Everything's easier when you're in good health.
Know the possible sources of stress, homesickness, isolation and sedentariness, and how you'll manage them.
Start by planning your work, using the strategies in Tabs 2-4. Know when your most hectic times will be, and think about how to prepare. Especially around exam time, most people are reasonable and will accommodate you if they know your extra load.
Planning means the big macro-actions to manage courses and assignments, but also the day-to-day micro-actions. Get into a routine that's comfortable for you. Get your capacity, interest, attention span, energy, workload and leisure sorted into a rhythm that balances out over the week, but don't be too rigid about it. Have time off when you need to, and keep doing the things that keep you content.
Stay in touch with others. Isolation is a constant danger of study, especially online study and research projects. Notice if it starts cutting your links with people, and don't let it.
That might mean immediate family, extended family, neighbours, classmates, sports/activity groups, volunteer groups, UNSA clubs (see links below), or anyone else. Loneliness makes everything else worse.
We've all seen the ads for proper eating, physical activity, decent sleep, and the other 'secrets' of physical health. Generally, they're right.
Organise your timetable to allow for meals and sleep - rushing to cram them in around your commitments is a danger.
Being physically active and being outside can also help reduce stress, so know what best suits you and keep it as an option when work becomes too much. Other popular health measures, such as music, meditation and practising mindfulness, are also useful.
Know what's available. A lot of people at the university are here only to make your life easier.
Use the Library and Learning Support for help with the work itself, use UNSA and NUSport to make contact with the wider student community, and get in touch with Counselling to discuss how you're handling study and stress. You can also access career-related support, as well as services supporting health, finances, disability, groups facing particular challenges such as Indigenous or LGBTQI+ students, and a range of other facilities.
Know who your Course Co-ordinator and Program Advisor are, and be ready to talk with them - the first if you need an extension, the second if you're trying to structure your courses over the coming years.
A lot of people want you to be healthy and happy as you work - be willing to use them. If you only take one message from this LibGuide:
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