With the exam season quick approaching, I want to share my tips on how to stay productive and get the highest marks:
Take advantage of study tools
Virtual or physical to-do lists are going to be your best friend during the exam period. You can accurately divide your workload to ensure you make it in time for your exam, and also account for a few study breaks.
When you actually get down to study, skimming through your notes may seem like an easy way to learn the topic. Sadly, that’s unlikely to be sufficient to truly master a subject.
I found that it’s tremendously helpful to compress notes into hand-drawn diagrams or figures - or, if you’re not much of an artist, you can look into online study tools. GoConqr is an amazing tool to create flashcards, quizzes and maps, and even track your learning!
If your course is as research-heavy as mine, Evernote can prove to be indispensable, as it allows to gather web clips, study notes and even photos in one place.
Lastly, I’d recommend looking into apps like Pomodairo that let you track your productivity and space your work into intervals to ensure you don’t work yourself into a headache.
Form study groups
The exam period can be immensely stressful and even alienating, but it doesn’t have to be that way!
There are plenty of other students who understand what you’re going through perfectly. So if you truly struggle to motivate yourself to go through the lecture material, or if you just can’t concentrate on that hour-long recording, invite your friends or coursemates into a study group. With so many conference tools at your disposal, you can definitely get creative with the study sessions. Studying with others can be motivating, and help set goals.
Explaining a tough subject to a friend - especially if they are not doing the same course as you - can be incredibly helpful to truly understand it. Be warned though - it’s important to have at least one person who’s going to make sure the study session doesn’t end up being chaotic, where nothing gets done!
I hope these tips will help prepare for exams - all the best luck and don’t forget to stay active and unwind after that long study session!
