10 Daily Success Habits to Adopt at Uni and Become Your Best Self

School and college were tough, but you’ve finished – well done!  

You’ve got onto the university course that you wanted, you’re living in a new town or city and making new friends. It is now that the hard work truly begins, as you settle into life in your student apartment and contemplate the years ahead.  

There are some daily success habits that you can adopt now that you’re at uni. They can help shape your future success and help you build a foundation of hard work and dedication to your craft (whatever you choose to do) that will be there with you forever.  

Some little habits that are easy to implement can make a big difference to how successful you are at university and life, becoming the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.  

We’ve broken it down into 10 daily success habits to get you started. There could be many more, so check these out as a starter and let us know what else you’ve added to the list that have helped you become a better version of you at university and life.  

1. Create A Morning Routine 

When you first wake up in the morning you need time to slowly get into the groove of the day, awaken your mind and body before anything else. A good start to the day sets you up for everything you have a head of you, so make sure you make the time.  

Waking up and immediately starting to work is a bad habit to get into. Instead, take some time for yourself whether its reading some of the book you’ve got on your bedside table, doing some exercise, watching some videos or playing a game. Or just generally preparing for the day ahead.  

There’s nothing worse than waking up wishing you were going back to bed, so start your morning off doing something you enjoy, and you’ll see the benefits. After all, the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day so if you start it off well, the rest of your day should go smoothly. 

2. Eat Breakfast

 Talking of making time for yourself in the morning, make sure you do eat something within 30 minutes to an hour after waking up.  This is an extremely healthy habit to get into, as breakfast is the most important meal of the day in many respects.  

Eating a bowl of porridge, some fruit, yoghurt, or even a piece of toast, is much preferable to starting your day of work and uni on an empty stomach.  

We need food to give us the energy that we’ll use throughout the day. A bad habit of no food in the morning can leave your body without energy, and you prone to becoming light-headed and without the right levels of concentration you need to succeed.  

3. Take Regular Breaks

 It’s important to regularly take breaks away from a screen (if you work on a laptop most of the time).  

For your mental and physical health, build enough time into your day to take a regular short break away from what you are doing. This could be to get up and stretch, go for a quick walk, make a cup of tea or anything else.

It’s important to have these little moments to decompress, allow your mind and body some time to do something other than the work you are focussed on.  

This will help you to maintain a high level of focus and consistency when you do work. Even a few minutes outside in the sun can help you to improve brain function, help with relaxation and the quality of sleep you are getting, so make it a priority. 

4. Create A Plan & Stick To It

 A weekly plan (or longer when it comes to revision for an exam timetable) is a fantastic positive habit to get into as a student.

As daily success habits go, this is one that will stick with you into adulthood and a future career. It can even be broken down into daily checklists to ensure you are maximising your work potential.  

 A plan of action helps you to break work down into manageable chunks with a clear end goal in sight. It helps you to also see how these smaller bits of work all come together as part of the bigger picture.  

 Each day, write down a few of the most important tasks you want (or need) to accomplish that day and prioritise these. Adding important university events, lectures, seminars, coursework deadlines etc. helps you to keep an eye on where you need to be.Get organised and stick to your plan.  

5. Be Early For Appointments

Punctuality is a key component of most successful people. If you are late to a lecture, a seminar, a one-on-one meeting in university, or even with friends, you’ll soon gain a reputation for it.  

Being late means that you’re always playing catch-up in whatever you’re doing and are more likely to rush and miss important things out. Try to build the positive daily habit of being a few minutes early for any appointment you make, wherever possible.   

This will help you to remain calm, prepared, and ready to go. 

6. Exercise & Eat Well

Exercise and nutrition are so important to us. Keeping physically fit and healthy helps us to maintain good energy levels and be ready to go when hard work is called for.  

It might not be possible to get into a regular gym routine where you hit it hard for an hour or two, or even for long runs. However, try to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, where you get your heart pumping and a sweat on is a simple way to stay active and healthy.  

If you don’t have much time due to your work schedule, a brisk walk on your lunch break is the safety net that is easy to achieve for any person.

Instead of snacking on unhealthy sweets and sugary drinks every day, always have fruit handy to pick on as you study. This will help you to avoid feeling sluggish both in the body and the mind.  

7. Stay Hydrated 

Drinking plenty of water, or at least choosing a healthier selection of drinks away from sugary fizzy drinks, will make a big difference to your life. You should drink around 6-8 glasses of fluid each day.  

If you make most of these water, sugar-free drinks, low-fat milk, or even tea and coffee without milk and sugar, this can help you maintain a balanced diet.  

If you able to, then try to limit the amount of alcohol you drink, especially during busy periods at uni like during exam weeks or when you have assignment deadlines. There’s nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, but don’t let it impact your studies.  

Staying hydrated is important to your mind and body, so stick to this as one of your daily success habits and you’ll be on the path to success as a student.  

8. Rewards For Good Work

 This is an especially good habit to get into during revision periods, where you’ll be under a lot of pressure and stress to recap everything for upcoming exams. It does also work the rest of the time though.

By putting rewards in alongside your personal work targets you can treat yourself for a job well done.  This might be a break with some biscuits and a cup of tea during a hard day of revision, or something a bit larger, like a meal out with your friends after you’ve finished a big project.

Whatever it is, you can incentivise a great focus on your work and improve your performance levels.  

9. Understand The Work Of The Day 

At the end of the day, look back over the work you have completed and make sure that it all makes sense to you. If you make notes during lectures, a good habit to have is to take those notes once you get home and re-write them in a precise, orderly, and clear way.  

Making written notes in lectures rather than using your laptop is a good way to stay connected with what you are learning. Transferring those notes onto your laptop when you get back to your student apartment or the library helps your mind to go over the information and to remember it.  

If there is anything at all you haven’t understood or you’re not sure about, don’t be afraid to ask for help, from other people in your class or the lecturer. One way you can grow is if you are happy to ask for help when needed. 

10. Stay Rested & Have A Routine

It is easy to slip into a negative routine when it comes to your rest, and specifically your sleep. When you first go to university you’ll be bombarded with different night’s out, the joys of Freshers Week, different society nights out, getting to know your flatmates and course mates.  

It is all fun and we wouldn’t say you should avoid these, but we would advise that you try to get into a better routine once you’re into the swing of uni life. Try to get around 8 hours sleep a night, sticking to a routine where you go to bed at around the same time every night, and wake up at a similar time each morning.  

A healthy amount of sleep helps to improve brain and memory function, as well as helping the rest of your body remain healthy. Create a routine that works for you and stick to it.

This could be dimming the lights after a certain time, avoiding your phone or laptop just before bed, taking a late shower, or reading for a bit to slow your brain down. 

In conclusion, these 10 daily success habits are a good starting point for your life as a student and beyond. We’ve selected those habits that cover most of the day, giving you help at various points and getting you started.  

Building positive habits can start with small things that grow into much larger habits that are part of your routine for years to come. Let us know the things you do that have helped you! 

For you to read next Simple Hacks To Have A Free Or Cheap Night Out. 

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