IB students of the world, are you feeling the stress?
If the answer is YES, you are definitely not alone! Revising for so many exams at once is a huge challenge, so if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, exhausted, and are generally lacking in motivation then don’t worry: IB students worldwide feel your pain! It can be so easy to stop putting your happiness and health first when faced with something as intimidating as IB final exams. Weeks can easily turn into a seemingly endless cycle of revision sessions, late nights, and mini IB breakdowns, with little time to stop and think about anything other than work. BUT, now more than ever it is so important to make sure that you are looking after yourself! Just a little bit of time each day dedicated to self care can make a world of difference to how happy you feel, and how motivated you are to keep working towards your revision goals. The more positive you feel, the more productive you can be: it’s a win/win! With this in mind, we’ve come up with some simple and easy ideas to help keep your spirits high in the run up to exams:
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Treat Yo Self
Make a resolution to treat yourself to one thing that brightens your mood each day. When you’re working this hard, you can afford to indulge yourself a little – you’ve earned it! This doesn’t need to take long or be expensive, and can be tiny things like snacking on your favourite chocolate bar, taking a bubble bath, or buying some fun tea to hydrate your revision sessions. If you feel like it, go for it!
Remember that you are not alone
When you’re spending a lot of quality time with your textbooks, life can start to feel a little isolated. Banish that hermit kinda feeling by getting yourself some study pals! If you’re disciplined enough to not chat throughout, discussing how you would each answer an exam questions is a great revision technique. Better still, making a commitment to work with friends will make you more likely to start work when you mean to. Even silently working with friends, in person or via Google Hangout, can make you feel a lot less alone – you’re in this together!
Make your own light at the end of the tunnel
If at the moment you can’t see life beyond the 2nd May, remind yourself of what you have to look forward to! Print off a calendar beginning on the day after your final exam, and gradually fill it with all of the fabulous ways you plan on spending your freedom! Want to binge on an entire season of your favourite Netflix show in one go? Put it on there. How about spending the whole day lazing in the sunshine and eating ice cream and cake? It’s a plan. For every day that you spend working hard and meeting those revision goals, you earn the right to add to your calendar! And the best part? Come June, you get to do it all. Glorious.
Remind yourself of what you are working for
It’s a lot easier to put in the revision hours when you have a clear sense of what it’s all for. For the next minute, close your eyes and have a think about what it is that you are trying to achieve by studying the IB – do you have a particular university or career in mind? Is there a way in which you’re hoping to grow as a person through this experience? Is there a score you’d like to achieve? Once you’ve got your goal in mind, remind yourself of it regularly! Write yourself cheesy Post-it notes on the back of your bedroom door so that every time you get up to go and hit the books, your goal is at the front of your mind.
Get some shut-eye
Particularly in the final month, it’s crucial to prioritise sleep. Revision is tiring work, and it is far better to go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up well-rested and with a brain ready to absorb more information, than it is to stay up late furiously trying to cram. Try and make sure that you plan to stop working at least an hour before bed, so that you have some time to wind down. It’s also a good idea to establish a routine by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, as this will mean that you are more likely to be able to get to sleep, even when you’re feeling stressed.
It’s a simple as that! Be kind to yourself first, so that you can stay on top form and be ready to show those examiners what you’re made of.
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