This time last year I was experiencing a mixture of emotions over the idea of moving to University for my second year. I had a house with my friends and the following month I would be packing up my stuff and moving away for the first time.

From my own experience, I know that you can experience a whirlwind of emotions as one moment you will be completely fine and buzzing with excitement and then the next, you fall into absolute panic and worry. Therefore, I want to provide a few self-help tips to reassure you that it will be okay and also provide some help in getting through it.

1. Prepare Early!

When I first moved, the biggest mistake I made was leaving everything until the last minute. The week before I moved, my mum and I went out shopping and brought everything that I needed to take with me. However, we didn't manage to get everything we needed in time as it was one big rush and just added to the stress.

You have a whole summer to make lists and purchase all the essentials you need for your Uni home, so try and get it all done early! It saves you having to worry about it nearer the time when you probably don't want to think about it.

2. Food shopping.

This moves me nicely onto food shopping. Before you move, try and persuade your parents into taking you shopping a few times to make a collection of basic food items you are going to need while at Uni. Obviously you can't be buying things like milk so far in advance but dry foods you definitely can! If you build up a collection to take early, it will save you so much money!

I took so much food with me when I first moved that I never had to purchase things like rice, couscous, biscuits etc... throughout the year as I always had a secret stock.

Then when you actually move to Uni, it's another great opportunity to make the most of having your parents there the first day. Ask them to take you to the local supermarket and purchase the other basics like milk, butter and other fridge/freezer items. Yet again, it saves you a bit of money and you can take advantage of having their car.

3. Be sympathetic of yourself and lower your expectations.

By this I mean, don't build up any expectations just in case they are not met. Of course it is very likely your first few weeks may be difficult if it's your first time away from home, so don't be too hard on yourself if you feel uncomfortable and sad.

Living in a new place (with potentially new people) can be difficult and it's going to take a while to settle in. It always used to take me a day or two to settle back into the house after being away for the Christmas or Easter holidays and even longer when I had just moved in.

Give yourself time to adjust and accept that it will feel weird to start with. However, don't give up and know that it will get better and soon you will feel much more comfortable living in this strange home than you did before.

4. Have a cup of tea and a good cry!

This is essential. It's okay to cry. The day I moved, I cried non stop all morning... it was as though I was moving away forever. I was scared of the unknown and sad to be leaving my safe little family bubble in the countryside. However, once I had experienced my hours of crying that day and had been dropped off at my Uni house with my friends, I was completely fine again.

I was all cried out, no longer needing to cry anymore and I felt so good for it.

However, I'm not saying that after the first day you should never cry anymore, it's actually the opposite. When you feel like crying because you are home sick, cry. It's okay because you will feel so much better for it afterwards.

Living away from home for the first time can be a lot to cope with alongside your stressful Uni studies and I cried many days due to feeling as though I had an overload of work to do. However, you do get over it and begin to appreciate and enjoy the experience of being away from home.

I definitely had a lot less tears in my second semester however, even if I had have had more, everyone understands! That's the incredible thing about uni, people won't judge you for the tears over missing home or stress as you are all in the same boat.

So, if you feel sad or overwhelmed, just have a good cup of tea and a cry, you will feel so much better afterwards :)

5. Treat your Uni home as your new home.

Moving into a new home for the first time can feel strange and as though it's not your own. You may feel extremely uncomfortable to go about your normal routine because it doesn't feel right. However, this house/flat is going to be your home for the rest of the year so treat it like it is.

Let yourself go about the normal routines that you would at home and you will very quickly feel comfortable in the space you are living in. It can be strange and daunting when you are living with all of these new people but remember that they are feeling the exact same way.

It may feel weird and awkward to begin with but as the year progresses, they will feel a bit more like family and a lot less like strangers.

6. Call your parents!!!

This is my last point and one that is so important but so easily forgotten. You need to remember to pick up the phone and give your parents a call every once and a while. If this is the first time you have moved away from home, the chances are that they are missing you like crazy. 

My mum found it so difficult to cope to begin with and actually hated me being away. However, just a simple call to let them know you are okay can completely change their day.

One of the things my mum said to me was that when she knows that i'm okay, she's okay. She worries when she doesn't know if I am or not.

Therefore, that proves that a simple call of reassurance or just to say hello can make your parents day and also your own. 

Whether you're calling just for a quick chat or to spill your troubles all on them, it's okay. They will just appreciate hearing your voice.

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These are just a few tips of my own and things that I have learned from moving away from home. I will definitely be taking my own advice this year and start preparing to move back much earlier than I did last year!

Thank you for reading :)

It doesn't matter if you are first, second or third year at University, the realisation of how unorganised you were last semester has probably dawned on you.

Whether it was due to not doing the extra reading or leaving your deadlines until the last minute, it is a mistake many of us make in first semester and even second too!

This year however, I am determined to change that. I was the most unorganised and scatty person possible first semester and wasn't quite prepared for just how difficult things would be.

Looking back at first year now, I kind of realised how much of a breeze it was. Second year hit me hard and I wasn't prepared in the slightest.

Which is why I have decided to make an attempt at being more organised next semester in hope I will stick to it and make life much easier for myself when deadlines and exam week come around.

I thought I would share a few tips and essential equipment I feel are important to do this.

The Essentials:

♥ Notepads for each subject reading and coursework planning.

♥ Pens

♥ Highlighters

♥ Gel pens

♥ Pencils

♥ Felt tips

♥ Text books

My tips on how to get more organised:

♥ Creating revision notes as you go along

By doing this you are saving so much time when your exams come around in May. I always find that a few weeks before my exams I am trying to create 3 or 4 modules worth of revision notes and I just don't have the time.
By making revision notes as soon as you have had a lecture or done the extra reading, it means you are already prepared for your exam period. So instead of wasting your time writing up your revision notes, you can actually be revising!
Doing this will also help you understand the topic more as you go along and instead of last minute, right before the exam.

♥ Use a calendar

The calendar on my laptop is my favourite thing ever! I am literally obsessed and it's so lame. I have a diary too which I love to keep on my desk but for reminders I always reach for the one on my laptop.
I have Windows 10 so it's on the start page of my apps, making it really quick and easy to reach. I literally store my life plans in this place and as I spend a lot of time on my laptop it's super accessible.

It's always popping up with notifications of whatever I have going on that day, meaning I constantly have a reminder.

♥ Take time to yourself

This is so important and if you don't do this, you'll end up driving yourself mad. Whether it's just watching Netflix, going shopping with your friends or some other kind of hobby; find something that you enjoy.
It can literally be anything, just ensure that you dedicate a part of your day to that specific activity. That way your mind is not always on that piece of coursework you have to hand in or that reading you still haven't done; you can take a moment to tear yourself away from it.

♥ Focus on the end goal

Don't focus on the fact that your deadline is months away and you can deal with it later. Focus on how you will feel in those few months if things go wrong and you run out of time to create your best piece of work.

This is so important and a mistake that most of us probably make. I have such a bad habit of shrugging things off because I think I have all the time in the world to finish them. Whether that be revising or coursework, I keep putting it off until it's the last minute when I have no choice but to do it.
This is so bad for you because it just automatically leads to stress. You need to try and focus on the future a little while you're studying and I don't mean what career you're going to do and how you're going to spend the rest of your life, I mean deadlines!
Know your deadlines and keep them in mind and ensure to keep reminding yourself of them - don't want until the last minute to consider them.