1# Revision tips
Revision is a dreaded word for many students. That's because diving heads-on into endless notes and reading everything in a straight go is a B.A.D idea!
I have been through these revision headaches before, and I am happy to share a few simple tips that made a huge difference to my revision. Hopefully, they can work for you too!
1. Make a realistic revision schedule.
Grab a pen and paper. Go on! Calculate how much time you have for revision each week and divide it by the number of subjects.
Remember, be realistic! Take account of your level of concentration.
Now you have a rough idea of the number of hours available for revision.
Determine how much time you will dedicate to each subject.
Mix up your subjects so you do not get bored!
Make a plan
Break your revision time into small sessions and take regular short breaks. Studying for hours and hours will only make you tired and ruin your concentration, which may make you even more anxious. A break every 45 to 60 minutes is about right.
2. Eliminate unnecessary material
You calculated above that you will dedicate realistically 3 hours to revision each day. You may think:
Oh no! I have fewer hours to revise than expected!
Does this mean you will lean less? No!
Organise your notes and discard the notes that are repetitive or less relevant.
Having fewer notes to revise is an advantage rather than the opposite. You may get confused by learning the same thing from different sources, such as your personal notes, tutor notes and books.
For example, What definition of 'inflation' do you choose? Your Personal notes definition: The rate of inflation is the change in prices for goods and services over time. Your Tutor notes definition: Inflation is the decline of purchasing power of a given currency over time. Book definition: Inflation: a sustained increase in an economy’s price level
The wording is different in each source even if they all mean the same thing!
Use the book published by the subject's exam board as your main revision source.
For example, if you are taking the A level economics exam under the Cambridge exam board, use the Cambridge Economics Textbook. Tuition or tutor notes are complementary.
Your brain is like a wallet. There's only a limited amount of money that you can put inside. You might as well put several $50 notes inside rather than cram it with 1000 coins.
Shorten your notes and make mindmaps
Experiment with colour coding, notes on postcards, diagrams or whatever helps you learn your topic.
Make mindmaps on each topic so that it is easy to get back to it later.
3. Practice. Practice. Practice
The best way to revise is to practice. Look at past exam papers to familiarise yourself with the layout and type of questions you'll be asked. Practise completing exam papers within the set time limit to improve your exam technique. This will help you to feel comfortable with what will be expected. Even more important, make sure that you have practised the right type of questions and know what will be expected of a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ answer.
2# Kill distractions
Finally, after several days of procrastinating you decide to take the bull by its horn and start a strict revision routine. You have everything you need on your desk, your notebooks, your books and your precious rainbow colour highlighters. Five minutes later, you are bored to death! Your mind is flooded with distant thoughts and you have the excruciating urge to check your phone. *Phone buzzing* Who sent you a message?!
We have all been there. While keeping off distractions can be challenging, there are several tips to remain focused during your study. Here are some of them.
1. Turn off notifications. PLEASE
The average person checks their phone 150 times a day. Your phone is the greatest enemy to your focus. The latest status of your ex-best friend can wait!
2. Break your work into small chunks
If the amount of work is large and severe, do not hesitate to break it into small manageable tasks. You will be motivated each time you finish your next reachable target.
3. Work with your energy levels
Are you an early bird or a night owl? Study when your mind is the freshest. You are also more focused at the start of a study session, so it's best to start with the hardest things. Yes, the ones you hate!
4. Multitasking? A bad idea
If you spent 1 minute watching TV for every minute you study, you would spend half of your time watching tv (maths!). Furthermore, your mind would be elsewhere when you are studying.
I am actually watching Netflix while writing this, shhh don't tell anyone.
5. Remove cluster
An overly cluttered desk = An overly cluttered mind. Working in a neat space will make it easier for you to concentrate.
Free up apps on your mobile home screen too. You won't be tempted to check on that addictive game you recently downloaded!
Hope these tips will help. Good luck with your studies!
3# Exam preparation
You may have heard of these tips before. The reason is that *rolling drums* they work! Apply these tips in your exam preparation phase (if you have not already) and you will eventually notice a significant improvement.
4# Make study less boring
Studying can be a tedious task. But it is necessary (and inevitable!). Most of us will spend our first 18 years studying, and if we are lucky, continue learning new things for the rest of our lives! Whatever subject we study, absorbing information is an imperative phase, particularly if we need to apply what we learnt in an exam. Here are some tips to study more effectively and make the process less boring.
5# Learn with music
We have all done this. Using the paragraphs of our textbooks as lyrics and singing it to our favourite tune. Music is an ally in your studies. Whether you're playing it in the background while studying or listening to a motivating song when you are down. But is it actually possible to learn using music? Yes, here's what you should do:
When studying for an exam, time never seems to be enough. Sometimes, we tend to overestimate our capacity to absorb information and set unrealistic expectations. Studying tirelessly for long hours does not mean studying efficiently. Those long hours may actually be wasted as we end up forgetting everything we learnt! But don't worry, here are:
These 3 simple tips will make a huge difference in managing your time more efficiently, so don't hesitate to apply them!
Diagrams
Students eventually come across diagrams in their studies and some of them can be daunting! Whether you need to memorise 'The indifference curve' in economics, 'The product life cycle' in Business, or 'The structure of an atomic particle' in physics, these are some tips that will help you easily memorise diagrams.
1. Understand the relationships and concepts
This is a no-brainer. Get the basic information about the diagram right. Learn:
The concept behind it
It's working and uses
How it applies to the topic
2. Fix the diagrams on the wall
If you see the diagram every day, it will be eventually be recorded in your subconsciousness.
Good luck when your friends come over! The jokes on them if they expected to see music posters in your room.
3. Remember the flow
Use memory techniques. Mnemonic devices are a technique often used by students to aid in recall.
For example, you might associate a term you need to remember with a common item that you are very familiar with.