KIS Summary:
- Useful tips on how to plan your time, keep your deadlines in check etc.
- Identify high-yield questions in your exam and target those beofre you move on to other questions.
- The most important thing to take care of is ultimately yourself, so ensure you are doing that even when pressed for time!
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All students will face time pressure during school, whether it be exams, assignments, drafts, group tasks and even homework. This guide will help put your mind at ease, while giving valuable strategies for time management and stress reduction.
Table of Content:
Know your Deadlines
1. Mark the deadlines out
The most important thing throughout school and university studies is knowing your deadlines - without knowing when assignments are due, or when exams are scheduled, you’ll struggle to keep to them.
The best way of course to be on top of this is to have them written somewhere; whether you use a diary, calendar or phone reminders, it doesn't really matter, but it MUST be something that works for you, and it helps if you have everything in the same place.
2. Set a grace period
After you have written your deadlines down somewhere, set a grace period; I personally aimed for 2-3 days of grace before all major deadlines. This means have your drafts written, assignments finalised, revision list covered etc.
For drafts/final assignments, it gives you time to think, re-read as many times as you need to, cut words, change paragraphs, add or subtract things that you change your mind on, and it just cuts out a huge amount of stress.
I also encourage you to use highlighters and mark yourself against the criteria sheet. Make sure you’ve got 2 – if not more – sentences that address each dot point. Having an extra few days after you do this gives you plenty of time to make big or small changes to your assignment.
For exams, the grace period gives you time to look over that concept your mate stressed you out on, do that extra practice paper your teacher gave you, and just relax. If you’ve kept up each week and studied effectively, anything you do the night before, or god forbid the morning of an exam, will not help you at all, so take this time for yourself to relax. Watch a movie, eat with your family, walk the dog; anything except stress yourself out.
The key takeaway here is to know how to plan your time, know when your deadlines are, and work for a few days before them. This will let you plan your time to fit everything in, and when the going gets tough, you’ll feel like you have a extra couple of days to finish everything up if necessary.
Target High Yield Questions First
This one is an exam focused tip, in particular STEM exams: use your perusal time to identify high yield questions and attack them first.
What are High Yield Questions?
Some of you may have been told by your teachers that you should ‘do the easy questions first’, but that's not quite it. The highest yield questions are the ones you are confident with, and also worth the most marks; conversely the lowest yield question is the one you have no idea how to approach, and worth just one mark.
Use your reading time to get a good feeling for which questions you are super comfortable with, the ones that will take some time and effort, and the ones that you’d rather not have to answer.
Then, when the exam time starts, approach the high yield questions first. They might be big questions, but if they are worth a lot of marks and you're comfortable doing them, then it's well worth spending the time on them early while you’re fresh and still have plenty of time on the clock.
You’re unlikely to receive bad advice from your teachers or mentors, but when this high yield strategy was explained to me by a teacher early in year 11, I saw noticeable improvements in both how I felt about exams, and actual performance.
Prioritise Yourself
School can get busy and stressful, especially when you’ve got other commitments, internal and external pressures... the list never ends. Ultimately though, the most important thing is you.
When the going gets tough, it’s important to put yourself first. If you need it, take a break from everything. Be honest with yourself, because it is counterproductive to force yourself through a night of study if you’re not in a good state.
If you don't quite finish that draft, it’s not the end of the world; do not to let that throw out the rest of your schedule and mental health. As cliche as it sounds, Year 12 is a marathon, not a sprint; you can afford to slip up, it’s normal and it’s okay.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, you can't do everything. You’ll need to figure out what's important to you, and put that first. Having a study plan, and the three tips I just providing, can help you manage your time a lot better. If you find that you need additional support to get the grades you want, book a free 30-minute study skills consultation with a KIS Academics tutor today!
For more study tips and resources, check out these KIS Academics articles:
Manoj Arachige
Manoj Arachige
Manoj Arachige
FAQs
How do I create a study plan?
To build a study plan, you should mark out your exam and assignment deadlines, and work backwards from that. Remember that consistency is better than cramming everything at the last minute, so space out your studying. Find out more in this article.
What time management tool should I use?
There are a few different tools you can use; notebooks, journals, calendars, post-it notes etc. Some are better for long-term planning, and others, like the post-it notes, are good for short term reminders. Find out more in this article.
How long should I study in a day?
There is no magic number; you should study the amount that is most effective for you. As long as you covered the content you'd set out to cover, or study till you're too tired to learn anything anymore. Everybody has a different limit, so don't compare yourself to others.
Who can I approach if my mental health is declining?
Always, always, prioritise yourself. If you find that you're not doing well mentally, please speak to your parents, teachers, and/or your school counsellor. Seek professional help if needed, and there are hotlines available for you to call too if you feel uncomfortable talking to people you know.
Written by KIS Academics Tutor Ned Woodgate. Ned is currently studying a Bachelor of Medicine/ Bachelor of Surgery at JCU and is well on his way to becoming a doctor. You can view Ned's profile here and request him as a tutor.
Want more personalized study guidance to help drastically improve your marks? A private tutor from KIS Academics can make the biggest difference!
