University is known to be the best part of everyone’s life. But sometimes, this part can be a real source of stress and pressure when the assessments and assignments start to pile up. These assessments and assignments are typically designed to measure learning, but too many of them in a short time can affect mental health and academic performance.
Multiple stories will tell you how assessment overload can affect students’ performance. For instance, take a look at Rosie’s life. She started at university with a carefree attitude, and she ended up with constant stress and pressure due to the overload of assessments. The story of Rosie will tell you why overload happens and what strategies to use to cope.
The Boiling Point of Turmoil
Rosie came from Morocco to complete her degree in psychology in the UK. She came fully prepared for the independent learning and assessment style of UK universities. While living through the buzzing nightlife, Rosie remained focused on her studies, not wanting the weight of assessment overload so early at university.
She kept seeking assignment help UK to get a better understanding of the UK format and referencing style, which can often confuse international students. It would be safe to say that the first four months went by in peace, until the exams came closer and the assignments started to pile up, not from a single subject, but multiple projects from multiple subjects.
Large Piles, Short Times
Rosie couldn’t fathom how to keep a record of her studies when her deadlines started to fall close together. It only served to tighten her semester schedule. Without any help in her native language, it was already challenging for her to perform. Against her will, her life turned upside down.
The constant worry and stress over completing her assignments after her part-time jobs reduced her quality of work at her job as well as on assignments, because after completing one, she’d start worrying over the next one. Instead of learning new things, for which she mainly came, her main focus turned into finishing her work for grades.
Collecting the Shattered Pieces
The oath she made with herself was not to become a part of the stressful system, but to her disappointment, she also became a part of the same process. However, the exam date gave her a pathway. Even though she still had a large pile of assignments to go through, she decided to map her deadlines through a visual calendar.
Instead of panicking at the last minute due to cramming all the work together, she started to work backwards. Rosie scheduled her time for research, writing a draft, and revision at the end. To prepare for exams, she sought online exam help services for quick assistance, which led her through the important material in a professional manner.
New Year, New Me
The next two years went by, and she kept dealing with her deadlines by planning her schedule earlier. Along the way, Rosie discovered some new ways of focusing on her studies so she never again fell behind. The practice of the Pomodoro technique involves studying for 25 minutes of focus, along with small breaks, while avoiding burnout.
However, if none of this would work for her, she’d refuse to give in to the hesitation and ask for an extension or mitigation requests if her planning and Pomodoro technique wouldn’t work out. However, it was clear that the need to communicate and engage with tutors increased every year.
Collecting Oneself as A Whole
The smaller details complete the big picture. Similarly, for bigger projects, it’s better to break them into small chunks. In the final year, when she first came across the idea of writing a dissertation, Rosie tested a new technique for her projects. Instead of doing all the work in two days, with an obsession about completing it early, she broke it into seven days’ work.
With the help of dissertation writing services UK and her increasing connections with her professors, she started to work earlier on her dissertation. Dividing days according to research, introduction, writing body sections, and referencing, she made sure that she wouldn’t panic at the last moment.
Paralysed at Perfection
Even after planning the whole schedule for her dissertation, Rosie started panicking when the deadline for her dissertation came close. The reason? She kept scrapping her work to rewrite everything again and again. That paralysed her performance when she became obsessed with perfecting her work.
That led her to panic again, even after trying hard not to. Rosie wasn’t able to focus on her job and her upcoming exams. She wanted to make her dissertation look perfect, just like everything else she did.
A Lead of a Supporting Hand
The feeling of taking care of everything by herself fades away when some of her friends, whom she made through her nightlife, looked at her and realised something wasn’t right. They showed their support by seeking help from the well-being and counselling services for her.
Not only this, but the academic structure, on which she kept wasting her time, the academic skills centre at the university helped her with it, to provide her with a sense of support. By the time she got healed, she realised she not only had an incomplete dissertation, but also a few assignments. She told her friends, “Do my assignment,” while she focused on the dissertation instead.
At the End of The Day
What did we see through the life of Rosie? Only the knowledge of upcoming challenges doesn’t solve the problems; the solutions must be carried out with consistency, without falling into the loop of continuous struggle without outcomes.
However, the assessment overload only serves to reduce academic performance and harm mental health. But stressing over assignments is not the solution. You can deal with this pressure by following multiple coping strategies and seeking support, available online and on your campus. After all, your worth is not defined by your grades, but by what you do to maintain them.
