The Student Room Group

Self development during uni

Hi!
This might be vague, but I wanna know what are some ways to keep myself busy yet improve myself as a person from multiple aspects during uni. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and I have 3 more years to go, so I would like to get some ideas regarding self-improvement.
Reply 1
Original post by Anonymous
Hi!
This might be vague, but I wanna know what are some ways to keep myself busy yet improve myself as a person from multiple aspects during uni. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and I have 3 more years to go, so I would like to get some ideas regarding self-improvement.

Have you considered joining a uni society or club?
Original post by Anonymous
Hi!
This might be vague, but I wanna know what are some ways to keep myself busy yet improve myself as a person from multiple aspects during uni. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and I have 3 more years to go, so I would like to get some ideas regarding self-improvement.

Hey there!
I went on a huge journey with this in second year as I wanted to become more independent and grow more as a person. Whilst I haven't managed to fully implement everything I wanted to, I've started off with some smaller steps and hopefully with time I'll work my way up. Here's some things I've done on my self-improvement journey whilst at university...

1 ) Make small lifestyle changes
I've made a conscious effort to make some changes and i've seen such an improvement in my overall mood. For example, for the first week I constantly reminded myself to drink water all the time. Because I forced myself to do it for the first week, I now get dehydrated a lot quicker so I'm drinking more water anyway to make up for that. Something else I've done is tried to keep to some sort of active routine, whether that be going to the gym or on my rest days just taking myself out for a walk only to get my steps in. I realise this is more difficult for some people than others, as I see myself as a naturally motivated person. However, I do feel I've trained myself to have that mindset and there's absolutely no way you'll go after any goal you have if you're not motivated to get the outcome.

A big help in this is shifting my sleeping pattern. As someone who likes to go out and socialise, my sleeping pattern in first year was absolutely crazy. I'd go to sleep at 4am and wake up at around 3 in the afternoon. I never got anything done and completely wasted my days. It also often left me feeling completely exhausted even though I was getting around 11 hours of sleep. Gradually over the past few months (because I couldn't motivate myself to do it in first semester of second year), I've started waking myself up half an hour earlier every few days. This meant I got tired quicker at the end of the day and gradually my sleeping pattern shifted. There's so many benefits to getting a good nights sleep and I've still found it possible to go on a night out and maintain this healthy lifestyle. They also say it's easier to maintain a healthy living lifestyle if you get enough sleep on a night.

I also found that actually cooking for myself has helped. In first year I was the CEO of super noodles and pasta with jar sauce mixed in. It wasn't very healthy and I often made myself feel quite sick because I wasn't getting good stuff in. I also account a lot of me being bored in first year to not taking the time to do a proper food shop during the week and not cooking for myself. Something small such as cooking for yourself, even if its 3 times a week and you make enough for two days, is such a good healthy step to implement in your life.

2 ) Find something that's your staple when you're bored.
University is the perfect place to discover what you enjoy and what you want to spend your spare time doing. For me, societies weren't what I wanted to do and so I knew I would have to find different means of finding a hobby. I fell in love with the gym at university through watching other people going out and doing it on TikTok, I felt motivated to go out and do the same. A lot of people don't like going to the gym because they see it as a chore. For me I had the exact same mindset until I started to lean more towards the exercises I like. For example, there is nothing worse to me than going to sit on an exercise bike or running on the treadmill for half an hour. I've discovered that lifting weights burns the same amount of calories if you push yourself enough. I enjoy lifting because it's motivating to see yourself making progress and lifting heavier weights. It's a common misconception that lifting weights means you want to be a bodybuilder and you're trying to bulk up, but that's just not the case at all. You've got to find the things about it that you want to do because if you don't want to do it then you won't go. Sure you can force yourself for a week but you'll burn out pretty quick and give up.

If you're looking for lifestyle changes, you've got to find that thing that doesn't feel like a chore for you and that involves going out and trialling out different things. Going to the gym is my 'I'm bored' staple. If I've already been that day then I try to read as often as I can rather than just resulting to going on my phone. A hobby is a good thing to lower your screen time and occupy your mind if you've got other stresses going on, however if you don't want to do this hobby and you're forcing yourself to do it then it's not a hobby and it's not for you.

3 ) Make use of everything university has to offer you.
People always think that you're paying 9 grand a year for the teaching. There's so much more to it than that. Even something as little as going to the library to do your work instead of the desk at home. You're utilising university resources. If there's something your university offers you then take it. For example, my university often holds careers fairs. Although I'm a couple of years off thinking about my career, I find it important to at least go and see what's out there and network a bit. You've got to be able to look back at the end of the year and feel like you've got your money's worth. Just going to your lectures won't do that.

