REVISION STUDY TIPS

How to make your revision awesome and productive

1. The first and most important task of all is create a personal home study timetable. You would not drive to a new destination without a map! Your timetable will help you achieve the goals you set for each subject.

2. When creating your timetable start with topics that you find most challenging, break them into bite size chunks. It’s easier to learn that way.

3. Have all the resources you need close at hand. It’s a real concentration buster if you have to leave your desk and go looking for a particular book or need to call a friend to borrow it.

4. How do you learn? Do you need visual images, colours, videos – include the specific aid in your study resources.

5. Because everyone is different, think about the best time of the day for you to revise. When do you think you learn best? Is it in the early morning when it’s very quiet, in the afternoon or late evening? Know what works for you.

6. Take some exercise, before, during and even after your revision. The choice is yours. You do not necessarily need to go to the gym to work out or swim but, can also exercise indoors, using your favourite exercise program on You Tube or a program you have designed yourself (press ups, breathing exercises, jumping jacks etc).

7. Listen to music while revising – it is a powerful aid to concentration particularly if it is music you have an affinity to, for example, classical, Japanese, opera. It also makes you feel good about what you are revising.

8. Drink water! Lots of it because it aerates the brain and helps with the retention of facts.

9. Feed your brain. Choose healthy snacks such as carrot sticks, cucumber, and eat lots of fruit.

10. When you go to bed try to have a good night’s sleep and enough of it.

11. Start your revision in good time, two to three months prior to your exams and avoid last minute cramming.

12. You have heard the phrase “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Factor fun into your day. This can be watching a comedy program, or meeting your friends to play sports. Anything that will lift your spirits, make you laugh and feel good about yourself and the studying you are about to do. You will be far more productive.

13. Equipment. Sharpen pencils, have at hand highlighters and pens that work, an exercise book or notepad to jot down those essential fact. It’s a good idea to have one notebook for each subject.

14. Mind-map if you know how. It’s a very powerful tool for the memory.

15. Location. In the summer months some students like to revise outdoors during the day, in a quiet area in the garden, or even in the park. Those who study early in the morning tend to choose their bedroom or an area in the house where they find it easy to concentrate. Whichever, there is power in “sitting at the same place, at the same time” each day. You are training your brain to be ready to absorb information at this specific time and in this specific place.

16. If you find you are studying a topic and get stuck or cannot assimilate the information. Walk away from it for a few minutes – do something completely different and then return. You will find that you look at the problem differently- a lightbulb will “switch on” and you are likely to find the solution. It could also be that your brain is telling you that you need a break. Take a cat-nap. You must however be disciplined and not make the cat-nap a 3 – hour sleep. Set your alarm. Feeling refreshed you will be much more productive.

17. This may seem obvious but, SWITCH off your mobile phone the moment you start your revision.
18. Some people prefer to study in a cool rather than hot room. Know your preference and ensure that the conditions are right for you.