Developing a balanced outlook about exams

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Developing a balanced outlook about exams

• Dr. Moira Peelo
• SLDC
• Furness College

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It is good to do well in exams

• But personal wellbeing matters as well
• Success in exams is easier to achieve if you
  treat yourself - mentally and physically - with
  respect
• A balanced life at exam time helps reduce stress
  and make life more fun

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So what is this balanced life?

• Diet
• Exercise
• Balanced day
• Working to a reasonable timetable

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Diet
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Diet?

• Try to eat regularly
• you dont have to become a great cook - many
  fresh foods are easy to prepare
• fruit is an easy breakfast meal - a bowl of soup
  and a bread roll at lunchtime doesnt have to be
  highly expensive

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So what are the dos and donts?

• Do try to eat at regular intervals
• Do drink water
• Do try to include fresh fruit and vegetables in
  your diet
• Do use meals as enjoyable breaks

• Dont go for long periods without eating
• Dont overdose on sugar and coffee/ tea
• Keep off the take-aways, they are expensive as
  well as unhealthy

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Is this really relevant to exams?
Preparing for an exam is like preparing for a
race - feeling physically good gives you a better
chance of achieving personal goals finishing in
a reasonable state
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Exercise

• If you already swim, play football, badminton,
  tennis, cycle or any other physical activity then
  DO NOT give it up entirely during exam time
• By all means cut back on the amount of time spent
  exercising, but make sure you do some kind of
  physical activity every day

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Why exercise?
You will get slow and sluggish if you sit inside
poring over books all the time. As time passes
you will study less effectively become more
stressed.
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If mobility is not possible for you...

• Make sure you have contrast breaks - i.e. 5 or
  10 minutes doing something completely different
• Contrast breaks can include listening to some
  music, watching 10 minutes of TV, watching people
  walk past, meditating.

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But if it is just that you are not a great
athlete...

• go for a walk round the block
• try running on the spot
• or shake your hands and arms
• ANYTHING - as long as you move about a bit!

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Plan a balanced day
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This means planning a day that...

• Enables you to work effectively
• Allows you to feel physically and mentally OK as
  well as to revise effectively
• Includes a variety of activities
• Allows time for breaks and for meals
• Has relaxation and work sensibly timetabled
• Sets attainable goals

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Planning a balanced day

• Try breaking your work into attainable goals -
  rather than having a general good intention to
  revise Megatronics today
• Try different revision techniques to add some
  variety to the day
• Break the day into sections - use meals as
  markers - instead of facing a whole day of
  revision

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Remember -

• If you spend days sitting in one room reading
  lecture notes and drinking coffee to stay awake -
  then dont be surprised if you start to feel
  nervous
• If you miss too many meals, have no variety in
  your days and stop talking to friends and family
  - then dont be surprised if you start to feel
  sluggish and slow

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A balanced day includes ...

• knowing when to stop work

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Working to a reasonable timetable
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Surely all timetables are reasonable?

• A common problem with timetables is that people
  just cram the number of topics into the days
  available and hope that will work
• A second common problem is that there is no room
  for flexibility built into timetables, for those
  days when revision does not go as you have planned

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Some timetabling thoughts

• Some topics will take you longer to revise than
  others - so allow them more time
• Play to your strengths - E.g. Do you read more
  happily in the morning? If so, timetable reading
  for the morning

• Different revision techniques require different
  amounts of time - so reflect this in your
  timetable
• Allow extra spaces in your timetable to use for
  difficult topics and if revision is not going as
  planned

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Manageable chunks

• A good timetable breaks the day into sections -
  morning, afternoon and evening
• Includes a range of activities - from learning
  material to planning an outline answer
• Allows space for relaxation and fresh air
• Be aware which topics are difficult for you -
  perhaps slot them between topics you enjoy more

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Reasonable timetables let you -

• Review
• Regroup
• Reward

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Review - what has been done, what needs to be
done?

• Start the week - map out what has to be done on
  each day
• The night before or in the morning - what has to
  be done?

• After revision sessions - what is left to do on
  that topic?
• End of the day end of the week - whats left on
  your list to do?

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Regroup - when the planned timetable is not
working

• Reviewing can lead to regrouping - this means
  that if your timetable is not working, rather
  than get depressed you reorganise your timetable.
• Regrouping is a sensible tactic, not a sign of
  failure.

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Reward yourself

• Allow yourself to have breaks
• Take short contrast breaks for 5 or 10 minutes
  - something non-academic such as music, TV,
  radio, meditation
• Go out to get some fresh air
• Change tasks - variety means including some
  activities that you like