Hope this helped! Let me know if there's anything else you want me to discuss.
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU
Societies (especially if you can get on committee) and volunteering are a great way to do this. There's more opportunities at uni than you'll probably ever have so try and make the most of as many as you can :smile:
Original post by Anonymous
Hi!
This might be vague, but I wanna know what are some ways to keep myself busy yet improve myself as a person from multiple aspects during uni. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and I have 3 more years to go, so I would like to get some ideas regarding self-improvement.

Hi,

Here are a few ideas:
- Trying a new sport
- Taking up a leadership position, such as student rep
- Join a society or even take up a committee member role
- Part-time work
- Peer mentoring
- CPD activities such as technical lectures, webinars, conferences organised by your industry's professional bodies

These are just to name a few. Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Juzer
Cov Uni Student Ambassador
Reply 5
Original post by Anonymous
Have you considered joining a uni society or club?


Yes, I have considered joining some clubs, but this year my schedule was all over the place so I couldn't really fit any extracurriculars, but I am looking forward to doing so from next semester.
Reply 6
Original post by hallamstudents
Hey there!
I went on a huge journey with this in second year as I wanted to become more independent and grow more as a person. Whilst I haven't managed to fully implement everything I wanted to, I've started off with some smaller steps and hopefully with time I'll work my way up. Here's some things I've done on my self-improvement journey whilst at university...

1 ) Make small lifestyle changes
I've made a conscious effort to make some changes and i've seen such an improvement in my overall mood. For example, for the first week I constantly reminded myself to drink water all the time. Because I forced myself to do it for the first week, I now get dehydrated a lot quicker so I'm drinking more water anyway to make up for that. Something else I've done is tried to keep to some sort of active routine, whether that be going to the gym or on my rest days just taking myself out for a walk only to get my steps in. I realise this is more difficult for some people than others, as I see myself as a naturally motivated person. However, I do feel I've trained myself to have that mindset and there's absolutely no way you'll go after any goal you have if you're not motivated to get the outcome.

A big help in this is shifting my sleeping pattern. As someone who likes to go out and socialise, my sleeping pattern in first year was absolutely crazy. I'd go to sleep at 4am and wake up at around 3 in the afternoon. I never got anything done and completely wasted my days. It also often left me feeling completely exhausted even though I was getting around 11 hours of sleep. Gradually over the past few months (because I couldn't motivate myself to do it in first semester of second year), I've started waking myself up half an hour earlier every few days. This meant I got tired quicker at the end of the day and gradually my sleeping pattern shifted. There's so many benefits to getting a good nights sleep and I've still found it possible to go on a night out and maintain this healthy lifestyle. They also say it's easier to maintain a healthy living lifestyle if you get enough sleep on a night.

I also found that actually cooking for myself has helped. In first year I was the CEO of super noodles and pasta with jar sauce mixed in. It wasn't very healthy and I often made myself feel quite sick because I wasn't getting good stuff in. I also account a lot of me being bored in first year to not taking the time to do a proper food shop during the week and not cooking for myself. Something small such as cooking for yourself, even if its 3 times a week and you make enough for two days, is such a good healthy step to implement in your life.

2 ) Find something that's your staple when you're bored.
University is the perfect place to discover what you enjoy and what you want to spend your spare time doing. For me, societies weren't what I wanted to do and so I knew I would have to find different means of finding a hobby. I fell in love with the gym at university through watching other people going out and doing it on TikTok, I felt motivated to go out and do the same. A lot of people don't like going to the gym because they see it as a chore. For me I had the exact same mindset until I started to lean more towards the exercises I like. For example, there is nothing worse to me than going to sit on an exercise bike or running on the treadmill for half an hour. I've discovered that lifting weights burns the same amount of calories if you push yourself enough. I enjoy lifting because it's motivating to see yourself making progress and lifting heavier weights. It's a common misconception that lifting weights means you want to be a bodybuilder and you're trying to bulk up, but that's just not the case at all. You've got to find the things about it that you want to do because if you don't want to do it then you won't go. Sure you can force yourself for a week but you'll burn out pretty quick and give up.

If you're looking for lifestyle changes, you've got to find that thing that doesn't feel like a chore for you and that involves going out and trialling out different things. Going to the gym is my 'I'm bored' staple. If I've already been that day then I try to read as often as I can rather than just resulting to going on my phone. A hobby is a good thing to lower your screen time and occupy your mind if you've got other stresses going on, however if you don't want to do this hobby and you're forcing yourself to do it then it's not a hobby and it's not for you.

3 ) Make use of everything university has to offer you.
People always think that you're paying 9 grand a year for the teaching. There's so much more to it than that. Even something as little as going to the library to do your work instead of the desk at home. You're utilising university resources. If there's something your university offers you then take it. For example, my university often holds careers fairs. Although I'm a couple of years off thinking about my career, I find it important to at least go and see what's out there and network a bit. You've got to be able to look back at the end of the year and feel like you've got your money's worth. Just going to your lectures won't do that.

