Seven Steps To Staying Sane During Exams!
It's that dreaded time of year and we're coming up to exams – or are already in the heat of them – right now. Whether they are significant or scary or overwhelming or absolutely terror-inspiring, just remember that at the end of the day all you can do is to try your best. I know, all this sounds far easier in theory than in actual practise so, just to help you, here are seven simple steps to staying sane during this stressful challenge. All you need to maintain sanity and – *fingers crossed!* - achieve success is to remember to BREATHE: Balance, Rest & Revise, Eat, Act to Achieve, Team-up, Hope and Enjoy…
The first step towards sanity and success is Balance. Yes it is important to revise, but it is also essential to maintain a sense of balance in your life. Don't let exams end up consuming you. Don't let them rule your life and cause you to forget to socialise, have fun and relax. Yet, on the other hand, don't entirely forget about them either – they are imperative and will have an impact later in your life. So, armed with this, just remember to balance: balance your nerves and confidence, balance your work/social life, and balance your serious/fun demeanour.
Following on from this sense of balance is the essential duality of both acts of Rest and Revision. Learn to manage your revision timetable to ensure time for periods of revision and relaxation. Again, the key to success is in the balancing act in allowing enough time for each but just make sure that you remember that rest is just as crucial as revision. If you revise too much your brain will overload and you will end-up forgetting everything that you've just revised! Similarly, if you don't revise enough your brain won't contain the information and practice that it needs to achieve ultimate victory against those harsh exam papers!
Thirdly, remember to Eat. During exams we can become so stressed that we entirely forget to eat! Eating is essential to keeping your energy and inspiration levels up so that you can revise and sit those all-important exams! Yet even if you're not likely to actually forget to eat, just ensure that you eat extra healthily during the exam period. Ideally a balanced diet consisting of three regular meals and three snacks per day, with five portions of fruit and vegetables is a good start. But also essential is an indulgence in chocolate! Sweet treats are definitely not forbidden, they are necessary to cope with such a stressful time (but again, coming back to that quintessential balance, all in moderation)!
Next, remember to Act to Achieve. Sometimes, even if you're not feeling confident about a paper, or even if you're having a 'down-day', just "fake it 'til you make it"! Acting will often give you that confidence boost you need before the exams so remember to act positively – even if you don't feel it!
Then, Team-up…team up with friends and family to let them in on 'the-know'. Let them know how you're feeling, let them help you revise. Revise together, relax together, socialise and never isolate – or the stress and insanity will catch up with you! Teaming-up with friends can share the pressure; enable exchanging of resources and ideas; increase motivation and productivity; as well as ensuring social and friendly environment to surround you.
Hope. During this stressful and, often, negative period we forget to hope, we lose our morale and sense of positive thinking. So, just remember to hope – even if the exam seems as if it's been a total disaster, you'll never know for sure until you get the results so keep up your sense of hope and positivity.
Finally, Enjoy! Exams are an opportunity for you to show-off all your knowledge, to flaunt all those skills that you're acquired and perfected over the past years of your education so take this chance to boast and enjoy it! But even if you can't enjoy the actual exams, at least enjoy the amazing summer you've got ahead of – have the time of your life and celebrate!
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