How to avoid Christmas distractions and do well in your New Year exams

As soon as the word ‘Christmas’ is mentioned, it’s easy to loose site of reality as even normal everyday tasks get put on the back burner. At a time when Christmas parties, presents, festivities, food and drinking are at the forefront of our minds and our social calendars are full to the brim, our priorities change without us even realising.

With so much hype surrounding Christmas and lots to look forward too, it’s often difficult to find the time to sit down, dig out the books and revise for those New Year exams that seem to creep up on us out of nowhere.

But finding the motivation to actually sit down and get some revision done is also easier said than done at a time when everyone around you is enjoying themselves, over indulging and relaxing.

Having exams in January shouldn’t ruin your Christmas – as hard as it may seem, it is possible to establish a healthy and happy work/life balance and still do well in your January exams. After all, revising too much can be just as unhealthy and detrimental as not revising at all.  Revision doesn’t have to be your worst nightmare, stressful and a chore, getting yourself organised and recognising the amount of work you need to do in order to achieve the grades that you want will instantly take the dread and stress associated with exams away.

Here’s some tips that will help you to avoid Christmas distractions, stay motivated and do well in your New Year exams.

Time Management is key

Make a timetable and stick to it. Self discipline is paramount. Make sure you sit down and plan out how much time you need to spend on each subject area and create a timetable that covers all of these topics.

Make sure your timetable is clear. Colour coding each subject can be a great way of outlining your workload clearly so you know what you need to cover each day.  Also, if you have a lot of social activities planned over the festive period, make sure that you take these in to consideration when you’re mapping out your time. If you have a big party the night before you plan to do 3 hours of maths revision, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll do it. In this case, schedule to do more revision on a day that you have no plans.  Also if you have scheduled an intense day of revision, make sure you take regular breaks, grab a cup of tea or get some fresh air, this is proven to improve your productivity throughout the day.

Sleep

With so much going on during the festive season, late nights tend to become the norm. This will be your worst enemy. Although you might be tempted to stay up and watch the festive edition of your favourite sitcom or film, don’t. Make sure that you get at least 8 hours a night. This will leave you fresh, awake and ready to take on the day.

If you need extra help – invest in tutor  

Investing in a tutor to help you with subject areas that you need additional support in can be a great way to make sure that you achieve your predicted grades. Whether that’s A-level Maths, GSCE English or even subjects at degree level, 121 tutoring can be a great way of helping you to prepare for January exams.

According to First Tutors there are a number of tutors out there who are specialists in certain subject areas and highly trained in offering personalised guidance on the subject area that you need additional support in.

So, whether you need a maths tutor or physics tutor, admitting that you need help and enlisting the support of a tutor, is the first step to reaching your goals and achieving your targets. Many tutors also work over the Christmas period, so this is also a great opportunity to get some dates in your diary that will allow you to sit down, at a table and do some invaluable revision.