Exam Study Tips and Halloween Photo Diary

Hi

I haven't post anything for quite awhile and this is due to the excellent experience of Exam Time. Yes, I've been sitting at home trying to remember 6 months of study within a week. Some may read this and think that it would be easy to go over what you've already learnt within a week, that's heaps of time! and yes, it is a fair amount of time but it's also very difficult when you're sitting at home looking at books on statistics when you'd literally rather be doing... well.. anything else. Suddenly house chores become important and you're on your hands and knees scrubbing tiles which you haven't done since last exam period.

But not anymore! Because, I, the queen of procrastination (can you guess that I'm meant to be studying right now?) have some tips for you:

1. Start at least a few days before your exam and do little by little. Not only will your study time per day be shorter, but you'll remember more. Research shows that shorter bursts of study are much more effective than long, last minute cramming. Do Short bursts!

2. Give yourself something to look forward to after you've done a certain amount of study. I let myself have a bag of popcorn while watching youtube videos for the rest of the day after i re-watch two lectures. You may want to modify this, but whatever works!

3. If you start trying to read and you find yourself taking nothing in, do something else for five minutes (get the dishes out of the way) and come back to it. 

4. Get enough sleep. The main thing that can bring down someones ability to learn or do well is lack of sleep. Our brains don't function properly if we're sleep deprived. Even if it's the night before the exam, you're better off studying and then stopping in time for you to get at least 7 hours sleep. 

5. Cramming doesn't really work for anything but multiple choice tests. Your brain can only remember so much in a short amount of time. If you have options to jog your memory and you only have to look for an answer that feels familiar... it may help with multiple choice. but if you're doing essay or short answer exams... the earlier you start your study, the better. This also stands for multiple choice, but especially for essay or short answer. 

6. Relate concepts you need to remember to something familiar. For example,  catecholamines are a neurochemical associated with appetite which triggers hunger. I remember this because it has 'cat' at the start and cats are always wanting food and hungry. Ta Da, memory triggered!

But the main thing to take from this is, start early and study a few hours at a time. Also, remember to sleep and you're good!

NOW for those who may want to avoid study all together (me too) here is a little collage of what I've been up to over the last little while:

I've spent my time making halloween cupcakes, going out to dinner, watching people learn to surf and wishing I could swim at the beach and buying MAC make-up to try out. Needless to say, the MAC make-up was the most exciting. Trying out that 'Kylie Jenner - Whirl' colour!

I hope you've been well - I really need to get a posting schedule happening!

P.S. I'm trying out Bondi Sands new Liquid Gold tan tonight. Slightly terrified mixed with excited.

P.P.S. I'm obsessed with pintrest now. If you want to find me: @katieleeft