0},"title":"Sharpen up your skills this summer","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"July 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you have some spare time on your hands this summer, why not use it to develop some of your skills? Here are the Skills Centre's top 10 ideas for sharpening up your skills this summer. 1. Develop your writing skills 1:1 writing tutorials are available over the summer for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic integrity&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic integrity","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-integrity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Large yellow capital letters spelling the word 'summer' located on campus by the lake as part of the Summer at Bath programme.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/summeratbath_small.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/summeratbath_small.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/summeratbath_small.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/summeratbath_small.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":491,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/08\/11\/from-undergraduate-to-postgraduate-small-steps-not-a-giant-leap\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":1},"title":"From undergraduate to postgraduate - small steps, not a giant leap","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"August 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're graduating this summer and are looking to continue your academic studies this autumn, you may have lots of questions about what postgraduate study is like. Head of Digital and Academic Skills Dave Busby sets out what to expect if you're making the move from undergraduate to postgraduate study.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photography of person with red trainers walking up a staircase","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/08\/steps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/08\/steps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/08\/steps.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/08\/steps.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/08\/steps.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1575,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2026\/04\/28\/writing-your-dissertation-making-an-action-plan-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":2},"title":"Writing your dissertation: Making an action plan","author":"Kyra Ings","date":"April 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Every successfully completed dissertation begins with a practical and workable action plan. An action plan is a vital tool to help you stay focused, on track, and motivated. It's highly likely your supervisor will ask you to make a plan, so that they can advise on time frames, targets, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A tree with leaves featuring names of different dissertation topics. A cloud and a squirrel holding a banner that says 'Making an action plan'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Making-an-action-plan-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Making-an-action-plan-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Making-an-action-plan-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Making-an-action-plan-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":528,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/12\/04\/top-tips-for-time-management\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":3},"title":"Top tips for Time Management","author":"Kevin Renfrew","date":"December 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As assignment deadlines approach and exam season looms, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed by all the targets and tasks you have to meet and complete. It's vital that you adopt and practise strategies to manage your time efficiently. Here are six top tips for time management to help\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A sheet of paper on a clipboard has the title 'Time management' followed by a numbered list. There's a big alarm clock next to the clipboard.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/time-management.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/time-management.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/time-management.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/time-management.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":816,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2022\/05\/16\/5-apps-that-saved-my-assignments\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":4},"title":"5 apps that saved my assignments!","author":"Asha Dey","date":"May 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi everyone! My name is Asha, I'm a second year Psychology student and Skills Co-Creator. I wanted to share the most useful digital apps and websites that I\u2019ve used over the past two years to support my studies. Covid-19 has changed the way we all work, and I found it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Digital &amp; GenAI literacy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Digital &amp; GenAI literacy","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/capabilities-framework\/digital-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smart phone home screen displaying various apps, including the App Store","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/05\/apps.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/05\/apps.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/05\/apps.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/05\/apps.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":830,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2022\/06\/27\/how-to-manage-academic-perfectionism\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":5},"title":"How to manage academic perfectionism","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"June 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Skills Centre has created a new self-access online resource which explores what academic perfectionism is, how it can negatively impact your studies and strategies for managing it at university. Do you set extremely high standards for your academic work? Are you a pro at making lists but find it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Student is asleep at a desk with their head on their hands, resting on an open book. There's a big pile of books next to her on the desk.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/06\/perfectionism.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/06\/perfectionism.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/06\/perfectionism.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/06\/perfectionism.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/06\/perfectionism.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1438"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}