The whole time I’ve been writing on Medium, I’ve been studying for a degree in Zoology in the city of Sheffield simultaneously. During this time I’ve also filmed and produced three videos on my YouTube channel.
There have been some points where I’ve had to juggle writing and creating with studying for exams and writing essays.
I’m going to share how I did this and plan to keep doing it next academic year too. From prioritisation to using the power of AI, there are plenty of techniques you can use to fit all of your creative endeavours around studying.
This is going to be a lesson in efficiency, rather than doing everything properly — you should recognise that sacrifices in the quality of your studying are going to come hand-in-hand with growing a body of writing online
Let’s get started…
Prioritisation
You know all those lectures and other timetabled events that made you wake up at 7:30 am to give you a chance of making it to campus on time?
Those lectures that had half the attendance that a 1 pm lecture would have?
I didn’t go to them. Or many of the 1 pm lectures either, for that matter.
The course materials were made available online, so it was much more efficient to walk into the university library later in the day, so as to avoid further sleep deprivation and cover the day’s content when you were feeling somewhat attentive and focused.
(I told you — this is a lesson in prioritisation, not doing things ‘properly’)
I also prioritised writing in my day over university work — if I wasn’t writing essays or lab reports, I was using the hours with the best focus for writing and creating online rather than learning about my course.
This was because I realised that creating took more brain power, therefore it was placed ahead of anything else in the day.
Efficiency
I was WAY more efficient than most in the way that I studied in preparation for exams.
The most effective way of learning information within my degree is flashcards, using the effectiveness of active repetition and spaced recall.
I realised that creating these flashcards did very little in terms of integrating the required information into your knowledge, so I automated it almost completely.
Instead of attending an hour-long lecture, I now downloaded the lecture resources and copy-pasted the information across from these resources to Obsidian, where I ran the content through an AI script that summarised it and turned it into flashcards that I could export to Anki, ready for studying.
This whole process took about five minutes per lecture. A twelfth of the time I would have spent creating the cards by hand when turning up to the lectures.
Adding in the time saved through not having to walk to university and in between lecture theatres, as well as a boost in focus, productivity and mood that came from not having to walk to university on five hours of sleep and sit through an hour of someone talking at you, I’m quite sure that I made the right choice in this regard.
I used this time saved to more and more, including about the above systems that I used to become more efficient at university. It’s reached the point now where I have nearly 400 followers on Medium, and am monetised on a level that provides healthy support to my lifestyle and continued creativity.
So how do you do this yourself?
I think we both have to agree that writing and creating takes priority over studying unless you have to create something in your degree, like an essay or a piece of art. Most of my last year was spent learning content, so I was lucky in this regard, many people I know had to do a lot more writing than I did to get through the year.
You have to find quicker and more efficient ways of doing day-to-day student duties without compromising (much) on the quality of the output.
See if you can automate things that don’t really require much of your input. Realistically, it’s likely some kind of transcription or AI tool can make notes of your lectures for you, so long as you have access to the recordings and materials used during its delivery.
Be smart about what time in the day you do your writing or creating — the morning is often when you’re feeling freshest and most motivated, but make sure to get enough rest — I know how difficult sleep can be to come by as a student myself!
So long as you’re prioritising correctly and efficiently with your other work, you will find that creating alongside being a student isn’t actually taxing. You just have to spot the pockets in the day where you aren’t being as efficient as you can be, and exploit them to get more work done.
Use the Pareto principle and Parkinson’s Law in this context, you’ll be surprised how much work you can get done:
This brings me to the end of my walkthrough of how I became a creator during my first year of university, with all the excitement and distraction that comes with it.
Just start! Write an article today and see where it goes.
If you want help with this kind of thing…
I’ve released the first section of a three-part FREE guide that teaches you how to reach your first 100 followers, build an engaged audience and become monetised. Find it on Gumroad here!
Thanks for your time, I hope you learned something new; get creating today!