Dealing with university, exams and stress over the festive period

Dealing with university, exams and stress over the festive period

As we come ever closer to the festive period and, for most, the end of the semester, it’s now time that most university and college students will be preparing for end of semester exams. Sadly, with this festive period comes stress for most and the worry of the incumbent exam period. However, we feel we can help with some tips and pointers that have been passed onto us so far during our studies.

The first and most important bit of advice is to take regular breaks when revising. Now, this may seem obvious to some, but it can be easy to lose track of time and before you know it hours have passed by without you even realising it. To combat this it’s important to set timers and breaks to help your mind to, firstly take in the information it has been given and secondly, to give you time to reflect on your work. There are several apps and online tools to help you out with this!

Taking time out is so important when preparing for exams, it’s such an easy thing to do and can be something as small as having a coffee or a cup of tea, reading a newspaper or just catching up with a friend or family member. Taking a break will keep you grounded and allow your brain and mind to cope with the workload that you have in front of you and prevent you from becoming overwhelmed.

Another handy tip for dealing with large workloads and stress over the Christmas period is to break down your work into small more manageable pieces that you can work on in a day, this way slowly but surely your work will be done at your own speed. One way of doing this is by using mind maps and planners to decide and set out what work needs to be done each day. Having a visual aid can really assist a lot of people in completing work on time allowing you to spend more time relaxing and getting in the right mind frame for your January exams.

When you finally set out your work for the day it’s important for the time you are revising to stay away from distractions such as social media and texts. Being distracted can obviously lead to delays in your studies and ultimately will slow your exam preparation progress down considerably. It’s key that you find a place that you are comfortable to work in and will not be distracted and then you can be sure that you will stick to the work at hand.

The main issue causing stress for a lot of people when they start their work is how to condense down their mountain of notes and lecture slides. However, this can be easily remedied depending on how you best study for myself mind maps with the core points and issues and how they link together are great. This helps especially when there are lots of cases or stautes to learn. Key trigger words can work for many to be able to have certain words that help you remember terms and phrases. As well as this, recording yourself answering questions is a great way to break down answers and allow your brain to take in the information in a different format.

Finally, it’s important to spend time with others, the key to stopping stress levels getting too high this time of year is making time to be with other people and be able to enjoy your break away from studies. A good idea is to take a break at the end of your semester to give your brain the rest it needs to start again and revise. The key over the festive period is to pace your studies and take time for yourself and enjoy this time of year as best as you can.

Don’t forget we all get stressed over this period and you are not alone, if you’re feeling down or the stress is getting to you here are some number that can help you deal with what you’re going through.

Samaritans: 116 123 (UK), jo@samaritans.org

Nightline: https://www.nightline.ac.uk/want-to-talk/

We hope these tips and pointers can help you combat exam stress and the uni workload over the festive period. However, we’d love to hear from you and what works for our readers