Getting ready for exams – how to study like a genius.

We all get nervous and stressed when it’s that time of the year again. By that time of the year we mean exams or test weeks and if you’re lucky and still at school or varsity this happens more often than not.

The thing is, you really don’t need to be stressed or nervous, all you need is to be prepared and ready, this makes the world’s difference.  Give yourself the best chance with these 10 study tips to study like a genius!

1.      Begin preparing early

The best possible way for you to do good during exams or test weeks is to pay attention during class, every minute that you aren’t giving your full attention means many more minutes of studying and trying to understand later on.

2.      Know your teacher/professor and have a good relationship

This is fundamental in achieving good results, to have good relations with your study instructor means that you enjoy the course and if something is unclear to you, you will consult with him/her later or during class to see to it that you understand everything fully.

3.      Form a study group

Not only will other students be able to help you understand the material, but by helping others you are actually teaching yourself. Remember that this is a study group and not a socializing event and that you will need to stay focused on why everyone is there.

4.      Organize your study space

Make sure that you have enough space to spread all your material and notes out. Get yourself comfortable and keep all your distractions out of sight.

5.      Flow charts and diagrams work best!

Use flow charts and diagrams to review your work visually. People tend to remember visual information better. Condense your revision notes into one-page diagrams to reflect when nearing the examination date.

6.      Practice on old examination papers or tests

After you have studies the relevant material, practice on old papers to test your knowledge and do so under test conditions.  This will help comfort you to know that you will be able to complete the paper in the allocated time.

7.      Take regular breaks for 10 to 20 minutes

Studying for an entire day might make you feel good, but this could actually end up to be counterproductive. Studies have shown that for long-term retention of knowledge, regular breaks are crucial.

8.      Eat well

Keep away from heavy saturated foods such as margarine and foods with high sugar levels. You will need to eat balances meals, containing foods such as eggs, fruit, cereal, lean meat and vegetables. Don’t overeat and rather eat dark chocolate as a treat as studies have shown that this helps to boost your brain.

9.      Get to bead early

Allow for your body to get the correct amount of rest that it need to perform the following day.  Thus plan your day so that you will get to bed early and allow for yourself to relax before falling asleep.

10.  Wake up nice and early on the day you are writing

Give yourself enough time to get up and get to the examination location on time. Getting up nice and early will help you to start the exam/test stress free and with a clear mind.

4 Wallet-Friendly Sports You Can Play To Boost Your Fitness Levels

It is not breaking news that students are generally short of budget or out of pocket. Because exercise is an important element of a healthy lifestyle and contributes positively to your studies, we take a look at some inexpensive sport-options that won’t break the bank.

Running

Running and track sports are great to do socially – as a team or even on your own. Whether you like to take a casual run around the neighbourhood, join a track team or train for a marathon, running is a sport that needs little funding. You will require a pair of running shoes and some comfortable clothes to run in.

There are also various benefits of running. As an impact sport, running is good for cardio-training and burns a high amount of calories!

So why not tie up those laces and get running?

Soccer

Soccer is a great team sport that requires a lot of running as well as good hand-eye co-ordination. Often considered a social sport, many schools, colleges and universities have various soccer teams. You can always join a local club or just get a group of friends together. Whether you are playing field or indoor soccer, you will get a great workout without having to fork out large amounts of money. Depending on the kind of team you join, you will need a kit that generally consists of soccer boots, and comfortable clothing.

Soccer can be a great workout and lots of fun. The health benefits include:

• Increased aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health

• Lowers body fat and improves muscle tone

• Builds strength, flexibility and endurance

• Increases muscle and bone strength

• Improved health due to shifts between walking, running and sprinting.

 Lace-up those boots and get active!

Swimming

Join your school, college or university’s swimming team or even your local swimming pool or a gym. You can choose whether you want to commit to swimming in a team or on your own. The only equipment you will need to get started is a swimming costume and a swimming cap. Sure, flippers would be nice, but it is no excuse not to get in the pool!

Swimming offers you something no other aerobic exercise does: the ability to work your body without harsh impact to your skeletal system.

So why don’t you make that splash?

Netball

A good team sport, Netball is a non-contact sport and players have to be fast, strong and agile. A game puts considerable pressure on the body, with players having to make short sprints, hard stops, and twists and turns during the course of the match. You will require a pair of takkies and some comfortable clothes or a uniform (if you join a team).

Although a non-contact sport, netball is still a fast-paced and intensive game, which will quickly boost your health and fitness levels.

Get to the court!

See, getting active does not mean breaking the bank! So try out some of these options and see which sport you prefer… it shouldn’t be long until you find something you enjoy!