Hope this helped! Let me know if there's anything else you want me to discuss.
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU


Hello!

This was such a lovely response to read; really inspirational. I will definitely be looking at it again for reference in the future. My only question however is maybe how did you manage staying disciplined since this tends to be my main issue. Like I am always forward to making changes but staying disciplined is my weakest point unfortunately.
Reply 7
Original post by furryface12
Societies (especially if you can get on committee) and volunteering are a great way to do this. There's more opportunities at uni than you'll probably ever have so try and make the most of as many as you can :smile:

That is one great idea! Thank you.
I will look for opportunities in my uni and hopefully contact maybe some outside communities which i've participated in their activities before.
Reply 8
Original post by Coventry University Student Ambassadors
Hi,

Here are a few ideas:
- Trying a new sport
- Taking up a leadership position, such as student rep
- Join a society or even take up a committee member role
- Part-time work
- Peer mentoring
- CPD activities such as technical lectures, webinars, conferences organised by your industry's professional bodies

These are just to name a few. Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Juzer
Cov Uni Student Ambassador


Hello!

Thank you so much for your suggestions, I will be looking for such opportunities around my university.

Thank you once more, hope you have a good day
Original post by Anonymous
Hello!

This was such a lovely response to read; really inspirational. I will definitely be looking at it again for reference in the future. My only question however is maybe how did you manage staying disciplined since this tends to be my main issue. Like I am always forward to making changes but staying disciplined is my weakest point unfortunately.

Hey there! Thank you for your response,

I think it was more so that i was content with the fact it wasn't going to happen overnight. A lot of people expect that self-improvement comes within a month or two and sure you can make small changes in that time but nothing concrete is going to help you in that time frame. In terms of how i managed to change my mindset in the end, it was quite a toxic way that I wouldn't necessarily recommend. I just felt like I was constantly comparing my life to other people and felt so disorientated because I wasn't in the same place. I was watching TikTok's of other girls at uni who were cooking everyday and getting up at 5AM to go to the gym before their lectures and I just remember wanting to be exactly like them. Over time I've gradually found comfort in my own company and I take my time more with my goals rather than saying 'I need to do this by this date' because it might not always be possible and then you end up being defeated when it doesn't happen.

Something that helped me stay on top of things was writing things down and holding myself accountable for my goals or my progress. For example to keep on track with my spending, I bought a cash book. To keep track of my gym progress, I wrote everything I was doing down. To keep track of things I was putting off and any work I have to do, I bought a diary. I'd write down what I needed to do that day, starting with the most urgent tasks at the top. If I didn't complete everything then I didn't put myself down about it, as long as I'd got at least one of the urgent tasks done. It feels satisfying to tick things off your to-do list. As soon as I started doing this and making small changes to be more organised, I noticed I was using my time way more productively.

A good sleeping pattern helps with this as well, you feel so much more productive when you've actually got the morning to do what you want. I would try and structure your day in a way that means you're not just doing everything you don't want to do in the same day. Filter in some things that you enjoy in between the more boring tasks so that you not only feel successful in what you've got done, but you don't feel burnt out from doing admin bits. Start with something you've been putting off, followed by something you enjoy and keep switching between the two by planning your day on your diary or to-do list. I don't know if it's just me but retail therapy helps me to maintain a good routine in the sense that if I buy new gym clothes I'll feel more motivated to go and then if I buy new stationary, I'll be more motivated to plan out my days and use them.

Another thing that helped me in the very beginning is doing things with someone else. I first started my health and fitness journey with one of my friends and we were sending each other our meals and holding each other accountable for going to the gym regularly. Most recently I've started a saving journey with one of my friends and we're discouraging each other from buying things we don't need. If you've got someone there doing the rational thinking for you, it's easier to stay on track and hold yourself accountable. Sometimes we get confused between rational thinking and impulsive thinking. For example, I might think I want to have this takeaway and think I want to spend my money but in actual fact I'm only thinking about it because something's offered it to me. I used to find having notifications and emails turned on for things like UberEats and Domino's was not helping my spending habits. I was only thinking about it because it kept flashing up on my phone, same with shopping app notifications. Once I turned these off, I didn't even remember I had the apps to be honest. All of these things trigger your impulsive thoughts, if you have someone else there to help bring in your rational thinking then you'll find yourself more encouraged to stay on track and make changes together.

Hope this helped!
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU
Hey there!

University is not just about learning the course you went for. You need to equip yourself for not only the present, but the future. Self development improves your mental ability as well as your physical skills. You’re able to know your strengths and where your weaknesses lie. Self development is a long term achievement other than a short term achievement.

Here are ways you can improve yourself;

Volunteer: search for volunteer works you can engage in. This will help build your portfolio. Not only that, you will be open to networking with different people and gaining vast knowledge.

