Here is a list of tips that have helped me in my university life. Some of these might be obvious, but I thought I’d compile a list in case someone finds it helpful. If you have any tips or tricks that people might not know about, feel free to share them in the comments of this post. Enjoy! 🙂
Table of Contents
1. Setup Your Calendar App
A calendar is essential for all uni students. It’s great for keeping track of important dates and events, whether it’s your class timetable, assignments, tests, public holidays, club events, or interviews—you name it. Some people may choose to use a physical calendar, but I like to use a digital calendar because it’s much more convenient and easier to manage.
First, pick a calendar app. Google Calendar is the best choice for most people, although if you primarily use Apple devices (iPhone, iPad and MacBook) then the Calendar app is a great option too.
Next, add your timetable. I’ve seen many students logging into SSO to check their timetable or looking at a screenshot—please don’t do that. It’s much better to have it integrated in your calendar app.
If you’re crazy like me, you can manually create repeating events for each one of your classes (This gives you full control over how the events are displayed). Otherwise, the sane thing to do is add your timetable automatically by signing into https://mytimetable.auckland.ac.nz and clicking Subscribe in the top right corner. It will then prompt you to pick which calendar app you use. This will subscribe you to a calendar feed with your timetable and voila, your timetable is now in your calendar, complete with all the room locations as well.
You can also subscribe to the Canvas calendar to have all your assignment due dates appear in your calendar app. In Canvas, go to the Calendar tab and click on Calendar feed on the right sidebar. You will get the link to your calendar feed–you will need to manually add this to your app. In Google Calendar, this is done through the left sidebar, clicking on the plus button next to Other Calendars, clicking From URL then pasting the URL to your feed.
2. Gemini and Copilot for Free
All UoA students get free access to Google Gemini Pro and NotebookLM. All you need to do is sign in using your UoA Google account.
Gemini, like its AI chatbot contemporaries, is an incredibly powerful tool for students. It can help you brainstorm ideas, check grammar and proofread your writing, and find bugs in your code. It’s great for understanding tricky concepts and looking through your working. Like any LLM-based tool, it is not 100% accurate so please use it responsibly- still, I think it’s super helpful. There’s also Deep Research, a feature that searches the web and writes a comprehensive report on whatever topic you ask.
NotebookLM is an tool that analyses documents, websites, videos and text you upload to it using LLMs. You can ask it questions about the content you feed it (its answers will contain references to the original sources), and it can generate mind maps, reports, and even AI-generated podcasts and video explainers to summarise and help you learn. I haven’t had a need for it in my own studies yet, but from playing around with it it’s highly powerful and can help you find information very quickly. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially since we get access to it for free.
As a student, you also get free access to GitHub Pro, even if you don’t study software engineering. To verify your student status, you need to enter your university email and upload a scan of your student ID.
The main benefit of GitHub Pro (besides the shiny Pro badge in your GitHub profile) is access to Github Copilot Pro, giving you access to better AI models for coding. You also get more storage and the full feature set for private repositories, but these won’t matter for most students (I have not used these features myself).
3. Do Not Disturb / Focus Mode
We’re all guilty of this: you sit down to study, but then get distracted by something on your phone, and suddenly an hour has passed and you realise that you’ve done nothing productive. Ultimately this is a problem of self-control and discipline, but there are tools that can help you stay locked in. Do Not Disturb mode is a simple but effective one that hides notifications on your phone. If you want to go further, you can change your phone homescreen/disable certain apps when you’re studying to prevent distractions–this is called Focus mode or similar, depending on what phone you have. Otherwise, turning off your phone, or putting it in a drawer or another room while you study is an underrated trick.
(Side note: consider turning off notifications for most of the apps on your phone. Do you really need to be interrupted by news headlines, Reddit posts, or when someone likes a LinkedIn post you also liked? When you get fewer notifications, it’s harder to miss the important ones. The only apps I have notifications turned on for are messaging apps, and my to-do and calendar app.)
4. Take Regular Breaks (Pomodoro)
On the other end of the spectrum, maybe you’re so locked in that you’ve been studying hours on end. That’s cool, but it’s not exactly sustainable or healthy for your physical and mental wellbeing. After a certain point, your mind starts to lose focus and you start making mistakes, or you may end up with some back pains, arm injuries or a sore neck.
The solution to this is to take regular study breaks. I recommend the Pomodoro technique: working for 25-30 minutes (without looking at your phone!), then taking a 5-minute break before going back to work and repeating the process. There are apps to help you keep track of these timers, but I just use the built-in timer on my phone. I know, taking a break when you’re in the flow can be difficult, and I am guilty of not following this as strictly as I would like. But when I do remember to take breaks, I feel more focussed while studying. I find it fun in a way, knowing that I only have to study for a short period of time, which makes difficult tasks a little easier. During your breaks, be sure to stand up, stretch, walk around, and drink water.
5. Rename Your Canvas Courses
Did you know that you can set nicknames for each of your Canvas courses? So instead of seeing the full legal name of each course every time “ENGGEN 131: Introduction to Engineering Computation and Software Development”, you can change it to whatever you want. I just put the course codes for mine.
To set a nickname, go to the Canvas dashboard, and click on the three dots in the top right corner of a course card. Type in your nickname and click Apply. (You can also change the colour of the course for a bit of customisation) The nice thing about nicknames is that they apply to everywhere the course is mentioned on Canvas, even in emails. So you no longer get emails with very long sender names.
6. Cheap Parking on Campus
For those who drive, you can park at the Owen G. Glenn Building (OGGB, or the business school) for a flat rate of $6 after 4.30pm on the weekdays, or during the day on the weekends. This is helpful for evening tests, events at night or anytime you find yourself in the city on the weekends.
7. The More That You Read, The More Things You Will Know
This is not specific to university, but still a great tip I thought I’d share: you can read e-books for free through Auckland Libraries. Download the Libby app, sign in with your library card and you can browse a collection of thousands of e-books. Don’t have time for reading, or you’d rather listen to something instead? Libby has got you covered with audiobooks as well! It uses the standard library system so there are limited copies of each e-book, you borrow them for 21 days, and place holds on books that are currently unavailable. The app works on phones, tablets and even on the web, but the best experience is on a handheld device.
Instead of doomscrolling on the bus or while waiting for your lecture to start, why not do a little reading? This is a great way to try a wide range of different books and find something you like. To quote Dr. Seuss: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
8. Buy Tickets to Engineering Revue
And… a shameless plug for the Engineering Revue. It’s a theatre comedy show that’s run entirely by engineering students: everything from acting, music, choreography, to writing, props, costumes, lighting and sound. It’s happening on September 18-20 (Week 7) at the SkyCity Theatre. If you’re a student, tickets are only $30. Come along for a great time and support your fellow engineering students. (I’m in the band but often wish I could watch from the audience. Don’t miss out!) engrevue.co.nz/tickets
