I have spent many a month of my life revising and so would like to think of myself as a bit of an expert at it. As much as we all loathe it, it is just one of those things that we have to get on with and hope it all pays off in the end. I recently started revising for my mocks, which are this week and next week, and to be honest I feel as though I have got revision down to a T. It has taken me a long time to get to this point so I thought I would share my top revision tips to try and help you guys get there a bit faster than I did…
1. Make sure you have had plenty of sleep, it will make your brain far more receptive to learning. If you get sleepy whilst you are revising then have a break, or chill for a while, it will make the revision you do afterwards far more productive! That leads nicely onto my next point…
2. Have regular breaks, this is so important and can really help you reboot for your next session. I don’t timetable my breaks, I just have them when I feel I need to, which is when my concentration starts to wane and I start to think about other things.
3. Make a list of all the topics you need to cover, not only will this help you plan your time more effectively but it is also so satisfying to be able to tick them off when you have done them. Yes this sounds stupid, but don’t knock it until you have tried it.
4. Drink plenty of water. I always find that if I have a glass of water, and drink it whilst I am revising, then I can revise for a longer period of time without needing a break. Don’t ask me why, there must be some scientific reason.
5. Track how long you have to go until your exams, it will help you know how much you need to do each week/day. You can do this with a revision timetable, which is something I would really recommend making, especially for GCSEs where you have a thousand and one different subjects to try and revise for.
6. Work out what time of day you work best at. For me it is mornings and from about 4 onwards, I really struggle to work in the afternoon. Once you have worked it out revise at these times, it will make life a lot easier for you.
7. Eat well. I know this sounds odd but if you eat a load of rubbish when you are trying to revise it makes it harder. If you eat healthily, you will feel more healthy in yourself, and therefore probably be more efficient in your revision. I know this certainly applies to me.
8. Make time for exercise, it is a great stress reliever and can give you a boost, making you feel awake and ready to work. It is great to go out and get some fresh air, go for a walk or a run, or even just play an active game, such as Just Dance.
9. Take time to relax. You shouldn’t work 24/7 because it will likely make you less efficient. I like to stop revising a few hours before I go to bed and just chill, to let my brain wind down before I go to bed. If I revise right up to bedtime I really struggle to get to sleep.
10. Have your own workspace. Make it somewhere quiet and out of the way so you can just leave your stuff as it is at the end of a session and pick up from where you left off when you resume.
I hope these are useful tips and although you have probably heard some of them before I can tell you from experience that all of these tips are things that I do and they genuinely help me to make my revision the best it can be.
Love Holly x