Exam Busting Top Tips

Exam Busting Top Tips

2nd May 2017 12:23 PM

Author: Richard Smith

This can be a particularly stressful time anyway, so the very least you can do is to help your body and your mind to perform to their best:

Sleep - your teenage brain is undergoing significant physical changes, as well as getting crammed full of new information, so give it time to rest. Try to build in at least 8 hours of quality sleep at night; maybe read a book last thing to distract your brain from all the vocab, formulae, quotes and equations; if you are on exam leave, a short 'power nap' in the afternoon has been shown to boost learning.

Water - keep hydrated. Energy drinks are not a good idea; perhaps if you need a boost in the morning, try a cup of tea or coffee, or even a banana (they take 37 minutes to work though, so eat them before you walk into the exam room!).

Balanced Diet - blah, blah, blah.... heard it all before? Maybe, but if Mo Farah wants to put in his best performance, fast food won't appear on his training plan. If you have a love of fried chicken or dream of burgers, perhaps on weekdays you could think carefully about what you eat - strike a balance between protein and carbohydrates, with some all important vitamins and minerals in there as well.

Revision - try to limit your time at a desk to about 45 minutes per session, followed by a 15 minute break before the next session. Walk outside, get some fresh air, stretch, breathe, have a drink of water or eat some fruit.

Exercise - why not build in some time to let off some steam? If you play a team sport, keep up with the matches and practices; they are a great chance to give your mind a break from the books. Even doing some gentle stretching or taking a walk around the block a couple of times a day will make a difference.

Social Media - now, hear me out here...is it worth investing a bit more time in your future? Think about those minutes and hours that you might usually spend on your phone; could they be put to better use, just for a few weeks? We're not talking about becoming a hermit and living in a cave...just thinking about short term investment of your time, for the long term gain of knowing you tried your very best, which is all that anyone can ever ask of you. What about the old Nokia brick in the drawer? Maybe it could trade places with your smartphone for a few weeks? You'll still be in contact with everyone, but those pesky cat videos won't distract you! Maybe you could even persuade your friends to have a bit of time off their screens as well; sell it to them as a group challenge?

Breathing - what? You're already doing that I hope! However, when you are sitting at a desk it's all too easy to just breathe with the top half of your chest, allowing stale air to get trapped in the bottom of your lungs. Try breathing lower down; your stomach will expand (only temporarily!) when you breathe using your diaphragm. Imagine all that fresh air getting into your lungs and boosting your brain's performance.

Exam Days - have a shower, try a short, cold blast just before you get out, which will certainly wake you up but will also stimulate your body and your brain. Get to the exam in plenty of time and focus on what you are going to do when you are in the room. Maybe you could avoid standing with the people boasting about how little revision they’ve done. After you have done your very best, it is a great idea to go and do something completely different; let off some steam - maybe go and get some exercise? Sitting around analysing the questions is very rarely helpful; you can't change your answers, so there is no point in worrying about them! Go and unwind instead...

Richard is a fully qualified talking therapist, offering a range of therapies including NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), CBH (Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy), Solution Focussed Counselling, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and BWRT (Brain Working Recursive Therapy). Richard works with people of all ages; however his background & his additional qualification in Paediatric Hypnotherapy enable him to work with children from 5-17yrs.

 

Tags: counselling, EFT, emotional freedom technique, exam stress, exams, Hypnotherapy, talking therapies

Treatments: Hypnotherapy, Counselling, Emotional Freedom Technique - Tapping (EFT)

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The views expressed in these blogs are those of the blog authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Bridge Centre for Natural Health.