It’s well known
that a lot of students become hermits during exam time. The horror stories of
people camping out in libraries, and other roommates not leaving their room for
days on end exist – and mostly are true.
In my first
exam period, I spent hours a day in the same room going over and over my
material in a frenzied state. By the time it came to my exam I barely knew what
the sun looked like let alone the latest social dramas.
I hadn’t
managed to understand the concept of balance and when it came to the summer I
certainly suffered for it. To be honest I can’t even conclusively confirm that
all that time spend locked away from other people even made me more productive
or got me better grads. I t depends on what kind of person you are – but some level
of socialization is required (And talking to the pizza delivery man doesn’t
count!).
However, it’s impossible
to not be a social hermit with all the work that university brings – and high school
senior years – I know. I’m not expecting you to go out every night in fact I’d
advise against it. Studying with a headache is next to impossible.
According to
Forbes the relentless
focus on grades is fading as the meaning behind the grade becomes meaning
less and the grades are more based on consumer need than actual grade value. The
current job market is turning away from your GPA and placing more value on the
individual skills that the person brings to the job. The current advice from
the odyssey author
Courtney Lynn Barber is to remove your GPA from your resume after you receive
your first job.
While of course
your GPA will be important if you’re applying to a graduate program like
medical or law school, don’t rely on its importance for jobs outside of the
academic world. 57% of recruiters in a
2015 Jobvite Survey said that your GPA was irrelevant to the job search. In
contrast 88% if recruiters agreed that a ‘culture fit’ was more important and
51% believed that references were very important for a successful candidate.
So, a less iron
grip on your hermit ways when studying can ultimately benefit you. Here are five
ways I like to get myself out of the room and chatting with someone else during
exam time.
1.
Invite someone over to study with you
Inviting
someone over to study with you can be wonderful way to keep in contact with
someone without stressing about losing precious time that you could spend
studying. Having another person with you can encourage some light conversation
to occur while you continue working through whatever task you’re working on.
If you struggle
to remain focus with others set a period for which this person will be over and
work out a set list of tasks that you will get done. It also helps to reward
yourself after the study session, which you can only have if you’ve completed
all those tasks.
Some good
examples of rewards include;
Ø
Going out briefly with your friend afterwards
Ø
Going for a long walk
Ø
A yoga session
Ø
A movie or two episodes of your favorite series
2.
Go out to a café for a set period with someone
Unlike above if
you give yourself a set period where you are not studying and instead focus on
the moment you can find yourself receiving the benefits of both enjoying time
with friends and returning to your studies fully rejuvenated.
It is always
best to plan to spend an hour in a meal with someone plus travel time (for me
that’s half an hour, fifteen minutes each way plus one hour to eat and talk for
a little bit). An hour and a half can be the perfect way to break up the middle
or a reward at the end/beginning of the study day. Sometimes just that simple
break can leave me feeling refreshed and rewarded with a keen focus on what I must
do ahead.
This kind of
break is especially important because a lot of students deprive themselves of
any time away from their studies. This means that they burn out quickly and
often end up wasting hours in front of their computer or tv trying to make
themselves feel less sad and tired. It’s just like quitting sugar and fatty
foods these kinds of activities make us feel happy and it’s not a clever idea
to quit immediately, allow yourself small doses every day so that you can work
for longer.
3.
Join in a live study session
You can find
lots of studyblr youtubers online who run live study sessions. You often sign
up for them beforehand using a google form and then log on at the right time to
participate in the session. These are great opportunities that allow you to
focus on your work with a group of other people, but the chat in the room keeps
you connected to the real world.
These rooms are
also great because you’ll be interacting with a lot of students who are facing
the same struggles as you. This can be a great stress reliever and not leave
you feeling as if you’re the only one who is going through a tough time – you’re
definitely not!
4.
Use social media while studying
In contrary to
the advice of most bogs social media can be a motivating factor for people
while studying. If you can maintain a list of tasks that need to be done and
continue working through them while you scroll through non-active social medias
like Pinterest or Tumblr these can be great ways to keep your mind away from
isolating thoughts and instead thinking positively.
For me using
social medias also makes me feel like the activity is less of a punishment and
more of a way to entertain myself throughout the day. This can be a major
relief during exam time as I know that the studying can feel overwhelming and
be a major demotivating factor for many people.
Other things
that I like to do while studying is to use YouTube to watch videos to provide
some background noise. This creates a nicer atmosphere, much like working in a café,
except that you can pause the noise when it gets too loud.
5.
Study in a public place
Studying
somewhere public not only makes you feel like you must study, because people
will know if you’re not – it can encourage you to remember that there are
things outside of this one exam. The major risk that you run when you choose to
shut yourself in and focus only on your exams is that it is easier to catastrophize.
Catastrophizing occurs when you exaggerate the consequences of one event. For example,
‘if I fail this exam my entire degree will fall through.’ This is a highly
unlikely circumstance, but when you have nothing besides your exams to think
about it is a very easy trap to fall into.
That is why I
recommend trying to study in a public area at least twice a week. If you can
share a table with non-students so that you can see that activities that they
are joining in on.
Best of luck with your studies- and remember
them ore time that you give yourself to study the better off you will be!
Lulu Hensman
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