I know this a topic that a lot of people rather not think about, but seen as I am bang in the middle of my uni exams I thought I would share a few things I do to keep me going. I've had my fair share of exams and I am at no means implying that I get top grades in all my exams - because I don't. But I've always done subjects that have a lot of exams and now that I am in uni I know what my personal technique is. I know that a lot of people struggle with getting started so I thought I'd share how I stay organised and make revision a little less boring.
1) Make a plan
Nothing is more frustraing than realising 1 week before your exam that you still have topics to cover. To ensure that you cover absolutely everything you need to, make a plan, and make it early. Have a look at your course's specification or the contents page of the recommended study book. You can always look at past exam papers to find the topics - but don't fall into the trap of thinking ' this topic won't come up this year because they came up last year', it's not worth the risk unless your tutor/teacher has told you otherwise. Make your plan realistic and ideally at least 3 months beforehand.
2) Set MINI targets
I emphasized on mini because you're more likely to complete little targets than one big one. Even if it's something like 'read 4 pages before dinner'. If it's small and achievable it won't seem so daunting and loads of little targets will get the work covered.Try setting deadlines to complete certain tasks and be strict so you don't start slacking. Put PostIt notes and use bright colours to make notices around your room to remind yourself to complete these tasks - this way you have no excuse to forget!
3) Get stationary crazy
My favourite part of preparing for exam season is going out and buying bright highlighters and funky PostIt notes. I'm quite bad at picking out the key points because I worry I'll miss out on important information, so I tend to write blocks of writing in black and highlight and underline in colours to make it easy for me to understand. I also like sticking PostIt notes to jot down some hints and things to remember.
4) Get a whiteboard
One of the best revision investment I've made is my little whiteboard. It is only slightlty bigger than an A3 sheet of paper but it has been super handy. I will write down tasks to complete for that day or week and then rub it off as I complete them- you feel amazing when there's only one or two things left to do. Once I finished my lectures for the year, and was essentially on study leave, I decided to make a weekly timetable with the subjects I'll cover on that day and the time I'll try to spend on each.
5) Create your own revision book
For 2 of my subjects I decieded to dedicate a whole notebook to each. This made it easy to keep all my notes and work together and was super easy when it came to reading back through it. It's also good for travelling as you have everything you need with you.
I hope this has helped you this exam season. If you have any tips or tricks then jot them down in the comments below, I'd love to hear what you do.
Good luck in your exams!
