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Schools closed last week and while most holidays are meant for students to unwind, however, for Grade 7, O and A-Level students this is time to prepare for impending examinations.
In this regard this instalment will focus on tips that such students can use in their preparations.
Creating an environment for learning
Make sure you are studying in a clean, quiet and orderly room
This may necessitate leaving your house. Public libraries are usually a good option. Be aware that food is likely not allowed and you will be expected to keep the silence.

Turn on the light!
Studying in a dark room is not recommended. Add lamps at night, or in the daytime, open the window coverings (open the window a little, too). People tend to study and focus better in a brighter, oxygenated room with little noise.

Turn the TV off
Some people like to have the TV on quietly in the background. This can cut both ways in that it can distract you from time to time, but also can help you to continue studying.

It may be beneficial to begin studying with the TV on in the background, and then turning it off once you’re under way.
The combination of visual and audio stimuli will likely reduce your studying performance, as it makes it more difficult for your brain to prioritize information acquisition (rapidly swapping attention between studying and watching TV).

Decide if music is right for you
The effect of music on memory performance varies between individuals. Some studies have found music to aid the memory performance of individuals with ADD/ADHD, while reducing it in individuals without the disorder.

Music can be motivating (making studying more enjoyable) while still detracting from memory performance. You must determine whether you’re better off with or without it. If you cannot bring yourself to study without music, it may be worth the minor negative effect it can have on memory.

If you absolutely must listen to music, find instrumental music so that the words in the music don’t interfere with your studying.
The idea that listening to Mozart or classical music makes you smarter or keeps information in your brain, by the way is a total myth.

Get plenty of rest the night before
Children in elementary school require on average 10-11 hours of sleep for optimal performance, while adolescents in high school require between 8-10 hours of sleep on average.

Poor sleep has been found to accumulate (referred to as “Sleep debt”); in order to make up for prolonged poor sleep habits, several weeks of daily optimal sleep may be required to return to optimal performance.

Don’t consume caffeine, or any other stimulating substance (i.e Ritalin) any less than 5-6 hours prior to sleeping. Such substances reduce the efficiency of sleep, meaning that even with sufficient sleep time, you may not feel well rested upon waking.

Eat a healthy, light meal
Eat a balanced breakfast full of lean protein, vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. A sample breakfast might include a spinach omelet with smoked salmon, whole wheat toast, and a banana.

Studying efficiently
Find the right hours
Don’t study when you’re really tired. It’s better to get a good night’s sleep after studying for a short time, than to push on at two in the morning. You won’t remember much and you’re likely to see a performance drop the next day.

Start as early as possible
Don’t cram. Cramming the night before is proven to be ineffective, because you’re taking in so much information at once that it’s impossible to memorise it at all – in fact, you’ll hardly retain anything.

I know it’s been preached to you many times before, but it’s true: Studying before and going over it multiple times really is the best way to learn the material. This is especially true with things like history and theoretical subjects.

Always study when you have the chance. Don’t let your mind tell you that you don’t want to study.

Study for your learning style
If you’re a visual learner, using pictures can help. Auditory learners should record themselves saying notes and recite it afterwards.
If you are a physical person lecture to yourself (out loud) while also using your hands or moving around; this way it will be easier for you to memorise.

Different subjects call for different studying
If its math you’re studying for, work on the problems. Don’t just read over it like you would for a history class, because you can actually do math, but you can seldom do history.

Working problems out will help burn them into your mind, and remember: if you can’t solve the problem before the exam, you won’t be able to solve it on the exam either.

For subjects based on calculations, it is important to do questions because this is essentially how you are going to be tested.

Think of your teacher
Ask yourself: What is my teacher most likely to ask on the exam? What materials should I focus on to give myself the best chance of knowing what I need to know?
What trick questions or wrinkles could my teacher introduce that might throw me for a loop? This may help you focus on the most important information, rather than getting stuck on things that might not matter as much.

Ask for help
If you need help, ask someone who is good at these subjects. Friends, family, teachers are all good options.
If you don’t understand what the person helping you is communicating, don’t be afraid to ask them to elaborate.

Asking teachers for help conveys your commitment to the material, and can be helpful in the future as well as with your exams.
Always remember to ask your teachers if you do not know what she is talking about or if you need more information. The teacher will gladly help.

