How to Get 100% Ready for All Tests Without Cramming?

In a few previous blog posts, you could find some info on how to manage your homework successfully as well as on how to do better at and get a great benefit from a lecture How to Do Better at College Lectures?. Hope, you have learnt something really helpful and practical for you personally. At the same time, you certainly know that handing in all your home assignments on time and even your exemplary attendance aren’t enough to guarantee you an excellent grade in this or that discipline in the very end of the term or the whole academic year.

A Few General Thoughts About Examination

Despite the fact that nowadays more and more educators all over the world are raising the question about effectiveness of tests and reasonability of examination system in general, still modern students have to deal with exactly this way of study progress control quite regularly. So, for now we can’t make anything about such situation. Nevertheless, what we can and should do is to come up with some strategies which could help us cope with the things we face to and go through them with the fewest losses of good mood, enthusiasm and nerves. 

I remember before another exam one of my group mates said to our instructor: “For me or someone like me who never asks for help writing my paper on your exam won’t be a problem. But what if you notice someone using trots for inspiration, so to speak? What would you do?” We laughed at such a frank query. However, our instructor surprised us with her answer. There were some clear notes of genuine seriousness and, maybe, even foreknowledge in her voice, as if she could predict who was going to use trots: “As long as some of you take their inspiration from their own notes or trots, as you call them, I can only praise them. If I see trots, I can assume that the student has done something to prepare for my exam, and this something will be stored in his or her memory for some period of time. That’s what I’m here for.”

Although she always confiscated our trots when she discovered them, she never took away the grades. She even encouraged us to make trots, but forbade us to use them, as any other model instructor would. 

Whatever, once again such an active approach to managing all that pre-exam turmoil proves that it’s really possible to organize all the necessary preparations in an effective way even if there’s not much time left before the big day. So, wait, yet it’s too early to panic! We’re here to help you set the right direction for your successful work! 

What Exactly We Are Going to Speak About

It isn’t necessary to repeat how awfully tense the time of exams is, because it might start to seem even worse. Instead of loading you with random sequence of various recommendations to deal with discouraging stress, we’re going to throw out to you with a few great strategies for your time-and-efforts management. They’re oriented towards preventing stress before the necessity to deal with it arises.

Each of these strategies relates to a particular aspect of your normal life style, that is to the time when you don’t have to spend your nights revising a huge amount of material and wishing the ghost of Good Luck stood beside you during the test and whispering the right answers in your ear. However, from my own experience I can claim that Its Majesty Luck together with Its Eminence Intuition are quite faithless mates. Once I didn’t revise well enough for another test because I decided to rely on their might. Yet even with their so-called help writing my paper didn’t become easier.

You see, when getting ready for something important and therefore very stressful, it’s essential to provide as much comfort and peace around you as possible. That’s why we’ve decided to select and study the most significant life factors which can have a great influence on you, and which come from your everyday surroundings, circumstances and your own activity or inactivity. Basing on our little research, we’ve worked out a range of guidelines for your comfortable and effective preparation relating them to the respective factors. 

What You Should Focus On

So, here is the list of what you should always take into your consideration when getting ready for any exam:

1. your time;
2. the amount and character of the information to revise (or learn);
3. the place where you study;
4. your nutrition;
5. your physical activity;
6. your sleep;
7. your communication;
8. your general attitude to the issue.

These eight points have turned out to be a rich soil for the following ideas which could allow students to stay sure of the quality of their preparation as well as of the rest for their nerves. Besides, the tips below are rather universal, so you can always apply to them regardless of the discipline you’re going to take an exam in.

Let’s go!

8 Main Strategies for Your Confidence in Success

Of course, their number is much bigger. Here you’ll find the well-ordered set of handy recommendations selected and thought through very carefully for you to be confident of everything you do and the positive results which you’ll finally get. You may ask: “Can it be true that without their help writing my paper will be more difficult and stressful?” Well, although we’re talking about preparation for exam writing, the guidelines below involve some smart ways to reduce general tension and put your thoughts and efforts into some harmonious order.

So, try to follow these instructions as they are going to and, probably, they will help you develop your own ideas to avoid unnecessary stress not only before your school or college tests, but also before some much more important events.   

Count Your Time

Even if there is only one day left before the date of an exam, still clever time management can guarantee the fact that you are able to study most of the necessary materials without sacrificing much of your lunch time or sleep. So, when you realize you have to include exam preparation into your daily schedule, make sure that it doesn’t supplant other vitally essential things.

Make Your Schedule a Little Stricter

You can set clear time limits for everything you want to do during the day which you’ve chosen to revise for your test or exam. Thus, you’ll have an opportunity to control yourself and add a few hours to the preparation by reducing the amount of time you may usually spend on some common everyday things like taking a shower or having a meal. This means that your dinner could take you 20 minutes instead of one hour or so.

