The 10 Best Student Hacks to Transform Your Uni Experience

When heading off to university, you’ll likely be faced with the most independence you’ve ever experienced. In between cooking, washing and cleaning up, managing your money and managing your time, there’s plenty to get your head around. We’re here to make your student life that little bit easier though – by showing you some of the very best student hacks! From controlling your money to making the most of your time, and from saving space to transforming you into the next MasterChef, we’ve got you covered.

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Our top student hacks at a glance:

• Budget, budget, budget
• Make the most of your study time
• Limit your social media usage
• Find relevant lecture slides online
• Make your alarm more effective
• Say goodbye to messy wires
• Learn some basic dishes
• Revolutionise your flavours when cooking
• Try out plenty of societies
• Take your Netflix viewing experience to the next level

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1. Budget, budget, budget

When you start university, you’ll receive the first part of your student loan. While this might look like a lot of money in your bank account, it’ll begin to run out pretty quickly if you aren’t careful with it. Staying on top of your finances probably sounds a little boring, but it can actually make your uni experience much less stressful and more enjoyable. 

Check out our guide on how to budget at university for more detail on this topic. You can also take a look at our top student budgeting tips for reducing your spending while at university.

2. Make the most of your study time

Let’s be honest, studying isn’t the most enjoyable way to spend your time. So when you are studying, you should try and make every minute count. Everyone has their preferred methods for managing time when studying or doing coursework – here are a handful of our top tips:

• Use the Pomodoro timer to work in 25-minute increments. Working in this way has been proven to help maintain focus and maximise output

• Keep your upcoming tasks organised with an app like Todoist (it’s free and incredibly easy to use). Google, Apple and Microsoft also have free task systems so you should be covered regardless

• If you’re a visual learner, then try colour coding your notes. Did you know that using colour can have a positive impact on your ability to remember information?

3. Limit your social media usage 

When you’re trying to study or complete coursework, social media (and your phone in general) can be one of the biggest distractions. If you’re checking messages and notifications every two minutes then you probably aren’t that focused on your work. There are plenty of apps you can download to temporarily block sites on your phone, such as Forest and Freedom. 

A simpler alternative is to put your phone behind your laptop screen. You’ll be amazed at how long you’ll end up going without checking it. As the old saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.

4. Find relevant lecture slides online

Have you just sat through a lecture and not had a clue what it was all about? Or did you just oversleep and miss the lecture altogether? If your lecturer doesn’t publish lecture recordings online then Google can actually help out in ways you probably don’t realise. 

All you need to do is hop on the search engine and type in your subject/topic, followed by filetype:ppt. Hit search and you should be presented with links to relevant slides from lectures across numerous universities!

5. Make your alarm more effective

One of the biggest struggles that students face is getting up in the morning – especially if you have a dreaded 9 am lecture. Thankfully, there are a couple of things you can do to make your alarm that little bit more effective. If you stick your phone in an empty glass then when it goes off the next morning, it’ll be much louder. It’ll also take slightly more effort to get it out of the glass and switch it off which should help wake you up a little.

If that isn’t working, then try putting the phone on the other side of your room. That way, you’ll need to get out of bed to turn your alarm off. You’ll need to do this quickly as well if you don’t want to wake your entire flat up!

6. Say goodbye to messy wires

It can take what feels like hours upon hours to untangle that mess of wires underneath your desk. An easy way to avoid this issue is by getting a set of binder clips, clipping them to your desk and feeding a separate wire through each. This solution couldn’t be simpler but will still have the desired effect of stopping your cables from escaping down the back of your desk or getting tangled up. Now, when heading off to lectures, every individual wire will be patiently waiting for you to unplug it.

7. Learn some basic dishes

You don’t need to be the next Gordon Ramsay when arriving at university, but having a handful of simple meals in your repertoire should be enough to help you get by (and save a load of money when you aren’t ordering takeaways every night).

The best dishes are those which are simple and affordable to make. If you can cook in a batch (or with your housemates) then the leftovers can be kept in the fridge or frozen for later consumption. 

Some of our favourite student meals are:

• Spaghetti bolognese
• Chilli con Carne
• Stir fry
• Pasta bake
• Curry
• A warming stew (if you have a slow cooker then this is ideal)
• Soup

8. Revolutionise your flavours when cooking

Don’t settle for bland food either – you don’t need to spend a huge amount on a meal for it to taste delicious! The simple act of adding some seasoning and a few different spices can elevate your food from dull to packed full of flavour. 

Here are the herbs and spices we’d recommend getting (and which type of meal they go best with):

• Cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and garam masala (essentials for any curry-lover)
• Coconut milk (this is a brilliant choice when creating a Southeast Asian curry or a creamy soup)
• Soy sauce – light and dark (soy sauce is the undisputed king of Chinese cooking. It can form the foundation of any stir fry meal)
• Smoked paprika and cayenne pepper (perfect for flavouring Mexican dishes like chilli con Carne or fajitas)
• Oregano, basil, parsley and rosemary (in their dried form, these jars can be bought for very little in Aldi/Lidl and are ideal in most Italian dishes)
• Chilli flakes (an easy way to provide a much-needed kick while avoiding the potential eye-stinging that comes with preparing fresh chillies)

9. Try out plenty of societies

One of the best ways to meet new people is by joining societies. Our recommendation is to try out a bunch of them and see which ones you’re drawn to. There’s never any shortage of university societies either – if you can think of it, then it probably exists. Societies range from sport, artistic, cultural, media, political and more, so there really is something for everyone!

Sports teams will often have a cut-off point as to when you can join but other than that, it’s never too late to join a society and make some new friends.

10. Take your Netflix viewing experience to the next level

Our final student hack is guaranteed to blow your mind. Have you ever realised that navigating Netflix and looking through specific titles and genres is way easier than they’re letting on?

When watching Netflix through your browser, enter Netflix.com/browse/genre/XXXX, swapping the XXXX for one of the hundreds of codes that you can find here. You’ll then unlock movies and genres that probably wouldn’t have even crossed your mind. Get ready to spend your weekend watching some new films!

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