After five years of high school education and countless pieces of coursework, the end is in sight for GSCE students. But one last hurdle before moving on to college, sixth form or your chosen career is your exams – something not all of us excel at.
There can be a lot of information you're expected to retain ahead of your exams, and if you're anything like me, you can find your memory starts to fail you no matter how hard you study. But cramming in hours of uninterrupted reading through your notes isn't always the best strategy.
In fact, if you find yourself getting distracted with TikTok, then why not try some brilliant tips and tricks to make the approaching GCSE exam season easier? We've stumbled across some brilliant advice on TikTok that your teachers wouldn't necessarily tell you…
Find your motivation
First things first, you need to motivate yourself to actually sit down and begin studying. According to @HUMZ, who has been helping instruct others after taking his own grades from 10 C's to 10 A*'s, he said he was prompted to work hard to make his parents proud and to prove his teachers wrong after they laughed at his mum on parents' evening.
"You need to find your why," he began. "You remember this why, and you remind yourself who and what you're doing this for. Just the thought of this why creates an emotion so strong that now you drag yourself out of bed, you sit at that desk, you do whatever it takes because you know that it is way bigger than just the grades, it's the greatness that comes with it," he said on one of his videos.
Get 8 hours of sleep
You should be fully rested before trying to revise or take your exams – late nights and early mornings are not conducive to healthy or productive studying.
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Get the recommended eight hours of sleep in order to make sure your brain is ready to concentrate.
Consistent morning routine
Once awake, the TikTok star suggests drinking lots of water and doing 10 minutes of exercise or stretches to increase your blood flow.
He then takes a cold shower, which is said to increase alertness and energy levels and release endorphins, which causes feelings of optimism.
Drink water
Drinking lots of water is encouraged throughout the entire day. It not only clears out toxins and waste that impair brain function, but it also creates better cognition and improved memory.
Break up revision sessions
One long study session with no breaks is a recipe for disaster – you're going to get tired, bored and distracted. @HUMZ swears by the Pomodora technique, which suggests two 50-minute revision sessions, each followed by a 10-minute break.
In his case, he uses the break time to take a walk, listen to music and "most importantly avoid checking my phone."
After the third and final 50-minute morning session, he has a full hour for his lunch break which he combines with cold water therapy (which is, of course, completely optional!)
"When you're feeling re-energised after lunch repeat the process and before you know it you've done five hours of revision. Now you've got the rest of the day to do whatever you like."
Write notes out
Reading through your old class notes isn't necessarily enough to commit them to memory. However, if you write them out repeatedly in words or phrases that are short, simple and bite-sized, they're easier to digest.
"Even the morning of the exams I'd be writing them out again, and the muscle memory meant that in the real thing, my hand was answering questions automatically," he joked before adding on a more serious note that the best subjects to do this are: Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, History and Economics.
Happy studying!
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