One of the most stressful times of your life will undoubtedly involve an exam in one form or another. Whether you’re in high school or college, exams are the stick by which you are measured so you have to ensure that you do your best.
It’s that quantifiable nature of the exam beast that heaps on the pressure, so make sure you’re fully equipped to study effectively. Whether that means you scribble memory notes on your bathroom mirror, or use flashcards from Cram.com, if it gets you there, then it’s warranted.
1) Manage your schedule
The first rule of appropriate studying is to manage your time effectively, yet apparently it’s the most difficult tip to manage and master. Mark your test date in your email calendar, your smart phone calendar and write it on your bedroom wall (on a post-it, not the actual wall!). Don’t let yourself kill time in the build up, create a realistic study schedule and stick to it. If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up – get right back on the horse the next day and recommence the study schedule.
2) Study pals
Motivation is one of the hardest aspects at staying focused, because studying is very much a marathon as opposed to a spring so pair up with a classmate who will also be taking the same test. You can push each other, helping each other remain motivated and of course explain any aspects that you cant grasp alone.
3) Keep your Eyes on the Prize
Remember what you’re in this for. You want to excel, you want to be the best you can be. If you have dreams of being a doctor, lawyer, academic etc you need to nail these tests. Visualize your future, this test is the next step to achieving those dreams
4) Baby Steps
If you feel like the task is overwhelming, take a deep breath and relax. Break up the content that you need to revise. You don’t need to attack ALL the content at once like a bull in a china shop, page by page, topic by topic. Bite sized chunks will get you there.
5) Breaks
Not even Einstein or Hawking can keep their brain on full power indefinitely. Don’t try to study forever, break it up into 45 minute chunks and reward yourself with breaks. Ideally during your 10 minute break, you’d want to get your blood flowing to increase the blood flow to the brain, so walking the dog or doing some push ups would be great.
Remember folks; don’t panic. Undoubtedly any upcoming test appears to the most important thing in the world, so do your best. But give yourself a break, there’ll be more tests in the future too. So relax, and it’ll increase your chances to excel.