Attend Seminars: in the university, there are lots of educational seminars that you can attend and learn one or two life skills from there. You might not just restrict yourself to school seminars, shuffle the internet and find one taking place outside the university that you can easily attend.

Learn a Skill : most times the skill you acquire outside your learning field goes a long way in your life. You might see yourself having a career not even from the course you studied, but from the skill you learnt years ago. Learning outside the box is not a waste of time and energy. You can learn skills like tech, writing, public speaking, cooking, baking and lots more.

Build Yourself: you can train yourself from a weak point to a stronger one. Self check where you need improvement and work on it. You can get a mentor to lead you through the journey or if it’s something you can do yourself, then go ahead.



Chuks
University of Bradford Alumni Rep
Original post by Anonymous
Hi!
This might be vague, but I wanna know what are some ways to keep myself busy yet improve myself as a person from multiple aspects during uni. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and I have 3 more years to go, so I would like to get some ideas regarding self-improvement.

Hi there,

In my opinion the best way to do this is through societies and clubs! They are a great way to try new things, meet new people and have a good time while doing it. For example, I joined the tennis society at Sunderland and love it! I have met loads of new friends through it and have found it something I can really enjoy.

I hope this helps,

Ellen
Y3 Med Student
Uni of Sunderland
Original post by Anonymous
Hi!
This might be vague, but I wanna know what are some ways to keep myself busy yet improve myself as a person from multiple aspects during uni. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and I have 3 more years to go, so I would like to get some ideas regarding self-improvement.


Hi there!

Current Cardiff Uni student here:smile:

I'm glad to hear that you are trying to improve yourself in a productive way - I felt really similar towards the end of my first year! All of the suggestions in this thread are really fantastic for making the most of all the opportunities that you have while at uni. I personally found that travelling has helped me improve myself the most since being at uni. Having to work hard at a part-time job to save money throughout the year, then taking advantage to plan my summers as best as I can to go on multiple backpacking trips, meet interesting people and learn to coordinate things myself has been invaluable and life-changing!

There is definitely a balance between appreciating uni and travelling but perhaps your uni could even help you out with volunteering opportunities or studying abroad (look into the Turing Scheme if you're in England).

I hope this helps!

Jaz - Cardiff Student Rep
Hi there! It's great to hear that you're looking for ways to keep yourself busy and improve as a person during your university journey. I can certainly help you with some ideas to make the most of your time and enhance your personal growth. Here are a few suggestions:

Part-time jobs: Consider taking up a part-time job related to your field of study or any other area of interest. It can provide you with valuable work experience, help you develop important skills, and expand your professional network. Additionally, earning some extra income can be a practical benefit.

Student societies and clubs: Get involved in various student societies and clubs that align with your passions and interests. These organizations offer opportunities to engage in activities related to your hobbies, academic pursuits, or social causes. Joining such groups will not only broaden your horizons but also enable you to meet like-minded individuals and form lasting friendships.

Alternative learning opportunities: Look beyond your regular coursework and explore alternative learning options. Attend guest lectures, workshops, and seminars on campus or online. Consider taking online courses or certifications in areas that complement your studies or explore new subjects altogether. This will diversify your knowledge and make you a well-rounded individual.

Hobbies and passions: Dedicate time to pursue your hobbies and passions outside of academics. Whether it's playing a musical instrument, painting, writing, or engaging in sports, these activities can provide a creative outlet and contribute to your personal well-being. Don't underestimate the power of having a healthy work-life balance.

Volunteering and community service: Engage in volunteer work or community service projects. Contributing to a cause you care about can be immensely fulfilling and allow you to make a positive impact on society. Look for local organizations or initiatives that align with your values and offer opportunities for community involvement.

Personal development resources: Take advantage of the various personal development resources available to you. This could include books, podcasts, TED Talks, or online platforms that focus on self-improvement, productivity, leadership, or personal growth. Allocate some time each week to learn and reflect on these materials.

Remember, self-improvement is a journey, and it's important to strike a balance between academic pursuits and personal development. Be open to new experiences, step out of your comfort zone, and embrace opportunities for growth. Enjoy your time at university and make the most of these formative years. Good luck!

- Ilya:smile:
Anon,

It might be an idea to think about the ways in which you want to self-improve/develop your character. This will make it easier to decide which societies or volunteering opportunities might be useful to you.

I think in some ways, just by studying a degree at a university, you will learn a lot about yourself. If you reflect on challenges you have faced and how have dealt with them, then you will see things which you have handled really well and also might think of ways you could have handle things better.

I think group work definitely makes you more aware of your personal strengths and weaknesses and your ability to work with different personalities.

I think in general spending time with a variety of people is helpful, so definitely check out a range of group activities where you will meet a wide variety of people.

Oluwatosin 2nd year student University of Huddersfield

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