Exams can be stressful, but one way to make sure you feel confident is to make the most of your revision time. The following tips will help you maximise your revision time.
Manage your time: Creating a revision calendar will really help you during your exams. If there are particular subjects you find more difficult than others, then a timetable or calendar makes sure that you plan out how much time you need to spend on each. Allotting specific times for each revision session will help you become more disciplined when it comes to studying too.
Practise planning questions: A useful exercise is to plan out exactly what topics you want to include in your answer. You only need to write bullet points, but these will help you plan out how you’re going to answer the question. This will also help to make sure that you’ve covered all the topics that you feel are important to answer the question to the fullest possible extent.
Practise previous exams: Practise answering previous exam questions. When you do this you should also set a limit on the time you have to answer the question. Doing this will help you to develop skills when performing against the clock.
Turn off your TV and phone: It’s easy to be distracted when revising. Make sure you turn off your phone and the TV. Both can really stop you from being productive. Whatever emails, texts or phone calls you receive can be answered after you’ve revised.
Don’t get distracted online: The internet can be a great resource for learning. However, it can also become a distraction. Use a tool like StayFocusd to block any websites that don’t actually help you learn. You can block sites for a specific amount of time so instead of looking at Facebook or Twitter you can actually concentrate on learning what you need for your exams.
Get a good night’s sleep each night: It can be tempting to cram revision into one long session the night before an exam, but without a good night’s sleep you really won’t be at your best for your exams. Make sure you get enough rest throughout your revision. You’ll be far more alert and in a much better position to answer the questions during your exam.
Avoid Revision Frenemies: Whilst it’s great to have a study buddy, sometimes your best friends can be your worst enemies when it comes to revision. If your bestie just isn’t that enthusiastic about revising, don’t let their bad habits rub off on you. It’s great to have friends to offload your stresses and setbacks to, but if someone is constantly distracting you, it might be a good idea to keep your plans on hold with them until exam time is over.
Take productive breaks: We all need to take a break from revision and reward ourselves. But some activities can be big drains on revision time. It’s easy to start playing on your PS4 and then wonder where the last five hours went, or start watching something on Netflix and end up watching the whole season. Pick activities that have a clear defined time period instead, like going for a half hour jog, or making yourself something really delicious to eat.
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