It’s exam season in UK universities at the moment; it’s the Christmas for energy drink companies like Red Bull and Monster Energy when students are pulling all-nighters and frantically trying to cram anything and everything into their head and hoping it’s going to stay in there for the next few weeks until exams are over. Then, equilibrium can be restored and blissfully ignorant procrastination can return and PANIC! can take it’s backseat until the same time next year. But as you should be able to guess, this article is not just speculating about something we all already familiar with, it’s about grabbing the bull by the horns.

   I’m aware some of the messages in this blog may seem a bit old hat, but they do stand true nonetheless and they aren’t the atypical views that teachers and lecturers around the world recite annually with begrudged apathy. Rather than convincing you logically, I’ll just say:  if you don’t follow them: you’ll end up like this chap…

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And you don’t want that now, do you?

So, first things first:

1) Plan – Whether thats an extensive and intricate revision plan that dictates your every movement for 3 months prior to exams or whether it’s a few thoughts on how you are going to revise, it’s important. Thinking what you’re going to do outside and inside the exam hall mean success. It also leads onto my next point…

2) Do what you feel comfortable with – if you do want to make extensive plans, go for it. If you are more ad hoc, that’s still alright. Everybody has their preferred methods towards learning. Some people can’t do anything without the looming deadline to motivate them, some people like to avoid sunlight and do 6 hour revision days and some people like to make it up as they go along. They all have pros and cons but you can still do well whichever methods you adopt as long as you have a clear picture of how it’s working. These 2 things should then help you….

3) Relax! – This is something I see going to wolves when most of my friends get to exam season. They feel like they can’t do anything but work and learn and guilt compels them to do nothing but that. But that’s stressful! You need to relax! If you have a plan, and if you are in your comfort zone, you can approach revision and still have a life outside of it in which you can have fun. Because life’s too short to throw away time stressing, know what you’re doing and get your balance right and instead of the chap further up, you’re post-exam face will look like this: