Study Tips to help you Conquer your exams with Confidence!

The big moment has arrived, it’s exam day, and now is your chance to shine! It’s normal to feel stressed about exams. Stress is your body’s natural response to pressure and it can help you focus and feel motivated to get things done. Don’t let your hard work go to waste by letting your nerves get the better of you. We’ve partnered with Belinda Campher, Mental Health Occupational Therapist, Founder of WiseMind Workshops & Manager of Akeso George, to give you a set of skills to take on your exams with confidence.

WISE tips whilst preparing for the exams:

Evaluate your expectations and do not compare yourself with others!

It is important to check in with ourselves to evaluate our expectations. In most cases, if you are pressuring yourself to be perfect, it may hinder your ability to actually perform well. This is because stress often feeds off of unrealistic expectations and pressure. Try not to worry about how others are preparing for exams and focus on what you can do.

You might think that other people are doing better, revising more or just not stressing as much. But we’re all different and that’s okay.

Take breaks and get proper sleep!

Pulling all-nighters and studying for hours on end can do more harm than good. As you plan out your study sessions, be sure to include breaks. If you are not sure where to begin, follow the Pomodoro technique for time management:

• Set a timer for 25 minutes to focus on one task.
• When the timer goes off, take a 5 minute break to walk around, grab a snack or chat with a friend or family member.
• Repeat this cycle three more times.
• After you have completed all four rounds, take a 30-minute break to refresh.

This method of studying is a very helpful way to ensure you focus on one task at a time. The short, frequent, built-in breaks provide the opportunity to stay hydrated, eat healthy snacks, connect with others and give your brain a break! Also ensure that you sleep for proper hours, your mind will be more active during the hours you are awake!

Listen to your body and be kind to yourself!

While preparing for your final exams it is important to really listen to your body and make sure that all of your basic needs are being met. You can do this by using the HALT method:

H – Are you HUNGRY?
A – Are you ANGRY?
L – Are you LONELY?
T – Are you TIRED?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you have to address those needs first. When our basic needs go unmet, studying will be more difficult and we may be left unmotivated, unable to focus and prone to lash out towards friends or family. Therefore it is good practice to check in with yourself regularly, especially in times of high stress when it may be easier to forget the basics.

Keep your smartphone SHUT!

When it comes to distractions, nothing compares to a smartphone! Our WhatsApp keeps buzzing, we have Instagram notifications and we need to check who liked our story or retweeted a tweet! We spent hours on the phone without even realizing it. Putting your phone on Do-Not-Disturb mode will save you time, increase your focus and enable you to utilize your study time in much more efficient ways.

Have a (flexible) plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail! Carefully plan your study hours during the time when you feel most active. Some of us are early birds whilst others are night owls. So, it is a good idea to experiment with different schedules and finally stick to a plan that works best for you. Though it is important to stick to a schedule, there will be times when unforeseen things come up. That is where the room for flexibility comes in. Make your plan flexible enough to make up for the lost time or something additional in the syllabus.

BONUS TIP:

“Eat a frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain

We all face a subject/part of the syllabus that we hate or struggle with. That hated subject/part of the work is your frog. If you finish a bit of the frog first thing every day, you will feel comfortable and less stressed for the rest of the day!

WISE tips for the day of the exam:

Stay calm – you’ve got this!

Try your best to enter the exam room calmly. You may want to do some simple relaxation and breathing exercises to calm your nerves. Think positively, see the exam as a challenge, not a threat.

Read the question properly

Take your time, and make sure you read the instructions and questions carefully. Re-read each question so that you understand exactly what you must do, underlining or highlighting key information in the question that you need to answer.

Keep an eye on the clock

Once you’re clear on the questions you’ll be answering, plan your time. Write down what time you’ll begin each section or question and remember to leave enough time to proofread your paper. Check
the clock after every couple of questions – this will help ensure that you leave yourself enough time to
answer every question.

Your exam, your order

Tackle the exam in whichever order works for you. There is no rule that says you must complete the paper in chronological order. Find your quick wins (topics you know inside out), then you’ll have more time to focus on the trickier questions. If your mind goes blank – put your pen down, take a deep breath and relax for a moment. If nothing comes to you, skip it and regain confidence by answering a different question first. Remember you can always come back to it.

BONUS TIP:

Bring your stress levels down by remembering that your grades are not a reflection of your value or self-worth. How you do on one single paper won’t determine the rest of your life. Things may feel difficult or overwhelming in the moment, but you WILL get through it, it is temporary and it will pass.

WISE tips to follow after your exam:

Once the exam is finished, forget about it.

Don’t keep re-living the exam once it’s over. Comparing answers on social media, or with your friends won’t help in any way. You’ve done your best and can’t change anything now. Time to celebrate small victories and reward yourself!

It might be tempting to dive straight back into your revision notes for the next exam, but it’s important to give your brain a break. Reward yourself by doing something non-exam related.

BONUS TIP:

Think about the hiking of Mount Kilimanjaro; it is not easy and can even be uncomfortable but the pleasure comes when you begin to see the view from height, feel the fresh air and when you reach the destination you get a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Focus on the outcome and not the struggle to get there!