9 Tips For Staying In Shape While Hitting The Books

All students face the exam-monster… the stress, the lack of time for yourself and others, the absence of a social life and even worse… the exam weight. Sitting at your desk all day can have its benefits for your studies, but not so much for your physical activity levels. As we head into exam-season, we take a look at tips for staying in shape while hitting the books:

1. Put together a schedule
By compiling a balanced study schedule, you can ensure that you allocate sufficient time for your studies, time for exercise and sleep.

2. Take regular study breaks 
Study breaks are a good way to get up from your desk. Take a walk to the kitchen to get a fresh glass of water. This will help with your blood flow, making sure your brain gets a fresh burst of oxygen and you get to stretch your legs.

3. Plan a study group
Touching base with other students is not just good for your studies, but also gets you off your chair. A study group is a place for you to debate concepts, ask questions and help each other study. Besides working together, students in study groups can generally learn faster than students working alone!

4. Get out of the house
Choose a study location away from home, forcing you to shower, change and get out of your house. 

5. Walk or cycle
When you leave the house to study in the library or to meet your study group, choose to walk or cycle. The additional physical exercise will do you wonders!

6. Balance
Replace your desk chair with a Pilates balance ball. This will ensure that you maintain good posture and work your core balance at the same time!

7. Don’t ditch exercise
It is so easy to ditch exercise when you are tired. Sleep often wins the debate and then you limit your physical activity even more. Try and keep yourself motivated to get moving! You can always get a gym partner or join a team to ensure that you have one more reason to get out there!

8. Small, regular meals
Keep an eye on your meals. The type of food you put into your body has a lot to do with what you get out. Avoid large meals and stick to smaller and more regular meals that will ensure that you get all the vitamins and minerals that you need.

9. Healthy snacking
It is easy to snack while studying and because exam times are stressful and you generally do not have much time, you might find yourself quickly grabbing a snack from the vending machine. If you are studying out of home, plan your day, pack healthy snacks like fruit and nuts and avoid the dreaded convenience of the vending machine.

Every little bit helps! So whether you choose to take the stairs opposed to the lift, make a point of taking a walk during your study break or whether you stay committed to your soccer team while you are studying, keep in mind that exercise is great for your studies too!

10 tips on making good choices while studying - how the choices you make today will affect your tomorrows

1. Choose responsibility
Although heading off to the next chapter in your life can feel like a coming-of-age moment, it doesn’t mean that campus life is one long holiday.

Ever wonder why the older generation are so serious sometimes? It’s because they’ve come to realise that they spent their whole childhoods thinking that it would be amazing to be an adult, and their whole adulthood wishing they could go back to childhood, when everything was so much more fun…

Don’t put yourself at risk of losing focus and always put your studies first. Hanging out with the wrong crowd could have disastrous consequences, so think before you do something that could jeopardise your dreams for the future!

The moment you take responsibility for everything in your life, is the moment you can change anything in your life. – Hal Elrod

2. Choose balance
A large number of first-year students drop out because they haven’t found a balance between getting out there and socialising and the hard work that goes into graduating. There’s nothing wrong with going out with friends to experience the night life of the city, but doing so the day before an exam, or the night you were supposed to work on an assignment could end up dealing your career path a cruel blow. Make time to live your social life and time to study, and never give your social life preference over your studies.

3. Choose family time
If home is where the heart is, then don’t allow yourself to get distanced from it. If you can’t visit home, call home. Tell your family that you love them. They will help you to remember why you are doing what you’re doing.

4. Be careful with your heart
Hearts are pretty fragile things, and when things go wrong, it can affect your studies badly. So don’t give your heart to someone who doesn’t deserve it, and don’t get serious too quickly – if your significant other really loves you, they’ll wait for you, but your lecturers won’t.

5. Choose leadership
Forget what you learned in school - leadership isn’t just about wearing shiny badges and acting as though you’re more important that anyone else. Instead of others leading you astray, why not lead others in the right direction? Set up study groups and collaborate with other students who are serious about their studies.

6. Choose a cause
Campus life is the perfect place to find out what’s going on in the world, and getting involved with student unions, exercise groups, environmental causes and many other types of extra-mural activities can be beneficial to you and those around you.

7. Put your thinking cap on
Universities and colleges are different from secondary schools in one distinct way: they teach you how to think for yourself and use reason and logic in your arguments. If you can find a way of making a rational argument on any topic then you’ve won half the battle.

8. Choose bedtime
It’s easy to stay up late for any reason, whether it’s having a few more with some buddies or studying through the night for an exam. But if you don’t have regular sleep of between 6 to 8 hours long, your health and your brain’s ability to function under pressure could be impaired as a result. On a school night, try to get to bed before ten so that you can stock up on your beauty sleep.

