How to stay organized during exam season and survive it

The end of the academic year is just around the corner, and that can only mean hand-ins, revision, final papers, final exams, etc. It is a period that becomes a time of saturation and stress for many students. However, knowing how to get organised for studying during final exams and avoiding the most common mistakes can help students not to die trying. 

The first and most obvious step is to be clear about what and how you are going to be assessed in each subject, as not all exams are the same. To be clear about this, make a list or table for all subjects about the type of exam, the date, the papers or deliverables that must be handed in beforehand and how the mark will be weighted in the end.

Once you have made this list or table you will be able to plan your time better and apply the different study techniques in each subject. On the other hand, if the exam is practical, it is best to spend time doing practical exercises or expositions out loud to get the tone you want for the day of the exam.

One of the most common mistakes of many students is to dedicate the same time to all the subjects without taking into account which are more complex or the difficulty of some or others. For this, distributing the study time in a strategic way will allow the student:

• Dedicate the necessary hours to each subject, depending on its difficulty or if they have more extensive content. 
• Create a weekly content devoting the required time to each subject. 
• Reserve additional time for each subject in the days prior to the exam to review and reinforce what has been memorized and learned. 

*Remember that one hour of concentration is worth more than three hours with distractions, so we encourage you to make the most of your concentration time and make it shorter in order to have a perfect balance.

As you have just read in the previous point, it is better to dedicate one hour of concentration to the maximum than three hours with distractions. Therefore, it is essential to dedicate and respect the moments of rest to obtain a good organization. 

To respect these times, there are different techniques such as the Pomodoro technique that consists of studying 25 minutes and resting 5, and every four cycles make a longer break of 15-30 minutes. It is important to choose, during these breaks, to walk, stretch, drink water or simply disconnect the mind. 

On the other hand, respecting the hours of daily sleep is essential for your body to have the necessary energy to face the final exams, so it is important to prioritize the hours of sleep and avoid staying up late just before the exams.

Even if you have a good memory, having all the organization in your head can generate more stress or anxiety. To avoid this, it is highly recommended to use visual organizers to help you observe the whole process and make the necessary adjustments. 

From this point on, each student should use the method that works best for him or her, since there are different tools to get organized to study for final exams. Some of the most commonly used tools are the following:

• Monthly or weekly calendar with the dates of final exams and deliveries.
• Checklist or to-do list for each subject.
• Productivity apps such as Notion, Trello or Google Calendar.
• Color coding methods (setting each color for a task/exam).

Having a good organization and planning throughout the course is essential, but especially in these last weeks of the course where everything comes together and can generate more chaos. This will also help you to avoid forgetting possible day-to-day assignments.

It is inevitable to want to cover a lot in a short time, but this can only generate frustration and anxiety. In addition, if you have a good organization and planning, you should set specific and realistic goals in order to make progress. At this point in the course, it is better to have small goals that you can achieve than big goals that you cannot reach. On a personal level, crossing off small achievements or tasks will give you a sense of accomplishment and will motivate you to face these more intense weeks of the course. 

Knowing how to organize yourself to study for final exams also avoids practices that waste your energy or time such as:

• Leaving everything to the last day, since studying against the clock generates greater stress and reduces information retention. 
• Wanting to review all the content without prioritizing what is most relevant can waste your time.
• Studying without breaks may seem, at first glance, more productive, but it decreases cognitive performance. 
• Applying methods that work for others. This will not always work, since everyone is different and what works for others may not work for you, so it is essential to know which method works best for you and adapt it to your study routine.
• Studying while you have distractions in the background prevents real concentration, so it also wastes your time.

In addition to knowing how to organize yourself to study for final exams, it is important that as a student you know the different study techniques for university students:

• Pomodoro technique: study in blocks of 25 minutes and rest for 5 minutes. After four cycles take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. This technique helps improve concentration and prevents mental fatigue.
• Feynman Technique: explain what you have learned from a concept in your own words so that you can teach it to someone with no previous knowledge. This allows you to understand what you are studying and prevents you from simply studying by memorizing. 
• Mind maps: visualize the connections between the different topics of the subject. It is a very useful technique to apply in more theoretical subjects or with dense content. 
• Flashcards: these are quick question/answer cards to review key concepts. This technique can be used with apps such as Quizlet. 
• Exam simulation: Recreate a real exam to gain confidence and measure the time you will need to take it. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the exam and also helps to reduce the nerves of the real thing. 

Now that you know the different tips and techniques, you know how to organize yourself to study for the final exams. From Unihabit we want to wish good luck to all students in this final stretch of the course!