Survival Guide for Exams

As much as I love school there is one part which severely reduces that love and that is exams. In my 19, almost 20 (aaaahhh) years of living I have been through my fair share of exams, and what is becoming increasingly obvious to me is that exams only get harder with time, not easier. It would have to be said that I do not cope that well with stress or pressure, so therefore I have to compensate for this by following a set choices in order to survive exams and the build up to them. I hope therefore that this quick overview of tips and tricks will help some of you who are also going through the inevitable stress of exams.

Schedule – the importance of scheduling your time cannot be overstated, and is something that I used to be horrendous at doing. As I have got older, and hopefully wiser, I have made scheduling my time my first priority in the lead up to an exam period. There are clearly several ways that you can do this, but how I ensure that I dedicate enough time to revision and preparation is firstly by making myself aware of all I need to know for the exams. That sounds obvious, but it is amazing how the simplest information is often what we forget. Whilst it would be optimistic to think that you could revise nine hours a day every day, this is not realistic, and it also isn’t healthy. By scheduling your time and assigning yourself specific tasks or topics for specific days, it will become much easier to balance yourself.

Balance – the work, play balance is something that I continue to struggle with, and especially when it comes to revision for exams. When all you want to do is watch that extra episode of Scandal, or go for drinks with your friends, or simply just have those few more hours in bed in morning, it is extremely difficult not to give into yourself. The way I see it is that hard work deserves rewards, so therefore if you work throughout the day, give yourself the evening to do what you want to do. Nobody can be expected to work all the time!

Discipline – the only way to manage a balance of time and a schedule is with self discipline. Particularly as I am getting older, and I don’t live at home anymore, I no longer have my parents or my teachers monitoring how much I am working. I now have to be strict with myself, and discipline myself to stick to the plans that I put in place. It sounds so cliché to say, but at the end of the day, the marks you get in your exams are as result of the work you put in. The only one who will be punished for not being disciplined is you, and for me that is what motivates me.

Motivation – when it feels like you've been reading the same paragraph for the last 2 hours, it can be difficult to stay motivated. All of my favourite ways to stay motivated involve taking a small break and taking 5 or so minutes just to chill, let my brain rest. Recently I have been watching Anna Kendrick and Jonah Hill interviews in my breaks, because they have both become two of my favourite people. Another way I love to motivate myself is by negotiating with myself, for example if I can get through this chapter, I can afford a caramel macchiato break. During exams, Starbucks becomes my best friend.

Nothing here is particularly revolutionary, or something you will never have heard before, but they are all things that help me prepare and keep calm during the hell that are exams. What I always have to keep in mind is that by over-stressing and by putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself, I am only hindering my own chances of doing well. To conclude, be organised, take breaks and use your own potential success as a continuous incentive!

Thank you all so much for reading, and to anyone who is taking exams at the moment or in the future, good luck!!

B xx