Easter Revision Tips
It’s Easter break and you’ve got three weeks off to relax, spend time with family and friends, and not worry about coursework. Right?
Unfortunately, that’s not entirely the case. While you may not be attending lectures, the Easter holiday provides an opportunity for you to revise what you’ve learned, uninterrupted, to ensure you receive the highest marks.
Make a Timetable
It’s important to be organised and make a timetable in order to use your time most efficiently. First, identify what you need to revise. Be specific about each topic instead of just jotting down Maths or English. Break each exam down into subcategories that you need to know and go from there.
Take into consideration the amount of time you have before exams and how well you know each subject. If you are stronger in a certain area, it makes sense to allocate less time to it and more to one you are struggling in. However, don’t negate revising a topic because you feel confident in it. It’s still important to spend some amount of time ensuring you have a complete understanding of the content.
Create a Good Environment
When you are revising, it’s important to stay focused. Minimise distractions by creating a workspace that inspires productivity. For some, this might be leaving your home to go to a library or cafe. For others, creating a study space at home works best.
When studying at home, keep your surroundings organised. It’s much harder to focus in a dirty room with a cluttered desk. If you’re in your room, have a quick tidy before sitting at your desk. If the idea of cleaning sounds too daunting, just do the little things. Make your bed, throw out any food and rubbish, and pile the clothes on your floor into a corner that you can’t see. Do what works for you.
Have all of your stationary, textbooks, notes, and anything else you might need readily available and within hands reach. Pour yourself some water and a cuppa and get to work.
Be Healthy and Take Breaks
Use all the additional time you have not sitting in lectures to take care of your physical and mental health. Cook good meals, drink water, and get an apt amount of sleep. Stay physically active by taking walks or meeting up for some afternoon footie with your friends. What’s important is creating a healthy balance between mind and body. Revising takes a lot of mental strength. Take a few hours off every day and take a couple of days off entirely where you aren’t worrying and stressing about your exams. It may seem counter-productive but you are working your brain for multiple hours a day and, like any other muscle, it needs rest.
Like everything else, schedule your breaks so you don’t feel tempted to take too much time off. A good schedule to follow is the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro technique is a time management system that allows you to most effectively use the time you have. This is a ‘fifty on, ten off’ technique which is a fancy way of saying you revise for fifty minutes and then take a break for ten. You can customise this to what works best for you. For example, thirty minutes studying followed by a five minute break.
Understand How You Learn
Everybody retains information differently. Do some research and find the methods that work best for you. This can also depend on the style of content you are revising. Do flashcards work best? Reading what you’re learning out loud? Having a friend or family member test you? Or perhaps a combination of all? There are a plethora of learning methods that could prove beneficial for you.
There is a lot of content to cover and revise over your Easter holiday. As long as you properly manage your time and use that time effectively, it is manageable.
Good luck!
