It’s that time of year again where a lot of people end up
locked in a room, forcing themselves to study. I’m one of those people. But
after being in this position for over 9 years now, I’ve learnt a few tips and
want to help those out there who may be struggling.
Work out a timetable
If you know the dates of your exams use this as a starting point
to work out how many days/weeks/months you’ve got to revise. Then budget this
time out to cover all the topics in the exam. Try not to leave everything till
the last minute, cram revision doesn’t suit everyone and may make you panic
more than prepare you.
Just remember not to push yourself too hard and budget for
breaks, exercise, making food, seeing friends etc. Yes you may have to cut back
on fun time for a little while to make sure you pass, but don’t cut all the fun
out of your diary.
Find the right time/surroundings to revise
Some people revise better first thing in the morning, some
last thing at night. Some prefer silence, whereas some people prefer some
background noise. No two people are alike so find what suits you. If you’re
uncomfortable or there are too many distractions you would work as hard as you
may need to.
I can’t revise unless I’m fully awake, feel clean (I have to
shower and wash my hair to be comfortable), have the TV/radio on in the
background, and have put my phone on silent and removed it from the area I’m
in. If I’m doing paper revision I remove my laptop too so I don’t get
distracted. When I was at uni and was struggling to keep myself concentrated on
my assignments I ended up blocking all non-educational sites from my website.
Make notes
Start by making notes of the key facts/points/formulas you
need to remember. Spider diagrams are a great way to do this. Don’t worry if on
your first attempt at looking at a topic you write down hundreds of key points.
Writing things down is more likely to make things stick in your mind than just
reading it. Over time test yourself to see how many of the key points you can
remember, re-write the ones you can’t remember and repeat the process. They
should all be memorable after a few attempts.
Highlighters are a great way of adding more depth to your notes, colour coding related points or topics and making extra important stuff easy to spot.
Practice with past papers
Many exam boards provide past papers and there answers for
students to look out. If you can get access to some use these to familiarise
yourself with how questions are written and what the exam answers are you’ll be
more relaxed and confident on the day. You may even be lucky and find some of
the exam questions you’ve practiced come up again.
I’ve found with some of my accountancy exams that the
questions given to me in the college textbooks are completely different in the
way they’re structured and what they ask for to what the exam board questions
are. For one of my last exams I didn’t look at any past exams, only used
college books and was panicking because I thought they were really hard and I
was convinced I was going to fail. On the day, the exam questions were much
more comfortable to work from and I ended up passing.
Food and drink
Like anything, it’s important to keep your body energised
and hydrated whilst you’re studying. Avoid eating a big meal and studying at the
same time. Use your lunch/dinner times as a break time, but keep by you a bowl
of fruit, or sweets that you can munch on as and when you feel the need. Make
sure you remember to keep drinking water too.
Ask for help
If you don’t understand something, don’t suffer in silence.
Ask for help. It doesn’t have to be your teacher, ask your friends or family if
they can help. Check out forums online to see if there’s anyone else having
similar problems. If you’re really struggling see if you can find a personal
tutor to explain things.
I’ve found that some of my accountancy exams didn’t make
sense when I tried to work it out myself, or when my college teacher explained
it. My boss sat me down one day and taught me the theory, applied it to
something I was doing it in my job and all of a sudden I understood it
completely. Sometimes a new voice telling you something is all you need.
Relax
I must admit, I’m the worst person for doing this, but it’s
important not to panic. The more you panic the more stressed you’ll become.
Take a few deep breaths whenever you feel yourself getting worked up, walk away
from what you’re doing if you have to, and just remember it’s pointless getting
stressed.
From my experience, being stressed tends to make you less
likely to remember things and preoccupies your mind in the exam making it
harder to find the information you need. It can also lead to a very negative
outlook before you’ve even sat the exam, which doesn’t help.
It can be hard to remain positive and relaxed if you’re a natural
born worrier, like I am. But just remind yourself why you’re doing this and how
good you’ll feel when it’s all over.
Good luck all, I hope it does well.