Learn Whether You Are an Owl or a Lark

Manage your time depending on when you feel better to carry out some really difficult brainwork. If you know that it’s more comfortable for you to study at night when nobody can disturb you, then consider the time for your sleep during the following day. On the other hand, if mornings give you fresh energy, then don’t stay up late. The earlier you go to bed the earlier you wake up. Consequently, the more time you’ll have for revision.

Stay Meticulous About the Materials

Usually there are a lot of things you need to be ready with for another exam. That’s why you should learn some tips on working with a big amount of information effectively when you have little time.   

• Start from the earliest units: it is important to organize the materials which you have to revise for your exam in the most convenient and reasonable order; so, it’s better to begin with something you learnt a month ago moving gradually to the recent material.
• Try to logically connect the facts, numbers or rules, which you revise, so that they all could be somehow related to or associated with each other. Make sure that you can understand and explain most of them because cramming won’t work well actually. You can waste your precious hours on memorizing things you don’t understand and you still can fail to remember them during the exam.
• Don’t hesitate to make trots or other notes while you revising. If once again you have a quick look at the life example mentioned above, it may persuade you of how useful they appear to be. Indeed, for me personally who prepared them quite often but hardly ever got a chance to apply to their help writing my paper was still all right because I could remember what I had written in those trots.

Become a Neat Person

Some of my teachers said that when there was a mess on a student’s desk, there had to be the same mess inside the student’s head. Despite the fact that I’ve always been a supporter of creative clutter at my workplace, I can’t but agree that cleanliness and order do benefit to good mood when studying. So, if you can’t make anything about your pens and highlighters, which scatter all over your room, then try not to leave dirty cups or pencil shavings on your table for a long time.   

Consider What You Eat

You should remember that you don’t have to force yourself to eat if you feel that you really don’t want to. Stress can greatly influence your appetite, so you should listen to what your organism tells you but not to persuasions of your caring nearest and dearest. Nevertheless, you still need some healthy and nutritious food to survive. Let it be something light but full of vitamins and minerals. Besides, it should be something really tasty to cheer you up while you’re bending your head over your books, notes or laptop with all materials. So, try not to deny yourself dark chocolate, fruit, dried fruit and vegetables, dairy products, pasta and potato, rice and oatmeal.

Again, basing on my personal examination experience, I can say that with such delicious and nutritious kind of help writing my paper didn’t seem so frightening to me. On the contrary, a good light breakfast always made me feel calmer and more confident in my knowledge and skills. However, maybe that’s just because I’m a true foodie. 

Fill Your Brain and Blood with Fresh Air

A few minutes of doing light physical exercises or a short walk (if the weather is nice) will make your exam preparation much more effective. Definitely, the pressure on your brain is very high, but the most serious thing is that you don’t have much time to let it have some rest. That’s why you should pay great attention to physical activity and spend at least 10 minutes every 2 or 3 hours just on wandering around your room if you aren’t a big fan of exercising. Due to the features of the human organism, any kind of movement will fill your blood with oxygen, which is so essential for your normal life activity. It its turn, blood carries some oxygen to your brain, therefore providing it with a portion of fresh energy.

Set the Regular Time to Sleep

Forget about energy drinks and caffeine pills. Their side effects are unpredictable. Sound and regular sleep is what you need. Taking into account your personal preferences for the studying time, which have been just mentioned above, and the respective circumstances of your life, set the particular time to rest calmly. Let it be 3 or 4 hours at night (however, try to have a longer sleep before the day of the test) and, if you have such opportunity, a few hours during the day. By the way, don’t forget about some light physical exercises to make yourself wake up. Washing your face and making a cup of your favorite tea/coffee/chocolate/etc. go without saying.  

Keep in Touch with Those Who You Love and Respect

Getting ready for an exam together with someone else is always a great way to revise a lot of things very quickly and effectively. With my good old friend’s help writing my paper on most of exams wasn’t that stressful. Sometimes I could also ask my parents to explain me something I didn’t understand. Besides a piece of advice, I also received great support and faith in myself.  

So, ask your friends to prepare for the exam together. Don’t hesitate to ask your teachers or professors as well as your nearest and dearest to give you some advice or recommendations.  

Remain Optimistic

Whatever opinions and concerns you hear from your group mates, stay sure of your own knowledge and skills. Why should somebody else’s fears bother you? So, don’t forget to take a spare pen/pencil and a bottle of water with you, stroke your pet before leaving your house and smile to the coming challenge.

Good luck!