Hi I’m Ella, one of your Student Communicators and a third year Psychology Student.
With the exam period here, I have been busy catching up with work and revising for a busy month ahead. The lead up to exams can bring about many stresses, especially with maintaining work-life balance, a good level of physical and mental health and managing procrastination, perfectionism, self-worth and anxieties.
While studying is necessary for exam success, self-care is necessary for maintaining motivation and positivity. Starting good self-care habits pre-exams will also encourage routine, which will make you more likely to sustain these habits into exam season, therefore preventing any excessive stress.
So here are my 5 self-care tips you can practice every day, or even just a couple times a week / when needed, to aid you during your preparation for exams and assignments!
Journaling
I find that bullet journaling is such an important creative and emotional outlet during revision period. Buy yourself a blank journal and draw / scrapbook to take your mind off any revision stress you may have. Writing down your thoughts and feelings can improve decision-making, self-awareness and overall wellbeing. I also use my journal for writing to-do lists and habit tracking to increase my organisation and personal accountability. I also just love the feeling of being able to tick something off a to-do list!
Listen to music (and even have a dance break!)
Putting on my favourite album or playlist either during revision or breaks just makes me so happy and therefore makes me feel ready to do some work. If you’re really in the mood to have a music session, having a dance break and letting out all your excess energy can help you to refocus on your tasks. Plus, it’s just really enjoyable!
Go for a walk
Getting some fresh air is so so so important. Not only does it allow for a change of environment to help stimulate your brain, but going outside has been proven to make you happy. Going outside can help to reduce stress related hormones in your body and lower your blood pressure, helping you to feel more relaxed and able to tackle assignments or revision. This can also aid focus which is vital for revision, especially if you are working for long hours. This means that you are improving your mental health while having the added bonus of improving your work quality too!
Going for a walk can help to boost your endorphins. This is also a great time to meet with friends and speak about something unrelated to any studying to improve your work-life balance. Set a time on your to do list and go get that fresh air!
Drink water!!
This sounds simple but can easily be forgotten when trying to focus on cramming all your work in. I am definitely someone that doesn't drink nearly enough water however, I’ve been trying to improve this by drinking two litres a day which is proven to enhance concentration and short-term memory!
Do something you enjoy
Having regular breaks and scheduling in something fun to do gives you something to look forward to which can therefore shape your motivation to study. This can range from going to the gym, baking, reading a book, meditating, doing a face mask, meeting up with your society, crocheting, painting or going to a cafe for some food and drinks.
I hope that these tips help and that you can implement them into your daily routine to get you revision ready. Thank you for reading and have a great rest of your week!!