Top 5 Tips To Tackle Exam Season Like a Pro
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Sleep deprivation. Running on caffeine and energy drinks. Overeating or undereating. Procrastination. SaveMyExams' 2024 exam anxiety survey revealed that 85% of students experience anxiety-related stress in the lead up to their exams. It’s clear that for many, exam season is a time of immense pressure where sleep, nutrition, and mental well-being take a backseat to revision. While the exam season may never be the highlight of a student’s academic journey, there are plenty of effective ways to create a balanced and sustainable approach to your studies.
From mindful meditation to fuelling your brain with the right foods, here are our top five tips to ensure you tackle exam season like a pro.
1. Create a realistic revision timetable
Reviewing all content at once for each subject can feel overwhelming and daunting, which can lead to procrastination. A few months prior to the beginning of your exams, use tools such as Notion or Google Planner to help you structure revising each subject’s content in a manageable way. Be specific about the topic each day and your method of revision, whether it’s completing past papers, actively recalling flashcards, or reciting concepts aloud to yourself or friends and family. Factor in time for staggered breaks to help replenish your energy and avoid burnout throughout the day.
Top tips:
Adjust as you go: Your revision timetable can be altered once you receive your exam timetable. From this point onwards, prioritise key topics that’ll come up in the papers you’re closest to sitting.
Gamify revision: Apps such as Forest, Study Bunny, and Habitica gamify the revision process with rewards, helping to keep you motivated.
Use colour wisely: Colour coding your timetable can be an effective way to separate the topics you’re confident in from the ones that need more work. For example, you could use green for strong topics, yellow for areas that need to be reviewed, and red for topics you’re struggling with.
2. Fuel your brain with feel-good foods
It’s fairly common for your relationship with food to fluctuate during exam season. Some students may turn to comfort eating or develop an overreliance on caffeine to help power them through the day, although these habits can often lead to energy crashes, poor concentration, and disrupted sleep.
Instead, opting for slow-releasing energy sources like wholegrains and protein can make a significant difference in focus, mood, and long-term stamina during exam season. For students who struggle with their appetite in this period, trying smaller, frequent snacks every two to three hours can make mealtimes feel more manageable. However, it’s important to avoid skipping entire meals as this leads to energy dips and brain fog.
Top tips:
Fuel with smart snacks: Nuts, yoghurts, bananas, and protein bars are examples of energising snacks that can help fuel your day.
Keep it light: Easy-to-digest foods such as soups, rice, or toast are light but still provide nutrients and energy.
Stock up on no-fuss meals: On days when cooking feels like an uphill battle, stock up on grab-and-go items like boiled eggs, cut fruit, overnight oats, or throw together a tasty snack plate.
Make it social: Eating in a relaxed and social setting can help stimulate your appetite and make meals feel less like a chore.
3. Stay active
During exam season, it’s easy to get caught up in a cycle of bed-to-desk rotation. However, this can worsen mental fatigue, amplify anxious thoughts, and deny you of the natural cues your body needs, such as movement and light exposure, both of which help regulate mood, hunger, and focus. Even getting just 10-15 minutes of movement or fresh air can help keep your body in sync with its natural rhythm. The endorphins released during movement boost mood, while increased blood flow to the brain unlocks sharper focus.
Top tips:
Move in short bursts: Short bursts of movement, such as going on a walk to your local park or stretching between studying, can be great for improving your mood and energy levels.
Slow it down: Mind-body movement, such as yoga or tai chi can help reduce anxiety through slow, focused movement and controlled breathing.
Stretch at your desk: Seated stretches, shoulder rolls, and toe taps are very simple desk-friendly movements to reduce stiffness and keep your body gently active during long periods of sitting.
4. Practising mindfulness
The main goal of mindfulness is to train your brain to be present instead of dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. Throughout the exam period, even just a few minutes a day of mindfulness can help reduce anxiety, sharpen focus, and improve emotional balance. You can practise mindfulness at spontaneous moments throughout the day when the need arises or appoint designated time slots, for instance, before bed, after a study session, or before you enter the exam hall. There’s no need to ‘master’ mindfulness—just practising regularly can make a huge difference.
Top tips:
Try a simple breath reset: Close your eyes, inhale slowly for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and exhale for six seconds. Repeat.
Use YouTube to unwind: Youtube channels such as The Mindful Movement, Great Meditation, and The Honest Guys share breathing exercises and meditation tutorials to target different needs and emotions.
Explore free meditation apps: Apps such as Smiling Mind, Oak, Insight Timer, and Medito are all free platforms that offer a vast catalogue of meditation sessions for different needs such as sleep, low mood, or stress.
5. Find the right outlet for you
Sometimes, too much advice can feel confusing and out of touch with your personal needs and the way you choose to express yourself. Having a healthy outlet, whether it’s creative, physical, social, or solitary, can help provide comfort and reduce the build-up of stress throughout exam season. By giving yourself the space to recharge and immerse in a personal hobby or interest, you’re able to declutter your brain from study overload, ultimately making your revision more effective when you tap back into it.
Top tips:
Get creative: Creative hobbies like journalling your thoughts, drawing, playing an instrument, or even building something with Lego can help you unwind after a day of studying.
Move to release tension: For the physically active, short home workouts, bike rides, jogging, or even kicking a ball around for a few minutes a day can be a therapeutic way to release tension in your body.
Stay connected: Social outlets, such as venting to a trusted friend or family member, group study sessions, or playing video games (solo or with friends—just remember to set a time limit) can help give you a good work-life balance.
Recharge solo: For the solo rechargers, listening to music, a podcast, reading a book, or watching your favourite show can provide a welcome escape between study sessions.
It’s important to remember that the exam season presents unique challenges for everyone. However, by practising these healthy habits and discovering the ones that resonate with you the most, whether that’s discovering the best foods for your brain or tapping into a creative outlet, you can navigate this period with greater confidence and balance. Cultivating your own rhythm for success, even through small daily habits, builds resilience and supports well-being, helping you tackle exam season like a pro.
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