6 Things Postgraduate Students Do (But Know They Shouldn’t)

Being a postgraduate is hard work. While we’re very dedicated students most of the time, it’s easy to let some things slip. Whether it’s bad habits that creep up on you or a little bit of laziness, we all do things that make life more difficult than it needs to be.

If you recognise yourself in any of these points, don’t fret! Everyone’s guilty of having some bad habits. But if you don’t, then know there are thousands of postgraduate students out there envying your very existence.

#1 Store notes in the most inconvenient way

One of the most common ways we students like to screw ourselves over is with poor note-taking. How many of you have told yourself you’d write up your notes after class so they’re more coherent? Or organise them into a neat folder for easy access? But how many of you actually did this after the first few weeks?

If you managed to reach a month or two, you’re doing well. Finding the time, patience and motivation gets pretty difficult when the pile of notes keeps growing and the deadlines start looming. Sometimes it’s better to ignore it… I’m sure you’ll remember the gist of it all anyway!

#2 Only read the first and last paragraph of the assigned reading

If there’s one thing that defines postgraduate study, it’s hard work. No matter your subject, you’re probably snowed under with reading and assignments. So when you hear one student’s secret to managing it all, you jump at the idea.

Whether you’re reading only the introduction and conclusion or just looking at the pretty graphs and tables, you know what you’re doing is wrong. But it feels so right. While you might have got the gist of what the author was arguing, you’re still praying your seminar leader doesn’t ask you any in-depth questions about it.

#3 Take a 10-minute break but conveniently forget to check the time

Social media has revolutionised the way we students take breaks. Gone are the days of hovering by the kettle for five minutes before scuttling back to the office and working. Now we watch a YouTube video or scroll through TikTok. One video quickly turns into two. Ten minutes turn into twenty. Before you know it, you’ve wasted 45 minutes. At this point, what’s another 15? You might as well make it an hour.

#4 Accidentally become a hermit for two weeks

Though our breaks may turn into social media marathons, we still know when we need to buckle down. Usually, a deadline will be approaching. You’ll work yourself so hard that the thought of doing anything else other than eating a pizza and watching Netflix seems impossible.

But the days soon add up and you begin to realise that you haven’t been outside in weeks. The last time you talked to someone was a mumbled ‘hello’ and you’ve forgotten the feeling of sunlight on your skin.

For your own sanity, please go outside.

#5 Avoid thinking about the dissertation

Whether you’re a hermit, timewaster or a little bit of both there’s one thing postgraduate students know they’re good at: procrastinating. And what’s the one thing we all don’t want to face? The dissertation.

Our very own white whale. The dissertation looms over the whole postgraduate experience. You think you’ll start after Christmas but you won’t. It’ll stay there, lurking in the depths of your mind. The longer you leave it, the more powerful it becomes. Soon, you know you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and start. But that can wait until tomorrow…

#6 Leave referencing to the last minute

But, when it’s all said and done, there’s nothing we hate more than referencing. Rather than disrupting your writing flow you leave the brackets or footnotes blank. They can wait. Until you come back to finish and realise your note taking system was so bad that it’s a nightmare to find all the references you need!

Some might get lost to the ether, resulting in an hour long internet search to find one tiny bit of information you swore you wrote down. Others you’ll get fed up with and make up your own referencing style instead of following the guide. No matter what, the process never goes as smoothly as you like and yet you never learn. So, by the time the next piece of coursework comes around, you’ll fall back into the same bad habits you swore to never repeat.