All The Work You Shouldn't Do: How to Succeed at University

by Ruby Cline

Overview

'You'll do a lot of work at uni and get very little out of it.' There's no limit to the amount of hours you could spend honing and perfecting an essay or revising for an exam. Academic work could eat up all of your time at university – how do you know when you've done enough? I did my degree differently. I deprioritised and reprioritised. I planned and plotted. I put my life before my books. I tried and tested every method I could for efficient reading, writing and studying. And I'm here to help you do the same.

In All the Work You Shouldn't Do you'll learn how to get the most from your degree and make time for the things you want to pursue without letting stress take over. We'll cover:
-Working out your goals and priorities
-How to focus your efforts on the things that really matter
-Planning your work
-Reading and writing more efficiently
-The importance of looking after your body and brain

This book gives you the advice I wish I had known when I was starting uni.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350470576
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/24/2025
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ruby Cline is a 3rd year student at the University of Cambridge. Her TikTok channel (conversationswithruby) has 34.6K followers and she has had over 2.1 million likes for her content. She first began making videos in April 2020 and has charted her journey of applying to university and studying at Cambridge. She talks about a wide range of subjects – politics, culture, university life and academic study.

Table of Contents

1. Understand yourself first
2. Plan to succeed, not to survive
3. All the work you shouldn't do
4. Work smarter
5. Look after your body and your brain
6. Making the most of university
7. Study hacks: tried, tested, reviewed

Editorial Reviews

A great asset for students who are navigating the complex world of university. All first-years should have a copy.” —Robin Waldun, Writer, YouTuber and Educator

“From study hacks to surviving break ups, this book is packed with good ideas for how to navigate your way through university. The material on how to avoid unnecessary work is useful for the whole of life.” —Dorothy Byrne, President of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge

“Helpful and straight-talking; I wish I'd had this book as a student.” —Gavin Stevenson, Director of Student Development at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge

From the Publisher