Start now! Give yourself adequate time to prepare, by organizing your notes and
making sure you have covered all the required course material.
Organize! Find out what will be covered on the exam and sit down with your notes to
see what you need to work on. Try to estimate how much time you will need for each
course and task. Make appointments in your planner for study times.
Prioritize! Make sure you devote enough time to the courses that are essential to your
program. Decide which courses need the most work and also which exams are worth
the greater percentage of your marks. You do not want to spend 90% of your time on a
course that you are doing well on and in which the exam is only worth 10% of your
mark.
Break it Down! Review your Table of Contents in your textbooks and your course
outlines and determine 1) your current level of knowledge, 2) the importance of the topic
and 3) the level of difficulty of each topic. Based on these estimates, decide which
topics to study first and which will take the most time. Assign study times for each topic,
and make sure you put the most difficult ones first.
Be Specific! Clearly define what you need to do and the goal will seem more realistic
and easier to complete. This will also make tasks seem smaller and less overwhelming.
For example, instead of saying that you need to “study history”, say that you will spend
one hour reviewing chapter 3. Be sure to check your progress regularly against your
course outlines and schedules.
Stay Healthy! Make sure you schedule adequate time for sleeping, eating and
exercise. Reward yourself after a successful study session with a walk with a friend or
a good meal with your family.
Keep Anxiety in Check! Stretch, breathe deeply and often, take frequent short breaks
and stay positive. When you get stuck, ask yourself, “what is the one task I can
accomplish right now?”
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