How I Plan to Survive Exam Season

Good morning everyone, I hope you’re all keeping well. This blog is all about how I plan to go about my exam period and keeping positive throughout this stressful time.

First and foremost, keeping physically fit and healthy is key. Naturally, for me, food is always on the forefront of my mind, so this isn’t normally an issue for me! But inevitably, exam season can always get the better of us in terms of having that regularity of meals. How I plan to tackle this, is to ‘food prep’; this involves having a planner where I plan my meals in advance, so I’ll know what to have each day, but also, so that I stick to my schedule and don’t skip meals. On top of this, I’ll be planning when I do my food shops so that I’m always stocked up with food and never needing to worry about being low on snacks/fresh food when I need it the most. Also, it’s so important to have a healthy mindset about food and to recognise the importance of it during revision/exams. Food is the best kind of fuel to keep you going whilst working.

Secondly, I’m aiming to be as organised as I can throughout the process. Organisation is key; it is so important to have good structure to your day. To tackle this, I’ve set up a daily planner with things I need to do every day and highlight when I need to take breaks. I cannot stress enough the importance of breaks, whether it be to just go outside and get some fresh air, or to put work aside for a bit and watch some YouTube etc. However you choose to break is subjective, but the importance of it should be widely recognised and acted upon. Planning my days will enable me to know what exactly I need to get done, and this will in turn, motivate me to complete each task.

Thirdly, I’m aiming to be as prepared and confident for the exams as I can. In order to get to that point, I plan to have covered each module to the best of my ability, and to address any area of the course that I am unsure of, either by asking an academic or doing further reading to get a better understanding of the topic area. I will also be attending all of the revision lectures and any student help services that the Chemistry department has on offer for me. To consolidate all of my learning and to feel as confident as I can be for the exams, the final thing on my checklist is to have completed all of the revision questions/materials and past papers that I have available. This will make me feel as prepared as I can be.

Finally, this is a big ask from me, but the weeks leading up to my first exam (and during my two-week exam period, for that matter), I aspire to remove all unnecessary distractions from my life at that point. This includes most forms of social media (which will be such a painful sacrifice for me… but I know it’ll be worth it in the long run) and negative energy/drama. I plan to only surround myself with positivity and like-minded individuals to keep me mentally sane throughout the stressful time. But most importantly, I’ll be removing TikTok from my phone for the foreseeable!

I hope this inspires you to plan ahead for exam season and to find ways of staying positive and healthy during a time of such stress and anxiety.

Best of luck for all of your exams!

Jess x