Various university facilities are at your disposal and you probably don’t even know it.
There are usually personnel who are trained to help you cope with stress, answer study-related questions, give you study tips and other forms of guidance. Just visit your uni website or ask your professor what help is available.

Pay attention while you’re learning to begin with
Make sure you actually pay attention in class. You wouldn’t want to miss something that will be tested. Listen carefully, because teachers often give hints like “The most important thing about this topic is . . . ”

Or they may just place emphasis on certain words and issues. This is the real key to testing well. The more you absorb the information early on, the less studying you’ll need to do.

Organising your learning
It is always a good way to relax as much as you can before you begin to have your study.
Before you start studying you have to get a good focus on the objectives of your work. Ask yourself, what do you intend to accomplish? (Thus, you should aim to read as many as you can in an hour.)

This aim is intended to make your mind more active in your learning. And it would be based according to your strengths and weaknesses. Well, always set goals that are possible and realistic.

Plan ahead
Always create a plan before you start studying. Remember that this plan has to be achievable. If 3 out of 5 lessons are easy and can be finished fast, finish them first, so you can spend quality time on the difficult lessons without fretting. Small tricks like these will help you complete your portions quickly.

Create a timetable
Budget your time wisely to ensure that you cover all the topics covered
in the exam. Remember to take regular breaks and get out and exercise.

Always begin at precise time you had planned.
If you would study for a continuous period, plan a few short breaks into the time. This is the way to have a valuable rest for your eyes and mind. Have a focus; do not think any distracting ideas as you are studying.

Do some research on the exam
Finding out who is writing the exam can be helpful. This way, you might be able to understand what sort of questions will be used (i.e: short answer, essays, multiple choice, etc.).

You can ask your teacher what format the test will be in, how it will be graded, if there are any opportunities for extra credit, and if they would be willing to talk to you about highlighting in your notes what the most important broad subjects will be. Just do not put all your time into finding out who the exam writer is.
Write yourself a study guide

Go through your notes and rewrite the most important information. Not only will this give you a more focused way to study, but it creating it is another form of studying!

Just don’t spend too much time on the guide itself: you need to have time to go over it too!

Use your notes
Rewriting your notes is great if you’re a kinesthetic learner. Mind mapping is the most effective way of doing this.
Also, when you re-write something, you will probably think about what you are writing, what it’s about, and why you wrote it down.

Most importantly, it refreshes your memory. If you took notes a month ago and just found out that those notes will be relevant in your exam, rewriting them will remind you of them when you need it for your exam.

When you are finished studying one page of your notes, before you move on to the next page, ask yourself questions relating to the material on that page to see if you have remembered what you just studied.

It also helps to say the answers to your questions out loud as if you were trying to explain it to someone else.
Memorising things sometimes does not help. You learn, not recite from memory, so make sure you understand what you are trying to learn.
Don’t simply copy your notes over and over again. This tends to lean towards memorising the exact wording of your notes instead of the actual concepts.

Instead, read and think about the contents of your notes (such as think of examples), and then re-word them.

Take breaks
You need some time to have fun and it is better to revise when you are feeling relaxed than to exhaust yourself studying all day!
The only caveat is, you need to avoid procrastination. Carefully structure your break and study time. Usually, 20-30 minutes of study and then a 5 minute break is the most effective method.

If you have trouble bringing yourself to study, instead of long uninterrupted sessions, chunk your work into 20 minute periods, taking a 10-minute break at the end of every period.

You can vary this time to your comfort (i.e 45 minute periods with 20 minute breaks), though try to keep the ratio of more work over break time.

Make sure that you structure
the chunks logically so that you’re not breaking up concepts across chunks, as this may make it more difficult
to remember concepts in their entirety.

Think positive but work hard
Never think you won’t be able to pass the exam. Always think positive. If you say you can: you can.

If you say you can’t: you can’t. Have faith that you will pass this exam. Self confidence is important. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t study hard.
You still need to work at it, even if you have confidence in yourself. Confidence just keeps away roadblocks to success.

Be positive by using affirmations. Use and repeat positive words like confident, capable, good memory recall whenever any negative thought comes.
Work with others

Arrange study dates at a library with your friends to compare notes or explain things the other one might not understand. Working with other people can help you cover gaps in your own knowledge and also help you remember more information, since you may have to explain things to them or have conversations about the topic.

If you ask for help from others, don’t joke around. Concentrate on what you are doing. – Wikihow.