As Summer dawns upon us, so does another season... Exam Season.
Though it should not be a time to fret and be in fear but an opportunity to seize and celebrate. (That sounded very corny... I know, but it is true). You should utilise this opportunity to showcase to your teachers and most importantly yourself all that you have learnt this year.
Remote learning has been difficult for a lot of us but now that the majority of us are back at school we should maximise the little time we have left and make the best use of our education. With exams approaching, the best thing we can do is prepare.
If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail!
I cannot stress this enough - planning is so useful! If you do not have a plan, then how do you know if you are using your time effectively? A plan is powerful in that it can arm you with a full scope of what your time will look like, whilst staying focused on your goals and meeting deadlines.
If you are serious about your goals, aspirations and your exam success, then you need to get serious about planning. It comes hand in hand. Dedicate an hour, 2 hours or a day if you need to... essentially however long it takes for you to come up with a detailed plan of how your time will be spent.
"1 hour? It only takes me 5 minutes to come up with a plan"
"A whole day to plan? You have got to be exaggerating?"
"Why are you putting so much stress onto a plan? I do not even plan and I am doing well in my studies"
These may be the type of thoughts that are bubbling in your head right now. But it is time to pop those bubbles.
Planning is important in that it narrows your goals and focuses it into a simplified action plan. Effective planning gives you a sense of direction, equipping you with a clear guide of the exact route to your goal. The key word is "effective"... as all is well spending a long period of time creating such extravagant plans if they are not practical.
To plan you must do the following:
1) Create a list of goals that you want to complete - e.g. revise topics XYZ in a subject or nail Paper 1 in another subject. In line with the theme of exam preparation, it’s perhaps most suitable to write a list of all the content you will be tested on and achieving your target grade is your goal.
2) Invest in a planner or utilise your school planner and plan out which content you want to tackle on and on which day. With your time frame in mind, make sure you have planned an appropriate amount of time to touch upon all the content. To define 'appropriate' - it is not an inadequate amount of work that it is clear that you are not pushing yourself far enough, neither is it a crazy amount of work, which is unhealthy and detrimental to your well-being. Sometimes you need to just cut yourself some slack!
3) Now become even more specific with your goals and be specific of which specific area of the subject you will tackle and when. By narrowing it down and giving yourself a specific time frame to do the task, you are essentially making yourself commit to something. Writing it down is you writing it into existence. Also, it is important to be specific with how you complete this task. Make sure you plan out whether the revision task is an exam paper in timed conditions, an essay plan, catching up on a specific lesson, researching more into an area you are not comfortable with, watching a video, making some flashcards etc. I think you get the idea... But make sure it is EFFECTIVE revision and studying. There is no point of fooling yourself and planning in time to reread notes, neglecting your weaker areas to study the topics you are more confident in or highlighting some notes. Simply, it is just a waste of time.
4) Plan some buffer times. This is extra time for you in a day for when something unexpected happens and when your day does not go according to plan. Perhaps one of your subject teachers gives you an extra piece of homework due for the next day. Maybe you have completely forgotten about a deadline and you need to make some time to complete it without sacrificing time dedicated to other tasks. Or it could be possible that you overestimated yourself and one particular task is proving to take longer than you anticipated. This is what the buffer time is for!
5) Finally, do not forget to schedule in breaks and rewards. You may want to maximise the time you have to achieve success in your exams. However, it is important not to do so in the expense of your health and well being. That is the most important thing here! Therefore, make sure to schedule enough breaks away from a screen and away from a desk. Go outside, have some fresh air, stretch or even go for a walk/run. If you continue preparing for exams without breaks, then this may cause negative effects on your health, like a decline in your mood. Instead, by planning in breaks, you allow your brain to become refreshed before studying any further. It allows your brain to take in what you have learnt instead of cramming in all the information. Breaks will help lift your mood. This is important as it will help conflate positive thoughts with studying and thus make studying something to look forward to instead of a burden. Also, plan in a reward - this could be daily, weekly or a long term goal. And it doesn’t even need to be a huge reward, it could be something as simple as watching an episode of your favourite show once you have completed all the tasks of the day. The reward will receive will be all the more sweeter, knowing you have been productive and you have truly earned it.
To reiterate, the power of planning cannot be stressed enough. If you still find it difficult to plan, sit down with a friend, family member or teacher and they can help you and guide you forward with your exam preparartion.
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