How to survive revision/exam time

So, I was thinking to myself what I could write for freestyle week, and I was trying to work out what was going on with my life. Exams. That's what's going on. So I'm gonna give you a few hints and tips to get the study on!

Tidy room, tidy mind

When you're spending so much time, normally confined to one room whilst studying, having a messy room is not going to help at all! Even though you may not think, it's harder to concentrate when your in a messy/cluttered environment. I think that it's for two reasons. One, you probably don't feel as comfortable or at ease when your room is a tip, which is not going to help you at all. Two, it's a visual distraction. So try and stay on top of tidying/cleaning/laundry as much as possible.



Have breaks!


I know everyone always tells you to have breaks during revision, but it really is important. There's only so much your brain can handle! It's up to you how often you have them, and how long for, but I tend to go for 1 hour on, 15 minutes off (or sometime 2 hours on 30 minutes off), but it's about finding what's right for you.

Also, I would recommend having a separate room for studying/breaking if at all possible. This way you it stops you from being as tempted from checking facebook, watching a youtube video, or tumblring, if that's a bedroom thing, whilst your studying in the office say.

Work like clockwork


People always tell you it's important to wind down after a hard day of studying, which it is. Whether it's having a relaxing bath, reading a book or chilling in front on a tv, your brain needs a chance to process all the information you've bombarded it with, and slow down before attempting to sleep.

What people don't usually tell you is that you need to wind your brain up in the morning too. There's no way your brain's going to go from sleeping, to studying in an instant. Set yourself up for a good day by eating a nutritious breakfast (try and get both some fruit and protein in their is possible), have a shower and do something that gets you thinking, that isn't too hard (for example, I'll often have a go at a Sudoku puzzle, or play a brain training game). Trust me, your mind will thank you!


If it's all going wrong

Sometimes after yo're been revising for a while, your mind will just give up. It says "screw you", and then nothing will sink in. This just happens sometimes. You could go over the same paragraph over and over again and you wont understand a word of it. If this happens, just take 5 minutes out. Go and get yourself a drink, have a snack, go for a short walk. When you get to that point there's no use trying to push through out. It's a miracle what 5 minutes out can do.


Stay healthy!


Make sure you're getting your RDA's and if you struggle doing so take some vitamin/mineral tablets to give you a boost. Don't do caffeine. No seriously you might think it helps you in the short term, but it'll catch up with you already. Don't overdose on fatty/sugary foods because you'll end up feeling sluggish. Do some exercise, even if it's just a walk around the block, it'll get you heart pumping and also be a nice break from revision. Get plenty of sleep.






I'm not going to tell you not to cram


I'm not sure about all of your experiences, but whenever teachers told me revision techniques, they always told me not to cram the day of the exam. I disagree.
Don't get me wrong, I am not telling you to leave all your revision to the last minute, or infact that you have to go through your notes on the day of the exam. What I am saying is that it is okay to revise on the day of your exam if you want to. For me personally, I can memorize little chunks of information in the short term and by looking at my notes at the last minute can really help.
However this wont work for everyone. If you tend to get a lot of anxiety and tend to panic the day of an exam, I wouldn't recommend looking at your notes.


Okay, so that's it for my pearls of revision wisdom! Please take all of my tips with a pinch of salt however, as they are what works for me personally and different things work for different people.
I would encourage you to add any of your tips in the comments if you want :)

I hope everyones revision is going well, and good luck with exams! DFTBA!
Ali
xx