5 Top Tips for Exams
As the Leaving Cert starts today here are some top tips for success.
Exams can be intimidating, casting a shadow of stress over even the most prepared students. As the exam season approaches, it’s very normal to feel overwhelmed, stressed and anxious. Regardless, it’s important to remember that stress doesn’t have to define your exam experience nor hold you back. With the right mindset and strategies, you can navigate through this challenging period and emerge proud on the other side.
There are a range of things that you can do to help deal with the stress that you might be feeling...
Keep it in perspective
- Exams aren't everything. Whatever happens in your exams, you can still be successful regardless of their outcome afterwards. So if you don't do as well as you'd hoped, try to keep things in perspective.
- Employers don't just look at your exam scores. They're just as interested in your attitude, your transferable and practical skills and how well you'll get on with other people.
- Exam success doesn't define you as a person. Everyone copes differently in different situations and there's so much more to your personality than how well you can respond to an exam.
- Think about how far you've come already. You've already done incredibly well to get to university, and stopping or failing exams at this point isn't 'throwing away' your past success.
- Once you've done an exam, try to forget about it. There's nothing you can do about it, and worrying won't change your mark.
- Get that organised feeling
- Work out the basics: which exams you have, how the marks are allocated, and how much you have to learn for each one. Don't expect to learn everything; but having in mind where you'll get the marks can help you prioritise.
- Break your revision down into small chunks, and form a plan. Once you've got a plan, you won't have any more dilemmas at the start of the day about what to work on.
- Schedule in plenty of free time to unwind, and protect this time. Nobody can work all day every day. If you give yourself plenty of rest you can do the same amount of work in half the time or less.
- Equally, don't panic if you go slightly off schedule - tomorrow is another day.
- Get into some good habits that help you concentrate as well as reducing stress:
- Take frequent breaks. Psychotherapist & Psychologists say we can only concentrate properly for 30-45 minutes. You could use a technique like Pomodoro, that helps you to take regular breaks. When you do take a break make sure you don’t stay at your desk, you could go for a walk or even just make a cup of tea!
- Keep a good blood sugar level to avoid highs and lows of energy, by eating slow-release foods like sourdough or multi-grain bread, oat porridge, nuts (and nut butters) and vegetables. Find out more here.
- I hate to say it but drink lots of water. hydration is key!
- Think about when and where you work best. Are you a night owl or a morning bird and some people don’t find the library a productive place to work. There's no one best place or time to work - it's about what works for you and embracing it.
- Keep active. Exercising is one of the quickest and most effective ways to de-stress. Fresh air will clear your head and perk you up.
- Try to get about 8 hours' sleep a night. Sleep is critical and something you should nurture. Trouble with sleep why not try the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule.
- Find activities that help you relax. Maybe it's a hot bath, watching a TV show, or a creative activity. Schedule this down-time into your timetable.
- Avoid bad habits
Check out this interesting article on how NOT to cope with exam stress. Here are some highlights:
- Don't set yourself ridiculous goals. Nobody can revise 10 topics in a day!
- Don't cut out all the enjoyment from your life. It's tempting to decide you'll just knuckle down to work and "focus", but this is counterproductive.
- Avoid stimulants. Caffeine, alcohol and drugs impede your energy and concentration in the long term. It'll also make it more difficult to get that much-needed sleep.
- Get support from friends and family
- Don't be put off by friends saying that they are doing huge amounts of revision. As already mentioned, that's probably not actually a productive or efficient way of working long term. One of the key reasons people feel exam stress is due to comparing themselves to other people.
- If you can, discuss with your parents what they are expecting you to achieve. Parents with steep or unrealistic expectations will just add unnecessary pressure. It's helpful to let them know what you think you have the capacity to achieve, and to insist that the best way to get there is to have support from your parents, not pressure.
If you're feeling really worried or anxious, chat to a good friend, family member, or teacher. It helps to get it out of your system, and they may well be able to help think about practical strategies to deal with exam stress.