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This post shows you how to prepare for your college exams – stress free.
College exams are probably some of the most stressful encounters you’ll have in college. They come a lot faster than you would expect, and professors usually run on the same schedule – meaning you’ll likely have more than one exam at a time.
With multiple exams, it gets really hard to figure out how to schedule your study time, let alone study efficiently and effectively during that time. Throughout my college career, I found that handling my stress first and foremost made the entire studying process a lot better. If I spent less time stressing, I could spend more time studying and getting a better grade on my exam.
In this post, I show you my best tips and tricks for beating exam stress. When these stress-relieving tips are integrated into your study routine, you’re able to have a much more productive, enriching study environment while preparing for your exams.
Here are 9 tips for beating exam stress.
Beating Exam Stress
Create a Study Schedule
Creating a study schedule, and sticking to it, is one of the best tips I can give you for preventing and beating exam stress.
To create a fantastic study schedule, read my blog post that gives you all the details here.
Maintain Your Sleep Schedule
When you’re under a lot of pressure and you feel like you need to stay up late every night to get everything done, really focus on prioritizing your sleep schedule. You can make so much more out of your study time if you’re awake and alert, meaning you’re not sleep deprived. I recommend getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, especially during this time. If you can, bump it up to nine! You will be shocked at how productive you’re able to be.
Memorize As You Learn
This stress managing tip is more preventative, rather than reactive. Taking time to really learn the material as you are taught it saves on cramming before an exam later. Other than creating and committing to a study schedule, this is the second most important tip in this post. By utilizing this technique, you can turn your usually crammed study sessions into just a quick review and a few flashcards.
Exercise
Exercise is a pretty unbeatable stress reliever. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to hit the gym, think of a 30 minute walk outside, or doing some stress relieving yoga in your dorm room. I really love taking my dog for a quick 15 minute walk when I take study breaks. This helps me re-strategize and re-focus, and allows me to have time to absorb what I had just studied.
Use Focus Enhancing Scents
Candles, essential oils, and room sprays can all be beneficial when studying. I really like setting up my essential oil diffuser or lighting a candle to help get myself into a productive mindset. I keep a specific candle at my study desk, so I naturally associate that smell with productivity and calmness.
Take Scheduled Breaks
As a general rule, you should be taking a 5-15 minute break once every hour, and then a half an hour long break once every 2-4 hours. I like to plan something I enjoy doing for my breaks. This includes healthy snacks that I can look forward to, a walk outside, or calling a friend for a quick chat.
Set A Timer
If getting started on a long study session is something that is harder for you, consider setting a timer for 5-10 minutes. When the timer is up, force yourself to start studying. Spend the next 30-40 minutes studying, without doing anything else, until your timer goes off again. Then, set the timer for your break, and repeat. Setting a timer can really help hold yourself accountable, and help you out with procrastination problems.
Eat Well
Just like sleeping and exercising, it’s important to be eating well during exam preparation time. Make sure that you are eating 3 balanced meals, plus nutritious snacks. It’s tempting to order pizza to your study room or buy food out of the vending machines, but you aren’t doing your mind or body any favors. Eating nourishing food during this time and taking care of your general well-being is key to productively studying.
Create A Dedicated, Enriching, Study Space
Create a study space that is dedicated purely to studying. Make sure that you are always productive in this space, and that you surround yourself with productive materials. This space can be somewhere on your campus, or just at your desk in your dorm room or apartment. Make sure that this space is distraction-free, and allows you to be as productive as possible.
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