It's the third week of trinity term here in Oxford and we are deep into the depths of exam season. Libraries are packed, people are stressed, and my laptop home screen says '6 days until exams' in bold letters. Exam season is full on and stressful, but I have also found it to be boring and even a little lonely. With everyone focused on their revision it seems like everyone feels guilty for having some fun and, especially amongst finalists, no one really has time for any major social activities.
My lovely view during a study session at the Oxford University Natural History Museum.
So far, we have been getting through with library lunch break catch ups and working coffee shop chit chats, but the monotony of just getting up and revising every day is starting to take a toll. Luckily for me, I only have 3 more weeks to get through, one week of revision and then two weeks of exams. I'm lucky in the sense that my exams are done much earlier than my friends, but even so, I am starting to be at the point where facing another past paper is just too much and it takes all my will power to get out the flash cards. Although today is a particular low point, where motivation is on the floor, I've been doing a few things to try and keep myself sane so I thought I would share them on here.
Firstly, exercise. I know not everyone enjoys the idea of heading to the gym but doing a bit of exercise each day has not only helped my mind and body feel better but breaks the day up into chunks rather than endless hours spent sitting in a library. I've actually noticed that all of my friends, rather than stopping exercise to focus on revision, have been going on runs, attending sports club sessions, and or even going for a few swims. This concept is something I have found consistently through my exam related life. Starting with my GCSEs, I opted to continue going to my gymnastics training three times a week rather than stopping during exams as some of my team mates did. Having a gymnastics session planned gave me something to look forward to, kept me active, gave me a break, and most importantly I found it set me a deadline to get all my work done by which made me much more efficient and limited procrastination. I found this happened again during my A-Levels, having a training session at the end of the day really kept me on task during the hours I did have to revise. So I have tried to mimic things during my revision period, although cheer season is over and I only have gymnastics training twice a week, I plan daily gym sessions, runs, or swims. I highly recommend scheduling a run, a walk, a gym session, or a game of badminton into your revision day just to break things up a bit.
This being said, I have signed up for the Town vs Gown 10km on the 12th May. This seemed like a great idea until I discovered my first exam is on the 13th May. I did consider dropping out but I've gone from only just being able to run 3km to running my first sub-60 min 10km last week and the Town vs Gown is something I really want to do. So I just need to make sure I'm exam ready by the 11th instead!
Next, coffee shops. To get me motivated to go do a past paper I really need to romanticise my life, and going to a coffee shop to work seems to do the trick. There is something about putting on a cute outfit, ordering my flat white, and getting my laptop out with the buzz of chatter around me that is much more appealing that sitting in a silent library. This does not work for everyone and I'm aware it can be distracting but I find planning a different coffee shop to go to every few days or so gets me excited to get out the house and get the coffee which in turn means I then have to do the revision. If you're in Oxford, I've been liking the Westgate Costa, Cowley Road G&Ds, Peloton, the Waterstones cafe, and the Larchers on Magdalen Road the best so far, but the great thing is there's so many to chose form.
Finally, having a plan. As I mentioned at the start, I do have an exam count down on my laptop screen which is meant to scare me into doing revision but if I'm being honest that hasn't really worked. I also have an excel spreadsheet with the tasks I want to complete each day and this has been a lot more effective. It means I've been able to schedule in how many past papers I need to do, when I'm going to go over each set of flash cards, and how I'm going to fit revision around my tutorials and other commitments. It means that when I open up my laptop in the morning I can see what I have to get done that day and when I'm really not feeling it, I can see if theres another day when I could fit in an extra past paper instead. I find this works a lot better than randomly deciding what to do each day as it gives me more of an aim and forces me to stay in the library until the tasks for the day are complete..
To finish off, a reminder that it's ok to not be 100% productive each day. Especially at Oxford, you are constantly surrounded by high achieving, driven people and it can be a constant pressure to make sure you are in the library and studying as hard as everyone else seems to be. But it's ok to have a day where you do less, it's ok to take a break. This last weekend I was starting to feel very burnt out. Up until then I had been on top of it with revision and was feeling like I was in a really good place. But over the weekend I found myself just staring at my laptop in the library and having very little motivation to do any work. At first I was frustrated by this but I've come to accept that's it ok to have a day off and making sure I'm not burnt out is way more important that doing that one extra question. So I took Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning off to reset and headed back to the library on Sunday afternoon feeling much better about my work. It really is a good idea to take a break when you need it, and will likely make you more productive in the long run!
Overall, I don't know if I feel ready to sit my exams but I am so ready to have them over and done with so I actually can't wait to get them started. Good luck if you're also sitting exams, and remember they'll be over soon and it'll all be worth it in the end!
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