I know from experience, that exam time can be super stressful and exhausting, so I've come up with a bunch of ways to help when it comes to being prepared for your exams and keeping the stress level as low as possible!
If you have any tips of your own, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them through to me and I'll post them, because obviously these are not going to work for everybody, because we all learn in different ways. But here are the ones that really help me, hopefully they can be helpful to you too!
Get plenty of sleep:
This is essential, especially during your exam time. In order to be able to concentrate and perform your best in the exam, you need to be well rested and refreshed. I have made the mistake too many times too stay up late studying the night before (big no no!) and have been so tired the next day that I totally flunked my exam. Cramming some extra study the night before instead of sleeping will do very little! This may work for some of you, but in my opinion, this is unhealthy and useless. Make sure you get a good rest so you are ready for your test the next day!
Start studying early:
I know this is a pain, and takes a lot of motivation, but it's worth it. If you want to do well in your exam, starting to study a couple days before (or the day before), is not a good decision. Take notes throughout the year, so that when it comes to exam time, you've got all you're notes together and ready for summarising.
Then, if you have 10 pages of notes (just an example), try to summarise it into 5 pages, and then from there summarise into 3 and then 1. Obviously don't do this all in the space of a few days. Spread it out, revise and summarise again. This is SO good for exams and remembering your notes!
Ask questions:
This is something that you should be doing all throughout the year, but especially closer to exams. Weeks before the exam date, go through your notes from the year and pick out all the topics and things that you don't understand, and take that list to your teacher. Don't wait until the week before, because remember that you still need time to revise and study that new information.
Pace yourself:
This one ties in with starting to study early.
Don't over work yourself, take breaks and stop when you know you're tired and have already done a lot of study. Study effectively! Just because you have studied for 4 hours everyday all year, doesn't mean you're going to get 100% on the exam. Make sure your study is actually making a difference, and that it's not just leaving your brain the second you stop studying.
Snack healthy:
In order to stay focused and awake while your studying, stay away from the unhealthy foods like chips and biscuits. Try to opt for milk, fruit, whole grains and seafood.
Also, energy drinks and caffeine aren't good in the long run, so try to steer away from them and get your energy from an apple or a banana.
