EXAM STRESS!! Well, not so much for the secondary students who have recently finished their MYEs. But for our tertiary level counterparts, the madness has only just started, with the prelims starting in about a month's time. To them, I wish the best of luck!
For those who are struggling to sit down and study for even 10 minutes, worry not! Here are some tips and tricks that you might want to try :) These are what work for me personally, so do not fret if they are not as effective! Modify them and see how you may alter them to fit your learning style.
Anon, this is for you!
Eat right
Eat in moderation. And no, this is not dieting advice. Your stomach distends when you eat and when you have eaten enough, the stretch receptors send messages to the brain to signal the feeling of satiation so you know to stop eating. That's also how tying the stomach helps to curb voracious appetites by deceiving the brain into thinking the stomach has stretched a lot when only a small amount of food has been consumed... But that's not the main point. The main point is that when the brain knows there is food in the stomach waiting to be digested, it directs more blood to the area to facilitate digestion. Less blood is readily available for your brain and hence you might find yourself feeling sleepy or tired after a meal. This is not good for revision because you will be needing energy to focus on your studying material, so eat light!
What I like to do is eat less more often, so I have a plate of snacks before me when I study. This keeps me satisfied and energized!
Set the mood
Prepare some candles and jazz music... Seriously. Not so much for the candles, but the jazz music is rather important. I like to listen to Careless Whisper while doing Math (in fact I'm listening to it right now to concentrate on this post) , so whatever jazz or classical music you have, take it out and listen to it! Try to choose the instrumental/minus one/karaoke version so you don't get distracted with singing along to the lyrics, but if you are a multi-tasker, whatever floats your boat! Studying tends to get boring if you don't have some noise in the background. It's almost like how you can go insane in the world's quietest room. The ear doesn't detect any sound and your brain starts wondering if you might be poisoned, or something to that effect. Of course, the room in which you study is never fully silent. There's the sound of your breath, the occasional wind... But you need something more than that. You need something that engages your ears but doesn't distract you. Loud noise therefore is of course discouraged, but non-invasive noise can help keep you focussed most of the time. Download a white noise app (designed for sleeping) and choose from a range of sounds to keep your ears satisfied. I use this app for studying and sleeping purposes. My favourite sounds for studying include the Tibetan Bowl, Amazon, Boat, and Clock.
Have a schedule
Plan your work according to blocks of time but don't get into the habit of following a strict timetable. Be spontaneous and plan your work, but be prepared for sudden setbacks that might disrupt the schedule. What I like to do is have a monthly and weekly schedule. I note all important dates on that particular month and make sure I am thoroughly prepared for that event. For my weekly schedule, I split them up to the days , even down to specific periods so I can prepare my materials in advance and know what to expect for the day. Every Sunday evening I plan my entire week and fill up my schedule wherever I know I will have work. Throughout the week I then fill in the rest when work comes in. I am not a big fan of surprises so getting to know how my day will look like makes me assured. Personally, I use Google Keep for my schedule. When I am tired of editing through my phone, I lie on my stomach and edit it through the laptop. Simple! It is the best app yet for scheduling.
Be organized
Before you start studying, place all the materials you need on your table. Organize them neatly so you do not have a hard time clearing the table later. For me, I have a "to be done" and "done" corner so I can mark my progress visually. Seeing my work stack up in the done corner also makes me happy and more motivated! It would also help to have a separate pencil case for your study room so that you do not need to take your pencil case in and out when doing work at home. Be sure to stock up on the stapler bullets and pencil leads! Those run out really quickly when you spend long hours in the study room. And you wouldn't want to be going in and out of your study room/ study area because the chances are that you might get distracted.
Use a pencil
I like to use my pencil when studying because it makes my side notes neater and the overall worksheet more pleasant to look at. I tend to write a lot when making notes so using a pen will make the sheet of paper look very 'content-heavy'. The lighter shade of a pencil to me is better for notes because it is less tiring to read.
Make mind maps
I am not a firm believer of mind maps. I don't encourage people to use it for everything, but occasionally it helps, especially when you have a large topic with many sub-units. A perfect example would be Organic Chemistry which I am studying now. For this particular topic, you can have separate mindmaps for Alkanes, Alkenes, Alcohols, Carboxylic Acids, Amines.. Basically whatever homologous series you might need to study. In this case, mind maps are great help to me because I get to have a summary of each sub-unit. Fill them up with definitions, reactions (and conditions!) and diagrams. Remember to use a pencil occasionally and always use coloured ink to make your notes more vibrant.
Use colour-coding
On the topic of coloured ink... We are blessed with the wonders of colour and their varying shades, so why not utilize them effectively? I like to use different colours to highlight information according to what I want to know about them. For example, when I do math, I use four different colours of highlighters. Yellow for the question numbers (to identify the thought-provoking questions), green for important workings, blue for formulas and pink for important calculator work. This makes revision easier because I know what to concentrate on. It is so important to be able to locate essential information quickly! You will be thankful when doing last-minute revision :)
Study in bulk
I know there are mixed opinions regarding this - whether to study different subjects in a day or to study just one subject a day, but my advice is this: on normal days, study a mixture of subjects. Just revise at your pace, whatever you are learning in school. During examination period though, study one or two subjects a day. Never go past two. This helps you focus entirely on the subject on hand. Along with the advice to have a schedule, start an examination schedule one and a half months before the start of your exams. This helps you get into the mood as well as become disciplined enough to revise your material.
You might have found cliche advice, but there's probably a reason why you see them around so much. Remember to mould the tips to fit yourself because you can't expect the tip to fit you naturally. You know yourself the best. Utilize them well!
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