10 tips for your exam preparation
Keep up your energy and spirits with these tips from IDA’s career advisors. They are based on our conversations with students and designed to help you get through the exam period and to create the results you want.
1. Plan your time
Give yourself an overview of what you need to achieve before the exam. Then make a realistic plan of how you will get there. Remember to take breaks. If it helps you visualize it, then you can create a Gantt chart with a tool of your choice (for example in Excel, Miro, Canva).
2. Set milestones
Make realistic milestones that you want to achieve every day. Make it a habit to celebrate yourself when you reach them. When you don’t, see if the milestone can be broken down into smaller pieces. The Pomodoro technique can help you here. In short, the technique is about working on a task in four rounds of 25 minutes, with intermission breaks for each interval.
3. Reach out to fellow students
Exam periods can feel incredibly lonely. Use your fellow students both for academic sparring, but also to give each other the feeling that you are not alone.
4. Procrastination is unavoidable
Try to be constructive about procrastination. If you find that it makes it difficult for you to complete a task, then look at whether you have set too high goals for yourself. You remember better and learn faster by dividing your exam reading into shorter intervals. Again, Pomodoro is your friend.
5. Take the books out on a field trip
Grab your books or laptop and experiment with other study zones. Both public and campus libraries are very good options – especially if you are noise sensitive. But it can also be at the local café; you might thrive with a bit of background noise. Just be conscious about how you best focus. Picking a place that hinders concentration, will leave you stressed and unfocussed.
6. Consider the type of exam
If it is an oral exam, it may be a good idea to practice discussing the syllabus orally and practice your presentation. Preferably with a fellow student who can ask questions or see your performance from a different angle. If it is a written exam with assignments, remember to do the exercises you have been given by your teacher a few times throughout the semester and up to the exam.
7. Use unconventional methods
If you are a visual learner or simply getting tired of studying, it can be a good idea to color coordinate your notes or draw a mind map of your syllabus.
If you are giving a presentation and are creative, you can make a graphic narration of the presentation, which can help you remember your talking points better than two pages of notes in a size 8pt.
8. Be your own teacher
Pretend you are in an exam. Create exam questions for yourself. It can be oral, written and practical. Also do it together with your reading group or study friends.
9. The breaks are just as important as the preparation
Remember to plan breaks where it is about everything other than your exam. Make plans to go out for a beer with a friend, do some exercise or go to a board game cafe. Get out of your head and do something that compels your mind to think about something else.
10. Get some sleep
Your brain needs time to absorb and recover. And it does that when we sleep. Think of the brain as a muscle that slowly builds up and gets stronger with each exercise with intermittent breaks. When we recover, we rebuild. This is where we learn. So remember to have a surplus of sleep at best and at the very least not a deficit. If you have a lot of thoughts and difficulty sleeping, an app like Headspace can help you.
