First of all: Happy new year, may this be the most wonderful year ever!
Secondly: In this post, I wanted to talk about studying on stressful and bad days and give you some of my tips how to survive these.
I’m pretty sure we all know these days where the to do list just seems too long and you’re all stressed out about this test in a few days.
This probably makes it incredibly hard to focus. But it is possible to be productive on these days, ‘cause there are exams to prepare for and let’s be honest, exams do not care about how you feel.
Here is my 5-step plan what to do in this situation.
(Keep in mind that this may not work for everybody, because everyone works differently. But hey, can’t be bad to try it out, can it?)
1st step: Go outside for around 10 minutes, breathe and take a break.
I already mentioned in one of my previous posts how important oxygen for our brain is. So go outside and get some fresh oxygen in your lungs. Taking breaks is also very important and if you come inside again you can start on your work with a clear(er) mind.
2nd step: Cut off your to do list to three things.
It’s extremely important that you prioritize your tasks. You can’t do all the things on your 35 points-long to do list, especially if you’re not feeling well. And that’s perfectly okay.
So, cut off your to do list to the three most important and most urgent tasks. And yes, if you set task three to ‘take a shower’, because you’ve been incredibly stressed the last couple of days and need a fifteen minute shower to relax - that’s perfectly okay.
After you worked yourself through the three things, you can always decide if you can do three or even just one more thing. Just begin small. It makes your to do list seem a lot less overwhelming. (Also, don’t write study for maths exam, that task is too big and too unspecific. Better write do practise questions for chapter 2 in maths textbook for at least 40 minutes.)
3rd step: Get yourself a big bottle filled with water. Or coffee if it’s 9pm, you have an exam the next day at 8pm and you didn’t study at all before.
Staying hydrated is important. Very. important.
I’m sure you’ve read that thousands of times before, but real talk: Nobody can focus without being hydrated. Or the other way: Being dehydrated does really not do wonders to your ability to do things.
Bonus tip: If you don’t like water, try drinking warm/hot water or cut some fruit into the water. Or make yourself a tea. There are plenty of options, I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep drinking things.
4th step: Turn off your electronics.
You know the thing: You really, really wanted to start studying. But then there are messages after messages and you just wanted to check that one, that could be important and before you know, it’s suddenly three hours later, you find yourself watching cat videos on youtube and you did absolutely nothing to prepare for your english final the next day.
Sigh. We’ve all been there.
So, just turn your phone, the wifi on your computer and the tv off. Or use an app to block instagram, tumblr, the messenger app, twitter, youtube, whatever distracts you. I recommend forest (free on android, about 1-2$ on ios, I believe), but there are other apps and also ones for your computer. Especially useful if you want to listen to your study playlist (with whatever music that works for you, whether it be rap, instrumental, pop, musicals (I often listen to Hamilton) or soundtracks), because you still can open spotify, itunes or whatever your music app may be, but not your social media, etc. Also great if you want to work on google docs or word or good notes.
And put your phone at least one meter away from you, simply out of reach, so you’re not tempted to turn it on again or check your notifications if you decided to just block your phone.
and finally,
5th step: Set a five minute-timer and START.
Set a timer to five minutes and start. You just have to work for five minutes. (After that, you’re usually in the flow and work on.)
It’s a great way to start, because usually you’ll find yourself going on after these five minutes. If even five minutes overwhelm you, try two. But: just start.
BONUS: Try to think for a minute about the reasons why you’re doing all of this. Because of the fear to get a bad grade? Because you want to get an A and be better than the others? Because you are privileged to be able to learn? Because you expect it from yourself to get a good grade?
Whatever it is, use it as a motivation.
And always remember what Emma Watson once said:
If not me - who? If not now - when?
That’s all I want to say today, hopefully it will help someone.
I hope you all get good grades, stay healthy and overcome personal problems while growing on them in 2018. Have the greatest year ever!