Dealing with stress around exams: Top study tips

ealing with stress around exams: Top study tips With exam season growing ever closer, it’s normal to feel stressed or worried under the pressure. I, myself, have actually taken the plunge back into exams and I am certainly feeling the buildup of stress and pressure. However, luckily for us, there are a range of techniques that we can put in place to help us get through those last few weeks before exams and I’ve cumulated all my top tips into one place.

Wednesday 30 March 2022

Dealing with stress around exams: Top study tips

First things first, lets have a look at your study technique over the next few weeks.

Create a daily timetable

The creation of a daily timetable before starting into revision, can be most advantageous. It can be used as a type of checklist ensuring that ever topic required will be covered and that you have the time to carry out all that will be necessary. A timetable can also help you reach optimised efficiency and productivity. It can cut time wasting wondering what topic to start, which in turn can make revision a bit more manageable.

Keep you timetable realistic and achievable

As much as a timetable can be a great aid when studying, if your plan is too full or if you try to fit everything into one day, you might end up overwhelming yourself, so much so that the timetable becomes counterproductive. Be realistic with your goal for each day.

Take regular breaks

Don’t be afraid to take breaks, your brain needs rest, or you’ll just gear yourself up for a burn out. Concentration cannot last for hours at a time. By including regular breaks throughout your day, you’re increasing your brain function and power.

Don’t compare yourself to others

These last few weeks are hard enough without comparing yourself to others. Thinking that everyone else is more prepared than you or doing better than you causes more stress than necessary. Focus on yourself, everyone studies in different ways and different places. Do what works for you. I think this is a good time to mention social media! With comparing and distraction, social media can be a key role in all of this. Use apps to block social media temporarily for periods of the day to cut out distractions.

Now let’s look at some tips that might help you relax and deal with feelings for anxiety:

Exercise

It sounds cliché, but the stats are right. Exercise can help relieve feelings of stress and release ‘happy’ endorphins. Boosting your activity can also be a good distraction from your stress and worries over revision.

Mini meditation

Take a minute to breathe and switch off. There are loads of videos online that will help. Even as much as five minutes of meditation a day can help relieve stress

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Rest and eat well

Everybody needs their rest and a nutritional diet to keep their mind functioning. Sleep and diet have a massive impact on your mindset.

Remember you’re not alone, if your feelings of unease remain, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Last but not least- Be kind to yourself! We tend to put more pressure on ourselves than anyone else. Try your best, start small to get into the process. When it comes down to studying, try to remember that to start, all you must do, is do something! It doesn’t matter how small the first step to getting stuck into your revision, the biggest step is starting- the Hare never won the race!

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