9. Choose originality
In universities, plagiarism is a massive problem due to the availability of information on the internet and the ease with which it can be copied and pasted into an assignment. Yes, it’s safe to say that everyone researches their work on the internet, but resorting to copying someone else’s words may result in some serious consequences someday. Read and research, let the information sink in, then close your books and start writing on a blank page.
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.

10. Courage, not fear
Tertiary education can be a daunting thing once reality sets in and the pressure starts to build, but it’s important to never give up and continue to believe in yourself. Make yourself a visual board that explains who you are, where you’ve come from and where it is that you want to go and every time you’re feeling afraid that you won’t be able to do this, just take out that vision board and remind yourself of who you are and where you’re going to. Tell yourself that you’re not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of your future. You can do it!

Exam time is the worst time for students: what can you do to eliminate stress?

“I’ll fail no matter what I do.”

“If I don’t pass there’s point in carrying on.”

“If I don’t get top marks, my family will lose all respect for me.”

These are just some of the thoughts that go through the minds of the students who are writing exams. The correct term for this is exam stress, suffered by many students who are unsure about their future. Exam stress can end up debilitating students, leaving them unable to put across what they have learned to paper during an exam. The good news is that there are techniques you can use to reduce exam stress and get on with passing your exams.

 

 

Exam stress-busting tips:

Believe in yourself. If you prepare for the exams properly you should do fine, meaning that there is no need to worry excessively.

Don't try to be perfect. It's great to succeed and reach for the stars, but keep things in balance. If you think that "anything less than a distinction means I've failed" then you are creating mountains of unnecessary stress for yourself. Aim to do your best but recognise that none of us can be perfect all of the time.

Take steps to overcome problems. If you find you don't understand some of your course material, getting stressed out won't help. Instead, take action to address the problem directly by seeing or talking to your course tutor or getting help from your classmates.

Don't keep things bottled up. Confiding in someone you trust and who will be supportive is a great way to alleviate stress and worry.

Keep things in perspective. The exams might seem like the most crucial thing right now, but in the grander scheme of your whole life they are only a small part. Interrupt negative thoughts with positive ones. Examples:  “I can do this”, “I will do my best”, “I can pass this test”, “I will focus only on the question in front of me.”  "I have done it before, so I can do it again."

Plan your study time. Too much material + Too little time = Anxiety.  Plan your studying with regularly scheduled study sessions about 50 minutes long separated by 5 – 10 minute breaks.

Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Anxiety increases when one feels tired, run down and overwhelmed. Overall resilience depends on one's physical and mental health.

Get accurate information.  Check your course syllabus and get an understanding of the grading procedure. If you don’t understand, ASK. Well before the exam; make sure you know where it will be held, the start time, how long it will last, whether extra time will be allowed. Ask your lecturer whether it is an open-book exam or not, when the marks will be available, what materials can or should be brought into the exam room.

Plan. Rest well the night before the exam. Plan to arrive at the test location early. If you can pick your seat, choose one away from the doors, windows or other distractions. Plan to monitor the time during the exam so wear a watch or sit where you can see the clock. Plan to wear layers of clothing so you can adjust your need for more warmth or coolness. Check out the examination room ahead of time if you can. 

Avoid bad things. Give coffee and other stimulants a miss the night before the exam or on the day of the exam. Avoid anxious or talkative students. Avoid other people or things that may disturb your self-confidence, focus and level of relaxation. Definitely avoid arriving late.

In the Exam Room:

Avoid panic. It's natural to feel some exam nerves prior to starting the exam, but getting excessively nervous is counterproductive as you will not be able to think as clearly.

The quickest and most effective way to eliminate feelings of stress and panic is to close your eyes and take several long, slow deep breaths. Breathing in this way calms your whole nervous system. Simultaneously you could give yourself some mental pep-talk by mentally repeating "I am calm and relaxed" or "I know I will do fine".

If your mind goes blank, don't panic! It will just make it harder to recall information. Instead, focus on slow, deep breathing for about one minute. If you still can't remember the information then move on to another question and return to this question later.

Survey what’s in front of you by doing the following:

·         Read the instructions carefully

·         Quickly survey every page of the test

·         See what will be expected of you

·         Re-read the instructions a second time

·         Prioritise what needs to be done

When surveying the test, place a mark beside all questions you know you can answer

Divide up your time according to the importance of the questions

Answer the easiest questions first to guarantee marks in the least amount of time

Do not rush through the test

Regularly check time left for the rest of the questions

Give yourself time to proofread what you have written; you should not still be writing at the invigilator’s “5 minutes remaining” announcement.

Remember to breathe deeply and if you feel as though you’re not coping, contact the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, who have specialists in their call centre to help students suffering from anxiety and depression during exams.