everybody knows the feeling - you have an important test or a special project due tomorrow when you haven’t even thought about the material!
it might be one of the most stressful experiences in my school experience to date - but dont fret. you can and will get through this! sitting around and just hoping for the best is not going to help your current situation .. so here are some tips if you really have only one day (or even a couple hours) until that important deadline!
- :cherry_blossom: create a game plan :cherry_blossom: -
i never liked planning anything when it came to school .. i felt as if i had no freedom in anything i do and most of the time i never got anything done since it was so stressful!
so why would i recommend blocking out your time now?
well its not what youre thinking - instead of having to give up activities like afterschool sports to have time to study (which will cause more stress and guilt than intended) you have to base your study time around ... you guessed it - freetime! this means instead of watching youtube videos until 3 am or taking a shower for 45 minutes (trust me ive been there) you can use that time to be productive. it sounds simple, but, believe it or not, many don’t put that into consideration.
in school you might not have much free time to do the things that are important to you (with the exception of eating and work), but when youre at home or have those 2 days off during the weekend you have full control of what youre doing that day. take advantage of this.
and i get it, you probably prefer going to the mall with your friends and shopping for a couple hours over sitting in a crammed room staring at a textbook wondering what went wrong. im not trying to shame you; but we all know that it’s not realistic to have a perfect social life and be a straight a student at the same time. everyone is different, though, so take this tip with a grain of salt. bottom line, making sacrifices for the unnecessary things is one of the best decisions you can make right now.
trust me, it will help you in the long run. when the time comes, you won’t be scrambling to finish your work! how great is that?
- 🧠 dont panic 🧠 -
okay, you’ve established that maybe you aren’t making the most of your time. but can that awareness help now, the day before your exam? probably not.
so let’s talk about what to do right now. you may be reading this while outside, in school, or maybe you’re actually studying right this moment and reading this to procrastinate and get your mind off work (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
regardless of what time of day it is or how long you’ve been revising, you need to ~slow down~. i know you might be thinking “but im not worried at all!” or maybe “but i have to get this work done!” either way you’re here because you need this help. and my advice to you is, try not to worry. it might sound a bit impossible since school is all that you are thinking about (esp while cramming), but running around and/or being nervous is not helping anyone.
take a deep breath. you need it. cramming is obviously not good for your mental (as well as physical) health so i can expect you feel a lot of pressure. try to ease that burden by making yourself a warm cup of tea, or try meditation to calm yourself down. maybe you’re the aggressive type while freaking out, so punch a pillow. whatever you do, do not let the anxiety take over you.
putting more stress on yourself than needed is just not beneficial, it will not help you with motivation, and it will only make you feel worse. and if its 1am, please go to bed. you need some sleep. its far more important than a grade.
take care of yourselves.
- :purse: prioritize your studies :purse: -
you may be wondering what this has to do with anything. chances are though, you got yourself here by either putting off or forgetting about the material. which is ... not good. therefore this means you or your mind wanted to do other things, rather than getting to work. this is not what you want.
believe me when i say that your education is important. it can get you a good job for when youre older, you can make new friends through your experiences, and obviously you learn new things that you might want to pursue beyond your career. as awful as it sounds, sometimes you have to let something go. this may sound like a huge contradiction to the first tip, but if you really care about those guitar lessons, you would be able to fit them into your schedule alongside those extra math equations.
overworking yourself is not good either. don’t isolate yourself from friends and family and always take breaks!
- :tulip: just start :tulip: -
my biggest tip for you is just get to it. once you’ve started, the hard part is over. one practice i find that helps me is counting to 10, gathering all of my things needed in that 10 seconds (for example, any notes, pencils, books, etc) and by the end of the 10 seconds you can go from there. it really helps me to watch some motivating videos on youtube as well. if you study, your chances of getting a high mark is greatly increased !!
i hope these tips helped you. just that you can ace this quiz, assignment, project, or presentation <3
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