University can be the most transformative time of your life—but it can also be a black hole for your time, energy, and focus if you're not careful. Between classes, social events, late-night assignments, and general survival mode, it's easy to fall into habits that quietly sabotage your growth.

Whether you're a first-year just finding your rhythm or halfway through your degree and feeling stuck, this guide is your wake-up call. Here are 7 things you need to stop doing in uni right now if you want to make the most of your experience without burning out or looking back with regret.

1. Waiting Until the Last Minute for Everything

We get it—procrastination is basically the unofficial sport of university. But leaving everything until 11:58 PM on deadline day is not a personality trait. It’s a stress machine.

Cramming doesn’t just hurt your grades. It trains your brain to operate in panic mode. You get by, but you never actually learn anything. It’s all short-term survival.

Try this instead: Start small. Break big tasks into mini ones. Use timers. Use AI tools like Duetoday to transcribe lectures or YouTube videos into quick summaries and cheat-sheet-style notes. It saves you hours and helps you prep in advance—even when you don’t feel like it.

2. Taking Notes You’ll Never Read Again

If your notes look like a word-for-word transcript of your lecture, stop. You’re not a court reporter. You’re a student.

Passive note-taking is a waste of time if you’re never reviewing them. The point of notes is to help you process and recall information, not hoard it like digital clutter.

Better approach: Use active notes—summarize in your own words, use questions, diagrams, or even Cornell-style formatting. Or let tech do the heavy lifting: Duetoday AI can automatically convert your lectures into concise notes, study guides, flashcards, and even quizzes. Way more useful than staring at a wall of text the night before the test.

3. Skipping Class Because “The Slides Are Online”

You might think you’re saving time by skipping lectures and reading the slides later. But you’re actually robbing yourself of real understanding.

Slides are just skeletons. The actual value is in what the lecturer says—the emphasis, the examples, the stuff they repeat (hint: that’s what shows up on exams).

Pro tip: If you really can’t make it, at least record the session and run it through Duetoday. It can turn the entire lecture—including jokes, case studies, and all the side comments—into summarized notes you can study smarter with.

4. Comparing Yourself to Everyone Around You

It’s easy to fall into the trap: your classmate already has a summer internship, your roommate has a side hustle and a 4.0 GPA, and you’re just trying to not cry during a group project.

University isn’t a race. And comparing yourself constantly kills confidence and momentum.

Flip the script: Focus on your progress. Celebrate small wins. Build skills that align with what you actually enjoy. Everyone’s journey is different—and trust me, some of those “together” students are struggling behind the scenes too.

5. Saying Yes to Everything

Clubs. Group projects. Study sessions. Part-time jobs. Hangs every night. Sometimes, university starts to feel like a never-ending RSVP list.

Burnout doesn’t always come from doing hard things—it comes from doing too many things.

Here’s the fix: Set boundaries. Learn to say “no” without guilt. Leave white space in your calendar for rest, hobbies, and brain-off time. Remember, recharging is productive, too.