How to ... Get Into The Revision Mindset

Hey there !

So we're a few months away from final exams ... and it's getting scary and you REAALLLY want to do well but the idea of sitting down to revise sounds about as fun as throwing yourself into a pit of snakes ! Well, that's how I've been feeling for the past few weeks but I've finally worked out how to get myself into the revision mindset ! So now I've worked it out I thought I'd share it with you :)

Step One : Create Your Revision Space 

We've all heard that saying " Tidy room, tidy mind " and it works ! Make a space in your room completely clear so that you have lots of space to work and decorate it with lots of things that inspire you or make you feel happy to put you in  a good mind set ! A few things I have are :

• Fairy lights 
• Crystals 
• A photo of me and my girlfriend 
• insense sticks 

Step Two : Be Prepared 

Make sure you have everything you need; pencil case, paper , text books. EVERYTHING ! If you get up to get a pencil we both know you're not coming back until you've watched the entirety of netflix ;) 

Step Three : Dress Up, Make Up, Hair Up... Whatever Makes You Feel Up ! 

You're not going to be in the right mindset to work when you're in a pair of trackies with bed head . Make yourself look good so you feel fresh and motivated to do well . 

Step Four : Water 

Keep a glass of water ( I like it with ice ) on your desk. Staying hydrated is key to keeping your focus. 

Step Five : Prioritise 

Make a list of everything you need to do and then colour code it for high priority, medium priority and low priority work in that order . 

Step Six : Find Out When You Work Best 

I spent weeks trying to work all day and I literally got nothing done ! I got distracted and bored and for a whole day of misery I barely had an hours work to show for it. And then I realised, I'm a morning person ! So now I'm getting up early in the morning, working 7am - 1pm and then doing what I want to do in the afternoon so I have something to look forward to while I'm working :) 

Step Seven : Meditation Music 

I used to listen to music or have a film on in the background while I worked and it just didn't work because I just ended up distracted. But no one wants to sit in silence for five hours. So now I have meditation music up on youtube and it's brilliant ! I even found some especially to help you study, I'll leave a link here. 

I really hope this helps and I know you're going to great in all your exams so just work hard and believe in yourself ! I'd love to hear what you do to get in the revision mindset in the comments ! 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

P.s. I'm super sorry I've missed Mondays positivity diaries, I had my french speaking exam this week so was revising none stop! I promise there will be one this Monday :) 

How to...Revise

Anndddd... the build up to exam season has begun ! All the revision can be super stressful and it's easy to get absorbed in it. Add on the pressure to get good grades and it's easy to forget that you need a life now, as well as the fantastic one you're promised when you get good grades. Lets face it, if you're miserable and tired and feel like there's no escape from that mountain of revision books blocking you in the house, then your revision effects wont be as positive or affective as if you're calm and happy :) So Today I thought I'd share with you some tips on how to get the most out of your revision !

• Planning ! As boring as it sounds, it's really helpful and motivating to have a revision schedule . Knowing when you need to get up and actually start is a really good way to make sure you .. you know ? ACTUALLY get up and start ;) It's also good to know when you're going to finish partly for the motivation to keep going and partly so that you don't over work yourself ! Don't forget that you need breaks otherwise you're not going to take very much in and sitting staring at a text book for 5 hours doesn't teach you much... trust me I tried ;) I like to work by the 50/10 rule so doing 50 minutes of focused revision and then having a 10 minute break :)

• Don't try and force yourself to do all your revision, for all your subjects in one day. Spread it out ! I like to write the individual bits of revision I need to do on a post it note and I arrange them on my bedroom wall under the days of the week and the system is really simple. If I don't do it them that day,  the post it note moves onto the next day . I soon do the work once I can visually see it piling up :) 

•  Set up your space :) If you have a nice quiet, clean area where you can focus to revise in then it's bound to be more appealing ! It also helps to have lots of lovely new stationary ( Stationary is one of those things I get extremely over excited about ) . The one thing I can't revise without are my paper-mate revision pens. They're £4.99 a pack at W.H.Smiths but worth every penny and great for notes and mind-maps . 

• Eat well and drink LOADS of water! It's pretty common knowledge that it's easier to learn when you're hydrated .... also .. hot chocolate helps ;) 

•  Get some exercise. Seriously I can not express help much it will help just to get out of the house and even just go for a ten minute walk especially if you can't manage to understand something, coming back to it 10 minutes later with a clear head can make that complicated maths equation just fall into place ! Or if you need a longer break then why not go to the gym for an hour or so ! 

• Sleep is your best friend :) There's no point panicking that you haven't done enough because a) you probably have and b) You're not going to learn very much at 2 am ! You'd be better off getting a good nights rest of about 9 hours so you can focus in the morning :)

• Get out of the house ! Find somewhere new to work, like the library or a quiet picnic bench in the park . A change of environment might do you good . 

• Find out what methods work for you :) Not everyone learns the same way so don't panic if your friend has 50 pages of notes because you might be amazing at learning from flashcards and those 50 pages of notes, however much they help your friend might be completely useless to you <3 My favourite methods for revision are condensing down all the information and putting them into mind-maps with all the key facts in :) 

Over all the most important thing is don't panic because that won't get you anywhere :) If you work well and with a positive attitude then I'm sure you'll do great :) Let me know your best revision tips or methods in the comments !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)
Love, Marianne xxx