Feeling stressed? It’s time to get organised!

Many of you are in the lead up to the final assessments or exams and are likely to be feeling the pressure. Even when things are going well this can be a stressful year, but of course these are no ordinary times and many other factors are contributing to stress in ourselves, our families and communities.

But there are things we can do to ease the stress and feel lighter. Taking charge of our wellbeing is one way that we can reframe our fears and anxieties, after all, this is just one more stage in your life and it is not permanent – it will pass and you will survive.

Knowing this, let’s focus on how to get through these tough times and the small steps we can take to manage our stress and achieve the results we deserve for all of our hard work!

This week we will start with a few tips and tools for organising your time and planning for your upcoming exams so that we can move on to bigger things.

Write a checklist including:

• Exam requirements (including identification and etiquette)
• Location, date and time
• What materials are and aren’t permitted
• Subjects covered
• Relative revision time needed for each subject
• How much time do you have to study?

Manage your time and workload:

• Break down your time into bite sized chunks (30-45 minutes) OR
• Use the Pomodoro technique of 25 minute sessions with 5 minute breaks in between
• Set a goal for each study session (you can check back on this later to see how you went and where you might still need work)
• Schedule in regular breaks, including time for walks, stretching and quiet reflection (not anxious rumination)

Strategies for managing stress/improving wellbeing:

• Look after yourself (eat and sleep well, exercise, stretch your neck, shoulders and wrists, relax and socialise – mediate, listen to music or dance!)
• Celebrate all you have learned and acknowledge that learning is an ongoing journey, the more we know the more we know that we do not know! And that’s a good thing 🙂
• Seek appropriate help if you feel overwhelmed with stress and anxiety
• Avoid procrastinating, it will only add to the stress!
• Get in touch with the Centre to see how we can support you.

I hope this has been helpful and I encourage you to breathe deep and repeat, this too shall pass.