First of all, let us announce that 5 days ago, we finally reached 1000 page views! We posted a photo on Instagram (follow us @fashionibble!), but we just wanted even more of you to see this just to show our appreciation to every single one of you! You've given us so much support and motivation to do better, and we can promise that there'll be even more posts in the future (and a huge haul during the summer, you'll know why later!), so be sure to keep checking! We love you all so so so much <3
We promised you a post on relieving exam stress, so here it is - a guide to calm yourself during those stressful weeks which determine your life or death...no pressure, of course. Just joking! I am by no means a professional at this, but I've read a fair share of revision tips, and some of these have been tested and proven to work (at least for me)! Follow these steps, and I can guarantee that you'll be less stressed (if not completely de-stressed) in time for your exams.
1. Identifying why you are stressed
The most important thing you have to keep in mind when trying to relieve stress, is why you are feeling stressed. The most common answer would be the vague answer: "exams", especially at this particular time of the year. However, think about the real reasons why: is it because you're afraid of not understanding the question? Is it because you are afraid you'll run out of time? Or is it because you're scared of a sudden brain-block? It's vital to identify and diagnose the real reason behind the stress before you try to relieve and 'solve' it.
Let's just use the above examples to show what I mean.
Not understanding the question
This means that you don't know the content well enough, or you don't know the style of the questions well enough. For subjects which require you to learn a lot of specific terms, such as biology and business, create a glossary and test yourself regularly so that you really understand the meaning. A good way to test yourself would be to use flash cards; write the word on one side and the definition or examples on the other side. There are two ways to use these, either read the word and recite the definition, or read the definition and find the word. I will elaborate on study tips later on...
Running out of time
This is sort of related to the first example. If you know your content well enough, you are more likely to spend less time reading and thinking of what to write, and more time on developing your points. Also, bring a watch with you to the exam so that you can keep track of time. You can estimate how long you should spend on a question (number of questions divided by duration of exam), however don't follow it strictly and only use it as a guide, because some answers come easier to you than other ones, so don't waste time on a question that you can answer quickly. Remember to switch off any alarms that the watch may have, because that may be considered cheating by some exam boards and could affect your grade!
Brain block
It's normal for everyone to have brain blocks once in a while - after all, we're not computers (and even computers lag sometimes too!). The only thing you can do when you are suffering from a case of total braindead-ness, is to take a deep breath and move on to the next question. Yoga instructors often tell you to take deep breaths because it calms your body, and the effect of adrenaline on your body will not be as strong. Most exam boards will allow you to bring a bottle of water with you, so take a small sip to refresh your mind. It's been scientifically proven that water can improve brain efficiency, particularly in memory and focus, so drink up (but not so much that you have to rush to the bathroom)! Don't spend too long on a question that you do not know, because you could be using that time to be answering questions that you do know the answer to. You can always go back to it later. Looking at a question with a fresh mind could help you see it differently, so that you can approach it with even more confidence.
Instead of bombarding you with a whole million-word essay, I'll stop right here for today's post. I'll try to post every day for the next week so that you don't have to read too much at once ;) This is part one of the 'Relieving Stress' series, so check our blog every day for more tips - don't panic if I skip a day, I haven't died from exams (yet).
Hope you enjoyed the post, I know it's a little different from what we usually do, but both C and I are actually on an "exams no-buy", so we don't have many new products to share with you guys.
Anyway, I hope these tips really help you out, comment below if there are any questions or specific requests! Good luck!
xx,
J
