From someone who recently finished her first exam season of uni

And passed, ofc.

I usually don't have trouble with focusing, but things can get overwhelming - and when they do you need a system in place to stay calm and in control!

Here are 5 things that helped me:
1. find your learning style (link for an online quiz below)
2. hype yourself up with music, study-inspo content
3. study with friends
4. practice the way you're going to be examined
5. make other plans for the day


1. find your learning style
As someone who tends to switch between different study techniques in hopes of learning everything quicker - find your learning style and stick to it. You can start with a simple test, for example, the one I did:
http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml
For some people it will be visual, some will learn better by reading and writing and some just need to have something to fidget in hands.

Also, for all my girls, I've seen a video on Tiktok from @yeetusstudy where she explained that the stem research to do with studying and study techniques has mainly been done on men!! Naturally, we have different hormones and won't be able to study the same way every day. She explains more in the video.

In short, get to know yourself and what works and what doesn't. Rereading and rewriting have been proven to be one of the most ineffective and passive learning techniques, yet my best friend says it's the only way she can learn.

On the other hand, I need to make a mess when studying. If I could, I would ideally have a real-life limitless board where I could write in all directions, connect everything into a huge mind map and have all information visible at all times.

I think there still might be generally more effective and less effective techniques, however, if something isn't working for you it's a clear sign to try something different.




2. hype yourself up with music, TikTok study inspo videos and Pinterest
Songs like "Are You Satisfied?" by MARINA, "studytok" and "studygram" are perfect to give you a little push to get you started. You have to make it fun for yourself, romanticise it!

I have a board on Pinterest called "studying isn't that bad when you think about it" - because it isn't. Learning should be interesting. If you'd like to see the board the username is @nelacupic

You'll have to go through the exam season either way - the least you can do for yourself is make it a game, create a playlist you'll listen to only before studying and get inspired on social media (where you spend most of your time anyhow, might as well make it useful).

What I've also done is I started posting "study inspo" and "productivity" content on social media to keep me going. It was an extra push and satisfaction to, after a long day, post a "cute" little video and be reminded of my progress. But at the same time to film that type of content I had to be constantly doing something.

If none of that's working for you, try thinking how cool it would be if you could relax a little when the exam season comes around because you were putting in the effort consistently beforehand.

Organise yourself so you hand everything in before due time, study when it's not yet fully stressful and show up on the exam day rested and feeling calm and secure.



3. study with friends
Pretty self explanatory.
Not all subjects are for studying with others, but for example, subjects that require problem-solving like math, physics or finance are a lot more bearable when practised with others. You get to hang out while you're doing the work.

If you get stuck on a problem you can immediately ask your friend and that saves you an absurd amount of time you'd usually spend stressing out on your own.

For theory, on the other hand, I wouldn't recommend studying with others, at least not right away. Later on, it's useful to quiz each other and explain concepts to each other, but at the beginning, I think most of us prefer to go over the material alone.

Although, if you don't understand something from the theory - did you know you can get answers just by asking a lot of questions? Who would've thought?
The sarcasm was necessary because most of us don't ask enough questions and we like to pretend like we understand everything out of fear of being perceived like we're not "smart enough", but the thing is, the more questions you ask, the more concrete information you will get and the less room for doubt there is.

I know certain professors aren't fond of having to explain the same information multiple times, however, it is your right to ask. In this case, do come prepared. It's not okay to waste other people's time out of ignorance or not doing your part of the work, however, if there's something you can't seem to understand on your own, ask!!

It's better to look "dumb" before the test than after..

This is something I've only started practising lately and truly wish I started earlier.
Here, at NHL Stenden where I'm studying - everyone highly encourages you to ask about anything refreshing and helped me to start letting go of the fear of "looking dumb".

So study with friends and ask a bunch of questions!



4. practice the way you're going to be examined
If you have a presentation you're not going to be preparing the same way you would for a test. You should look at types of exams the same way. If your exam is going to be taken on a computer - don't practice only on paper. If your exam is going to be multiple choice questions - try to test yourself the same way beforehand.

If your professor has a signature style on how we concept the exam - keep it in mind when studying!! If you have practice sheets from class as preparation for the exam - go over them!!

Example and how I failed to practice this principle:
In high school, our History professor always had the same concept for his tests. We had a couple of questions to connect dates with the events, a couple of questions to explain a term and a couple of questions to connect a person to an event.
That wasn't all, but it was the most of it. With this in mind, you'd think that I was being efficient and studied exact dates, people and terms. However, I was trying to memorise everything, with no strategy on what is the most and least important and oftentimes created long documents with note summaries of everything.
That would be a good preparation for a written essay exam, but for what we had it was excessive and useless.

Of course, starting on time and sitting down to study for a long enough time will give you results - that's undeniable, however, there are always better or worse ways to do it.

Next time you sit to study think of how is the test going to be constipated and let that guide you. Even if it seems less familiar and rewriting and reading everything seems easier - keeping in mind how you're going to be examined, in the end, saves time and brings better results!


and lastly:


5. make other plans for the day
To be fair, how can a full day of *only studying* ever be a good idea?
The least you should do is squeeze in a workout. No matter if it's a full gym session or a light walk to clear your mind, exercise gives you energy, dopamine, endorphins and the adrenaline rush to help you power through and stay sane.

I wouldn't recommend overpacking your schedule which leads to even more stress - but a plan to "head out at 5 pm" or "relax with some Youtube/or a movie at 7 pm" or "go out for dinner" or a little treat - all of these are plan that shouldn't put additional pressure but rather something to look forward to and work more efficiently for during the day!

If you feel like that could never work for you as "you need to be more productive" - plan a study session in the evening so that you'd still have to put in the work during the day and then you can finish the day in a more relaxed study setting where you get to fill in any possible weaknesses in your knowledge and have some "productive fun".

I work a lot more efficiently if I put on my workout clothes at 10 am and tell myself "as soon as you finish you get to get out" even if that means sitting like that for 8 hours before I workout. It's a constant reminder not to slack.

I've had so many times when I'd be in my sweats, sit on my couch for a "quick break" and end up scrolling for an hour. It passes by dangerously fast. But when I have a constant reminder that I want to do something else, that's going to bring me more value than scrolling - you already know it's all I need to sit back on my desk and finish the work.



With all that said, I hope anything resonates with you or encourages you to make some positive changes.

These were a few pointers that helped me this semester and I wish I prioritised sooner.
If you liked these you can let me know and I'll make a part two. You already know I have more to say;)

Thank you for reading, hope to have you here again and good luck on your exams!! <3