14 New Year’s resolutions Notts students probably should have made

New term, new you


This year will be different. We’ve all heard that one before. Students have three years to make as many mistakes as possible at uni in the process of becoming an adult. Uni is, after all, probably the biggest learning curve that most of us will experience, but that doesn’t mean to say the odd new year’s resolution, or 14, wouldn’t go a miss.

If submitting your coursework one minute before the deadline has become a habit of yours or you swore blind to your friends you were over them for good this time then you have most likely tried, and failed, to turn your life around before. This is your sign to discard those failed attempts as practice since this term, things will be different.

So, without further ado, here are the 14 New Year’s resolutions that Notts students should have probably made. It may be nearly February but new term, new you. Right?

Stop spending and start saving

With the latest instalment of your student loan in your bank account, you should be feeling pretty optimistic. The world is your oyster when you’re using contactless like it’s monopoly money but just remember the struggles of the last few weeks of autumn term. £10 left and eating crackers for every meal.

It doesn’t take a maths graduate to divide your student loan by the number of weeks you’ll be at uni to figure out your weekly budget. It’s important you let yourself have a good time, we all deserve it after exam season, but don’t forget that student loans don’t last forever. Boris doesn’t account for the extra Crisis Tuesday nights out when working out the loan money.

Go to every lecture

Now that most lectures and seminars are in person, it’s going to take a lot of motivation to make it from your bed to campus but once you’re there the hardest part of walking up the hill is over; you just have to actually take some notes.

Believe it or not the lecture content might actually help you out in the future so even if it means half-heartedly bullet pointing the lecture slide content, it helps you more than traipsing through Google Scholar for academic articles that don’t make sense to anyone.

Remember how much enthusiasm you had to be on campus during lockdown? Channel that energy into this term and actually make the trek, even if it is just to reach your step count for the day.

Complete all the required reading

Required reading? What’s that? At the start of every term your lecturers should helpfully provide you with a list of reading that should complement their lecture material.

If you’re sat in your seminar wonderingwhat is going on since your peers seem like they know everything, then the person next to you has probably done the required reading so they sort of do know what they’re on about. This is your sign to reserve that book in the library and start understanding the concepts you’d prefer to pretend didn’t exist.

The Soft Boy will have read none of these books, yet will have opinions on all of them.

Don’t buy a coffee every time you’re on campus

One you start you can’t stop. A trip to campus doesn’t feel the same without a coffee, especially one that you ordered on the rare occasion when there was no queue. It may be overpriced but at least it’s a £3 drink you’ll remember consuming, unlike the ones your buy in clubs.

Maybe this is finally the time to dust down the insulated mug you got for Christmas and start making coffee at home to bring with you. You can use the money you saved on other drinks that contain caffeine. Jaeger bombs, I’m talking about you.

Image may contain: Cup, Coffee Cup, Shorts, Long Sleeve, Female, Sleeve, Sitting, Human, Person, Clothing, Apparel

Switch up your club nights

I’d hate to give a bad rep to Crisis or Ocean, but if you know the playlist like the back of your hand, I’m sorry to say you may have been a bit too loyal to the same club. Notts has a plethora of clubs and club nights to offer so message your friends and see if they’re up for a spontaneous trip to somewhere different. You never know, it could become your new favourite night out.

Cook more, order less

We’re all guilty of taking full advantage of the new account discount codes on Deliveroo; but even £10 off doesn’t justify the extortionate delivery charges and the fact you have a fridge shelf full of food.

Meal planning doesn’t have to be boring, nor does your weekly shop if you start free styling what you put in your basket. We may not be Gordon Ramsey but I’m sure we could teach him a thing or two about how to make the perfect pesto pasta. You could even start cooking meals as a house and split the cost and maybe the washing up.

Image may contain: Home Decor, Chair, Dish, Food, Meal, Restaurant, Furniture, Table, Dining Table, Human, Person

Don’t go out out as much

With every hangover comes the claim that you won’t go out clubbing again. But how many of you can honestly say you’ve stuck to that? On the average week night, the streets of Notts will be full of students and staying in bed in preparation for tomorrow’s 9am just doesn’t seem worth it. Especially when FOMO exists.

However, going out out has it’s own infinite list of stresses. What will you wear? Do you have enough mixer for pres? Will the Uber cancel last minute, and you’ll miss your entry time? Maybe this term is the one to start waking up in the AM with no pounding headache. 

Get a part time job

If no matter how hard you try, your student loan never seems to cover your spending habits then it might be time to get a part time job. Employers in Notts are well aware of how many students are looking for shifts and consequently many offer flexible working hours with the understanding that you won’t be here every month of the year. Minimum wage is better than nothing. It’s about time we start having positive numbers in our bank accounts rather than an outrageous overdraft.

Wash your bedding regularly

How often do you wash your bedding? Once a week? Once a month? Never? If you actually stop to think about it, sleeping on the floor might be more hygienic than sleeping in your unwashed bedsheets, albeit a lot less comfortable.

The thought of stripping your bed sheets is worse than the act of doing it so stop making excuses and find the time to wash them and make your bed in a way your mum would be proud of. 

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Don’t text them back

Clocking snap scores? Stalking snap maps? Checking new Instagram followers on Safari? Who even does that? Not you anymore! You’re at university and you’ll probably never get the opportunity to be around so many like-minded people again, so what’s your excuse?

I hate to be the one to say it, but I don’t think a soulmate is the person who fills you with more stress than exam week. This is your sign to stop romanticising a blunt reply. Who knows where a conversation with someone new in the smoking area could lead?

Drink more water and less VKs

Why does eight VKs sound doable but eight glasses of water seem impossible? We’ve all been told how important drinking water is, but it only really hits us in the middle of the night when you wake up feeling so thirsty you feel as though you could drink the whole of the River Trent.

Coffee and tea don’t count, so stop pretending they do. The only bad thing about drinking enough water is the awkward escape you might have to make mid lecture to go to the bathroom. It’s worth it for clear skin, right?

How much VK is too much VK?

Start enjoying the uni gym

Granted, going to the gym is a mission at the best of times. It takes a lot of motivation to get changed and make the sweaty walk, but what’s worse is spending an hour or so hovering around the equipment you want to use.

This term might be the one to start experimenting with gym times just to work hour the hours that are the least busy. I’ll give you a clue, Wednesday afternoon is never going to promise you an empty squat rack. Now the January gym period has ended, February is the perfect time to get ready for hot student summer.

Limit your boredom trips to Saino’s

We’re all guilty of going to Sainsbury’s local just to get one thing and then coming out £20 poorer. This term it’s time to stop relying on Saino’s and start writing a shopping list that covers your weekly food consumption.

Making an emergency visit or two isn’t all that bad, but if you’re in there every day and you’re on first name terms with the security guard, the obsession might have gone a little too far.

Stop neglecting your dissertation

If you haven’t cried over uni work yet, your dissertation might just make you shed a tear or two. Don’t be like those people on Tiktok who leave their entire dissertation until the last week of university. At this moment in time, you have several months to comfortably write and research rather than cram it all into several library all-nighters.

I’m hoping after all this time you still have a tiny bit of enthusiasm for your subject. I know anything with a word count is as appealing as a Netflix series, but with all this time on your hands, why not combine watching a show back-to-back whilst getting through a few thousand words one afternoon? Just remember to not accidentally write a character’s name half-way through a sentence.

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