Separate the place you study from the place you sleep, eat, rest.
You may find this weird but is a technique that works well. Make sure you study on a desk: don’t try and revise on your bed you will just fall asleep. This is not only because revising on a desk will also help you get ready for when you sit your exam, but also because your mind is programmed to rest on your bed and not study, and therefore you are inclined to feel tired whilst revising on your bed then on a desk. So the tip is make sure you find a clear desk to revise on.
Mind set: You’ve probably been told time and time again that to pass your exams you need to have the right mind set! This is infact right - you have to want to learn and pass your exams in order to actually achieve this. This means not lying to yourself, for example saying that you can focus revising whilst watching TV or playing X-Box, or that you will revise with your friends when in fact you know that you’ll only end up chatting away with them! Having the right mind set means being able to priorities certain aspects in life over other events, so writing up coursework on time instead of going to a friend’s party and then later writing up the coursework when your half asleep and going to class the next morning restless.
You also need to train yourself to be able to ignore distractions, this includes your phone and any other device that could distract. Trust me I know its hard to let your phone go but just think of it as a few months then you can rest and you don’t need to touch another book until you reach Sixthform/College. If you need a phone for after school to call someone you could always buy a cheep phone that has no apps, or if your strong minded you can use your usually phone and just but it on airplane mode after you’ve reached home safely.
Just Reading:
DON’T just read. I’m pretty sure everyone has done this before, where you open a book and just read it without actually understand what the words really mean - you’re just wasting time as you won’t learn anything - you need to write down notes and properly revise them. Underline words you don't understand and find it’s meaning using a dictionary. If you don't understand a certain study using one book don't be afraid of using other books or even the magnificent google which will explain the study in various ways.
Right books: Many people, as well as myself, buy many books to revise from but when it comes to revising I would only use 1 or 2 of them. In this case ask your teachers for advice on what books to get. Your teachers and tutors would have used some of them to extract certain questions to use in class and experienced teachers/tutors would be able to know which book are more effective for different leveled learners and learning styles.
Food: Depending on who you are, your diet can change in stressful times, so make sure you look after your diet as too much or too little can affect how you revise. So make sure you have a balanced diet and drink lots and lots of water to keep your body and brain hydrated. Also certain foods may benefit you better then others during stressful times such as nuts and eggs. Don’t starve yourself as you wont be able to focus - your body will be just to hungry. With that said don’t treat your body as a rubbish pit, it’ll only make you feel really bad, upset your stomach, make you unhealthy and even cause you more stress with a spotty face as fatty foods can do this!
Plan: Make yourself a revision planner which will help you split your precious time between lesson time and revision, exercise, and social time. If you do this at the beginning of the year then you won't have to cram all your studies last minute, lose out on your social time, and ruin your health. Without being able to set yourself time to revise and separating that from your social time, you will only pressurise yourself and this will most definitely affect the way you perform in your exams. Don't worry if you start to do this mid-way into your course, the sooner the better, and it will help you understand how long you have till your exams, how much time you have to get work done and how you will be able to get all of it done within time.
Hope the above is helpful! Please do comment below your questions, suggestions and any ideas you have for future blogs
Commentaires