Exam Preparation: 10 Best Study Tips You Must Follow

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how to study for exams

Exams are coming up, so you must have tensed and worried about how to study for exams, right? Your whole session study and your exam preparation really matter to get success in your exams. And, If it’s your final exam then you must be thinking to give your super best in this exam and score great marks.

So, if you’re looking for study tips for exams that will boost your preparation then in this article I have listed 10 tips that you really need.

Handpicked related: What to do if you’ve failed a test?

Without any ado, let’s jump straight into our tips:

1. Set the stage:

To study effectively for your exams and be a disciplined student, first, you should set the stage. Once you set the stage, you won’t get distracted easily while studying.

By means of setting the stage, you have to do 3 things:

  • Find a dedicated place for study- A dedicated and distraction-free place for study can sharpen your mind and make your mood for your study.
  • Use a Study Table and Chair- Instead of studying in bed or couch, use a study table and chair that will help you to concentrate better on you study and keeps you away from back and neck pain.
  • Avoid your entertaining gadgets- While studying you may have distracted many times because of your phone, television, and other entertaining gadgets, so make sure either switch off these gadgets or else throw them away from your study room just before studying.

Doing these things will help you to stay focused only on your study and exam preparation.

Read also: Why do students get low marks even after studying hard?

2. Make a study plan for exams:

Giving yourself enough time to study and cover the whole syllabus on time, you should make a good study plan. Here is my personnel guide:

Make a list of all the subjects/chapters that seem important for your exams. If you get a syllabus for the exams, you can use it. Now make a circle to the subjects /chapters that you haven’t studied yet and cross all the subjects that you have prepared. If you finish any subject/chapter from the list, make a cross on it, that will motivate you to complete the rest of the syllabus on time. This will work as a to-do list.

After doing this, you can easily figure out how long you should study daily to complete the entire syllabus before the exams. However, starting your preparation early and using all your free time for exam preparation can make you free from studying just before the exam, which is important though.

3. Stop procrastinating:

Procrastination is a common disease that many students are suffering from. In fact, a study has shown that 80 to 95 percent of college students engage in procrastination.

It might look familiar to you: “I will study in the evening and when the evening comes you say, I’m feeling hungry, I’ll study the whole night and then you procrastinate again at night by saying, I’m feeling sleepy, I must wake up early and study“. Stop making excuses for yourself with your study even when you have exams coming up.

The best way to beat procrastination is to make your study interesting, and enjoy whatever you study. Once you love to study, you’ll never want to procrastinate. Understand each topic sincerely and go deep into it. Don’t just study for exams, study to gain knowledge, otherwise, you’ll find your study boring.

Here are a few more tips to enjoy your study and beat your procrastination:

  • Fix a time to study daily
  • Use some Study Techniques
  • Listen to music while studying
  • Don’t study only in the study room, Coffee cafes, Parks, or libraries can also be good places for studying.
  • Reward yourself for a good study session

4. Discover your own learning style:

So how do you like to study, alone or with friends? See both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Now here you have to decide where you can focus more and be productive more in your study because some students like group studies, they say they learn many things while studying, however, some students believe they get distracted easily in group studies. So, you better know which learning environment suits you during exam times.

With that, discover also which learning medium you should focus on. If I had to understand a topic then I used to watch video lectures on YouTube because I would understand easily there. If you get stuck in any problems or theory, you may also take help from your friend or teacher, or you can also do what I used to do. Just find, where you can understand easily and better.

Read also: 11 Bad Study Habits that you must avoid this year!

5. Study with notes more than your textbooks:

Why do we take notes in class, you ever think? Our textbook’s languages are too hard to understand and to convert it into easy language we take notes in class. Even writing notes by hand generally improves your understanding of the material and helps you remember it better.

So study with the notes that you made in class. In any case, if you don’t have notes then you can take your friend’s notes or else download notes from the internet. With the notes, make use of diagrams, flashcards, graphs, and flowcharts which will make some concepts easier to learn and retain.

Whatever it is, don’t open textbooks when you study for exams unless you absolutely have to.

6. Take breaks regularly while studying:

I have seen many students who study for long hours continuously without taking even a 5 minutes rest. It’s good to study for long hours when you’re coming up but taking breaks is not a good thing, not only it can harm you physically and mentally but also you can’t be much productive as you think.

So it is better to take breaks regularly while studying. You can follow the Pomodoro technique or 120/20 study techniques both are good for time management. Must avoid your phone until your one Pomodoro get completes.

In breaks, you can do these activities:

  • Use your phone and check updates
  • Take a small nap
  • Do a 10-minutes workout
  • munch on snacks

7. Review what you studied:

Yes! You hear right. And this tip would be very beneficial when you study for exams.

how to study for the exam

After completing your study for a day, take time to review and test yourself on how sincerely you studied and how much knowledge you have successfully grabbed after studying.

But how actually you should do this?  

Well for this, either you can make a note and write all the topics’ names with a brief summary about what you studied today or else think in your mind directly and explain yourself what you studied.  

The second option I often used to do at night. This thing helped me to keep remember something for a long period of time and not forget easily. So, try this and see the result.

8. Solve previous year’s question papers:

Previous year’s questions help you to give an idea about upcoming questions; because of this, you can easily understand the question format and practice well. Even sometimes, some questions can be repeated in your exam. Apart from this, there are so many benefits to solving previous year’s papers.

Solve the previous year’s question paper only when you have prepared enough for your exams otherwise, it can down your confidence and you won’t be able to solve all questions. Also, remember, when you solve a previous year’s paper, treat it as an old exam and challenge yourself with the time because in exams you will have less time.

You can also join a practice test class for your exam to boost your preparation. Practice tests help you to get a clear reflection of the part of the syllabus you need to focus more on it builds your confidence. And if you have exams fear or any stress then it must take you out.

9. Take good care of yourself:

During exam days you should take care of yourself more than your parents. So here are some self-care tips that you must follow:

  • Stay away from junk foods and make a healthy diet plan before exams. Eat brainy food that will make you strong mentally.
  • Drink lots of water so that you can keep yourself stay hydrated. Multiple studies have found that drinking water can improve brain function and help your brain work more rapidly. With that, drinking water also helps you to stay awake and feel refreshed while studying.
  • Take a good amount of sleep every day which will help you not to feel tired while studying this will also help you to concentrate better on your study.
  • Don’t take any kind of stress and pressure for your exams. Always be confident, you’re studying harder for your exam, and you can ace your exams.

10. Don’t Cram and pull all-nighter:

study for exams

Studying or cramming for the whole night before the exam can’t make your preparation strong especially when you have less time for exams, it can make you anxious more and you may suffer from test anxiety. Remember, cramming never works.

However, if you’re stressed or feeling tense then remember, exams are not made to fail you, it is just a way to check your knowledge and skills.

So, have fun the day before your exam, watch movies, hangouts with friends, and be ready for the next day (exam day). Make sure you get everything ready well in advance of the exam and don’t leave it on the next day.

Check all the rules and requirements for your exams, and plan your route and journey time, so that you reach on time at the exam center. Here are more guides on how you should spend your day before an exam.

Conclusion: 

If you want to score great marks in your exam then you must have to prepare. There is no shortcut, you have to study for exams effectively and for this, I have shared with you 10 tips that can boost your preparation and get you success in exams.

Now I’d like to hear from you: How do you find this article and all tips?

Best of luck!

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