Close
Formula For A Healthy Lifestyle
By Peter Marron, on 9 February 2023
For most students, university is the first time you’ll live on your own and be constantly surrounded by people, ideas and events. As tempting as it is to join every society, make a million friends and excel academically, it’s normal to get overwhelmed by new responsibilities and neglect your health. Luckily, I have some advice on how you can balance a healthy lifestyle so you can get the most out of university whilst not burning out!
From my experience, the formula for a healthy lifestyle is:
Healthy = 35% mental + 30% physical + 30% academic + 5% professional
This is easier said than done, it took me months before I had any control over my life so don’t worry if you feel disorganised at the beginning. To help ease the chaos, below are a few tips on how you can personally maintain each element in the formula.
Mental (35%):
For me, there are two factors that manage mental health- stress relief and social life. Tips that help stress relief are:
Find a mindfulness technique that works for you
Meditation and yoga might seem pretentious but having an outlet to let out your thoughts and feelings is imperative! Personally, journaling after a tough day helps decongest my head and untangle my thoughts but for others, it’s drawing or going on long walks.
Call family, friends and loved ones!
Tips for socialising are:
- Make the first move: As cliche as it sounds, people at university won’t talk to you unless you approach them first. Remember: everyone is in the same boat as you so don’t be shy (and don’t forget to get their socials to stay in contact)!
Physical (30%):
It’s easy to sacrifice a few hours of sleep and a workout to get a practice sheet submitted. I’m guilty of midnight instant noodles and all-nighters, but you’ll start feeling fatigue and low moods if you routinely not care for your body. My biggest tips on maintaining physical health are:
Find an exercise that you enjoy
Regularly moving your body is easy if you do something you find fun. UCL has a myriad of sports societies that you can join from football and rowing to ultimate frisbee and Aikido. I took up Krav Maga, which was both stress relief and socialising!
Set a sleeping deadline
After a certain time, it’s more productive to sleep than to churn out low quality work. Set a strict time where you’ll stop studying and go to bed to get the rest you need.
Eat at least one fruit and one vegetable a day
This sounds patronising but it’s difficult to eat nutritiously when you’re super busy. Your immunity system will thank you for eating at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal.
Academic (30%):
MAPS degrees are exam-focused so it’s essential to make sure you’re learning effectively throughout the year. My tips are:
Develop a study routine
Dedicating specific times of the week to studying ensures productivity. The best structure for me was setting a module per day (eg. Analysis on Monday, Algebra on Tuesday etc.) but figure out what’s best for you.
Establish a note taking method
How content is taught at university is different from secondary school so it’s important to organise how you’ll absorb and make future resources from lectures, lecture notes and tutorials. This will make revising easier!
Professional (5%):
This is something you don’t need to focus on when you start university but if you’re interested in starting your professional development, my biggest tip would be:
Take advantage of UCL’s opportunities!
UCL has so many opportunities to develop your career- from MAPS-specific career newsletters, volunteering roles and profession-focused societies such as Business Society, you can start developing employable skills, gaining experience and deciding what you want to pursue.
Overall, when life gets tough, don’t feel pressured to keep up your perfect routine. Everyone’s healthy lifestyle is unique to them and constantly changing depending on deadlines, personal obligations, finances and other factors. At the end of the day, the goal is to just do your best at university. I hope my tips offer some guidance on how to survive first year and I wish you the best on your university journey!
Written by: Teren Lee, UCL Mathematics
