The end of the semester is within reach, but there is one last hurdle before I get to head home and do nothing for 3 weeks.

Exams.

Ugh.

You can tell exams are here by the drop of standard of dress and increase of caffeine consumption in the hall. It is now a common sight to see people in their dressing gowns at 2pm, wandering around the hall looking broken and sad.

IMG_2201

I am one of the lucky ones. I have CHEM150 tomorrow morning, PSYCH109 on Thursday night (yes, there are night exams) and then HISTORY125 the following Friday morning. Only 3 exams, with decent spacing between them.

I have essentially moved into the common room on my floor. Every day I wake up, have a shower, eat some breakfast and then study in the common room from 9am until 9pm.

IMG_2186

Study Tip 1 – Break your study down into chunks. I do chunks of 50 minutes study and 10 minute breaks. I find that I can only focus for so long at a time until my phone distracts me or I hear Netflix calling my name. Having a small break every 50 minutes helps reduce that urge to procrastinate.

IMG_2145

Study Tip 2 – Keep on top of your notes if you can. It is much more efficient to be making cue cards and mind maps rather than writing up notes in the exam break.

IMG_2147

Study Tip 3 – Whatever you do, get outside at least once a day, even if it is just a walk to the dairy. If you stay inside, you start going a bit stir crazy. IMG_2169

Study Tip 4 –  Following on from the last tip, do some sort of exercise. We did some pilates (you can see the result below).

IMG_2146

Study Tip 5 – Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night, and naps are your friend! As long as they don’t last the whole day…

IMG_2159

I have to get back to studying now, but I hope that some of these tips might help some of you in your upcoming exams.

IMG_2198Until next time – Emily