Today I thought I would share some of the ways I try to combat exam season stress and make it through with all my grades and my hair intact.
- Make time to unwind
I generally find it incredibly hard to fall asleep during the exam season – somehow my brain unexpectedly gets a memo to overdrive and refuses to calm down, and then I get stressed, and then I can’t fall asleep, and then I lose precious sleep time, and then I get even more stressed out. It’s just one vicious cycle of laundry.
And if I’m in such a rut, I love doing one thing – watching a movie/cartoon. Nothing else would so easily pull me away from my immediate woes.
- Set a target for every day, and stick to it
I am an obsessive planner and I feel confused if I haven’t broken down all my tasks for every assignment. I have to break all of my deadlines into smaller tasks. For an essay, I usually split it into reading, planning, writing, and editing, and then split the tasks into the amount of days they take. If a busy time is coming up, I’ll assign tasks to do each day at the beginning of the week.
Seek to keep these targets every day very practical and within your limits. I generally only plan the work I can do from 1-6 every day, because I know that the hours of the afternoon are when I concentrate the most. I find that doing this eases a lot of mental pressure – I know what I’m doing every day as soon as I wake up, so I don’t need to wonder how much more I am supposed to do as long as I finish the tasks set for the day.
- Do something that will refresh your mind
Mine is watching the sunrise/sunset. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that the morning sun works wonders on my mood. I come out of it so much more refreshed – like my brain’s been reset.
Of course, this isn’t going to be the same for everyone. But I really recommend finding something that will re-energize you. It might be going to the gym, on a run, walking around, or listening to an album all the way through. Find it, and don’t worry about taking this break to reset.
Take a deep breath and tell yourself that you got this. Good luck!
– Vineetha Ranga
