November 28, 2012, by Ollie

The Christmas Countdown!

I’d like to apologise for the late postage of this blog and hope you readers haven’t bitten through your fingernails in anticipation… but here it is! I will make be making up for the ‘missed’ blog and posting another this week, on time! I’m finally understanding the life of a University student, and it is sadly not all about partying! In the last week I have been time stamping numerous pieces of assessed work, somewhat unsuccessfully, because I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get the stamp the right way round and been quite frankly all over the place trying to meet deadlines – which I have just about made!

Although my time was stretched I managed to find the time to head out into Nottingham this weekend and see the Christmas fair. There are some fantastic little shops selling hot peas, venison burgers and crepes, all good food that will warm you up on the cold winter nights we are experiencing. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” and no it is not too soon to listen to Fairytale of New York by The Pogues! (all time favourite Christmas song)

So as we’re about to plunge into December a time to be jolly and be full of Christmas cheer! Alas for a University Student it is no longer a time of completely putting your feet up. This festive period as ever will be filled with revision. I myself, have and fear always will be, a ‘Last Minute Master’ when it comes to coursework and I always find it incredibly tough to sit down at home and revise BUT I’ve survived so far by following my revision tips and I wanted to share them with you!

Of course this won’t be for everyone but I encourage you to think for a little while about what does work for you.

1. The most important thing is to REWARD YOURSELF. You can’t force your brain to learn when it is overloaded. Take regular breaks, watch that programme your dying to watch and then turn to work afterwards. If you don’t stop and do other things your brain will be thinking of anything and everything but revision and you’ll basically be wasting your time as revision won’t go well and you’ll have missed out on the fun things you could have done!

2. Employ an ENFORCER to keep an eye on if you are actually revising or not. Making your revision plans known to a parent or friend means there is somebody nagging you to sit down and get on! Sometimes this is what it takes!

3.  Whilst studying CHANGE ROOMS. The change of environment is enough to stop the boredom from setting in for a bit longer.

4. Notes vs Reading vs Listening. Know what TYPE OF LEARNER you are. Google any online test if you are not sure and then work with your own strengths. If we had all the time in the world, we could make all the notes in the world, record them and listen to then and read them back over a million times, but unfortuanetely time is limited, so do what works best for you, not what you think may be seen as doing more! Making amazing notes is good but time-consuming. Reading a revision guide or previous notes means you can go over the ‘stuff’ many more times!

5. When working have LIGHT DISTRACTIONS. I find that if I sit in silence my brain goes into overtime and does not focus on revision. With gentle distractions it’s just the one distraction and the revision. Music that doesn’t have words (especially Ludovico Einaudi’s I Giorni) often helps me block out a lot of distractions and focus more on revision. Sometimes just sticking in headphones and listening to nothing tricks me into concentrating more!

6. Last but not least. Plan a TIMETABLE, even if you don’t stick to it on one day you will know you haven’t done what you should have and will feel so bad until you eventually catch it up! Guilt trip yourself!

Not wanting to end on a glum note I’d like to share this with you.

 

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