• TALK to people - teachers, tutors, peers. Find out as much as you can about what is expected of you.
• Be systematic and get your notes and materials organised.
• Invest time in mastering the skills you need to study effectively, eg: computing, library, language, information skills.
• Plan backwards from deadlines and consider drawing up a work or revision plan.
• Manage your time explicitly, allocate appropriate amounts of time to tasks, be realistic and build in some flexibility but stick to your plans and goals.
• Think about when and where you work well and do your most demanding tasks when you are at your best.
• Don't try and eat the elephant all in one go, chop it up into manageable chunks! Divide large and complicated tasks into small achievable pieces.
• Build in checking and review time so that you can edit, proof-read, spell-check etc.
• Reward yourself for getting jobs done (rather than hours spent!) and keep a sensible balance between work and play.