5 Practical Ways To Deal With Your Exam Stress Today

Exam season is here, stress levels are starting to rise and time is moving fast. It’s normally around this time of the year where all students (university, A level or GCSE candidates) are preparing to undergo exams that hold significant importance.

With this in mind, we tend to stress about how much we haven’t done and how much little time we have left, however, this has to end today.

It’s time to utilise the time you have left wisely and become more productive.

1. Break down your revision

I cannot emphasise how important this first point is.

I used to go into exam season with a goal of just revising everything, without devising a plan on how to actually fulfil this aim. It’s essential that when you start revising, you break down your subjects into specific topics that you’re taught and then decide which topics you’re confident in and which topics you’re least confident in.

This will help, especially if you’re someone who tends to revise regularly but only revises things that you already know, instead of focusing on your weaknesses.

Moreover, this also cuts down the amount of content you need to learn, which will leave you less stressed as you won’t need to focus on everything at once, instead you can focus on specific areas that you may be not so confident in.

2. Devise a plan on when to revise

Once you’ve found the topics that you need to go over, you need to start scheduling a time to revise these areas. I used to break down all my subjects and know what I needed to revise but never made a consistent schedule as to when to revise these things.

I was always recommended to make a timetable, but I always use to feel like timetables were too structured for me, I didn’t like the idea of writing specific times for when to revise certain topics. However, that all changed when I realised that there is no specific way to make a timetable, you have to make your timetable in a way that caters to yourself and your comfortability.

I would suggest that you make yourself a timetable, in order for you to have a structure implemented into your revision, this way you can set specific goals for yourself and have a set formula for when you’re going to achieve these aims by.

However, if you are struggling to create a schedule, you can get a free WOM Weekly Planner by signing up to our newsletter via the bottom of our homepage

3. Sort out your sleeping pattern

This one really hits home.

It was only when I started A levels, I realised the importance of sleep, but even so, it’s still something I struggle with. Studies recommend students to sleep at least 8 hours every day during the exam season, in order to rebuild, rest and calm your mind.

I like to organise my sleeping pattern by actually creating time for sleep. Some of us may not schedule time to sleep, because we feel like we have a hundred other things to revise, not realising that once we become tired, our brain can’t actually digest any information we’re giving to ourselves.

The key to getting a good night sleep is to not overwork yourself. Set aside a specific time that you’re going to go to bed. Once you’ve set aside a specific bedtime, stick to it.

No matter how much revision you want to do, if your mind is telling you no and you start to become restless, it’s time to put down the pen and head to your bed. Your brain needs to rest in order for it to perform its best whilst you revise.

4. Don’t neglect your hobbies

Enjoy yourself.

Exam season can make us neglect the things we truly enjoy doing, which has a negative effect on us as those things are normally the things that keep us going.

Try and take some time out of revision to just breath and do something that makes you happy, whether that be playing a sport, writing songs or sleeping.

This will really help in calming you down and gaining peace of mind instead of worrying about exams, you shouldn’t allow exams to strip away your joy from you.

5. Get motivated

Yes, this is easier said than done. I realised that a lot of the time when I feel like not revising, the main factor that contributes to this feeling is lack of motivation.

However, It also came to my attention that I may be the person dragging myself down, which made me feel demotivated. I began to realise that I was only speaking negatively about exams, which made me feel even worse. I knew that I could do it, but I never wanted to believe it, because I would take a step back and look at how much I hadn’t done, instead of looking at how much I had accomplished.

I challenge you to start speaking positively in regards to your exams, you have the capability of doing extremely well, you just have to believe in yourself and persevere.

Think of one reason as to why you want to excel in your exams and keep that in mind, whether that be making your parents proud or getting into the top university. Use your reason to drive you forward into working as hard as you can and you’ll realise that you’ll be motivated to do even more revision than you thought you could do.

Zayanne Bako