Doing well in one’s exams is terribly important for all students. Quite, naturally, that is one thing that more than anything else gives sleepless nights and anxiety to most students. But things don’t really have to be that way.
Like with most things in life, preparing for exams is as much about strategy as it is about intent. Whether one is studying in a kindergarten international school Kuala Lumpur, primary school, or high school most students could do with some handy exam preparation tips.
What is the Best Way to Prepare for Exams?
The best way to prepare for exams is to do so in a planned manner. One needs to be able to address areas of weakness first and then leave enough time to revise and brush up on the parts where one is relatively well prepared.
11 Tips for Studying Smarter Not Harder
1. Don’t Fear the Exams
While exam anxiety is natural to some extent too much of it can be crippling in its impact. While it is nobody’s case that you take your exams lightly, it would also be wise to not fear them.
An exam is not meant to punish you, but to assess your knowledge of a particular subject. The focus, therefore, should be on understanding the subjects that you are taking an exam on to the best of your ability.
Taking a rational approach like this will remove the fear of exams from your psyche and let you focus on the more important task of preparing for it.
2. Prepare a Study Schedule
Prior to actually sitting down and studying, you must know how to make a study timetable. That will help you chart a course of action to follow with regard to your preparations. It might make sense to make a list of your subjects and the important topics to study.
Allocate time for the different subjects and the topics that they contain taking into account the number of days till each exam. Every subject’s course material has to be approached systematically with the number of study hours per day and the per subject clearly marked out.
Having a study schedule will provide you with a definite direction with regard to your preparation and put you in the right frame of mind to take the exams.
3. Organize the Place You Study
Clutter is the enemy of clarity and this is certainly true of the place where you study. Keeping it orderly and organized will help you study more efficiently and effectively. You will be able to study best if the environment you study in is relaxed and comfortable.
It is a good idea to have your study table in a place that is away from the noise and is bright, airy and well lit up.
4. Eat Well
While preparing for exams can be a little anxiety-inducing, it won’t do to not eat or eat the wrong kind of comfort food. Eating balanced and healthy food that keeps you mentally and physically alert and fresh is what you should be looking at.
5. Take Regular Breaks
While it is all very well to study for long hours with focus, it is important to remember that the human body does get tired and needs rest and breaks to rejuvenate.
It is, therefore, important for one to take time out for breaks to help rest and relax your body and mind. Doing so will only help you get back to your studies with fresh vigour and energy.
6. Sleep Well
It is important that you get enough sleep during the days that you prepare for your exams. If you plan your study schedule in advance, this should not be a problem.
Not sleeping enough will make it difficult for you to focus on your studies and above all may lead to your making mistakes when taking your exams.
7. Study in a Group
Studying in a group occasionally not only helps you clarify some of your doubts regarding the subjects that you are studying but also gives you an idea about how well prepared you are vis-a-vis what the others are doing. If you need to pull up someplace, you will be able to do that as well.
8. Self Study- Do Strategic Studying
While you should go through your entire course material, you do need to focus largely on what you know are important parts and will definitely form part of what you are asked in the examinations.
Go over past years’ papers and see which parts seem to be of utmost importance and concentrate on gaining mastery over them, even while not ignoring other parts of the syllabus.
9. Revise
Revise, revise and revise has to be the mantra for success in your examinations. The human mind has a funny habit of retaining only a small part of what one reads. So, it is important that one reads repeatedly to increase the chances of retaining more of the subject matter that you are studying.
10. Consult Your Teachers and Mentors
It is always a great idea to consult your teachers and mentors about any doubts or misgivings you might have about the subjects you are studying.
Leaving out parts of your course material that you don’t understand, is not a good strategy at all. It makes sense to consult with the people who can help you resolve such issues.
11. Minimize the Use of Your Mobile Phone
You have to either keep away from your smartphone entirely or restrict access to it during the days that you are preparing for exams.
A smartphone with all its distractions in the shape of social media and games could be the single biggest threat to your whole plan for doing well in your exams. Steer clear of it.
Bottomline
When it comes to finding effective ways to study or following the best tips for effective studying, it would do well for you to follow what works best for your situation. That being stated, the above tips can be the general road map to follow.