Exam season is coming up. This is a time when university students have a majority of there exams and coursework deadlines. This time of year can be stressful, trying to balance revision and writing whilst also having a personal life. It's a lot to deal with, so here are some ways to help make this time less stressful. 

1. Eat Right, Sleep Well, and Exercise

When exam season peeks around the corner, our personal well-being tends to take less priority. Instead of eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of sleep and regular exercise, we swap it out for cramming in revision whilst eating junk food and working on coursework all night. 

This takes a toll on our body and mind, reducing our health and leaving us with plenty of illnesses and feeling stressed and anxious.

Try to eat a well balanced diet (including plenty of veg and fruit!) and get some exercise during the day, whether this is time at the gym or a 1 hour walk. This will help keep away any bugs and illnesses and keep your body and mind fresh and renewed.

As well as this, try to get 6-8 hours of sleep. We need sleep to think clearly and it helps with our memory, which is great during revision. It also gives us clarity and perspective. When were overly tired, we tend to get more stressed and anxious about things as our sleep deprived minds can't handle it.

2. Plan & Practice

One of the reasons your stressed might be because your worried about your grades. Most of us want a good grade at university, and at the least a passing grade! But it can be hard to know where to start, which can make us feel anxious.

The best thing you can do, is sit down and write out a structure plan. Decide how your coursework or answer will be laid out and what key information will go into each paragraph. 

For exams, base this plan around practice papers (which teachers usually provide!) and keep practicing and memorizing them. Then at the start of the exam jot this plan down straight away and adjust it for your real question. This helps so much during exams, especially if you forget anything whilst writing. 

3. Lecturers and Teachers

Another reason you are feeling anxious or stressed could be because you are struggling to understand a certain topic or how to write effectively. The best thing you can do is talk to your lecturer or teacher about this. Let them know where your struggling so they can help you.

They may also be able to put you at ease over your plan structure. Bring your plan structure* with you and ask them to critique it, for instance is there anymore key information you should add or if you have the write amount of words for each section. They can then let you know where you need to improve for a good grade! 

*Remember not to bring in your whole finished work though, most teachers will only critique a plan.

4. Prepare Ahead

Exam season is stressful enough, but on top of that you might have to deal with other responsibilities. This could be sorting out housing for next year, finding a job placement or work for the summer, or figuring out where you will be storing your belongings over summer. 

Instead of leaving this till last minute, putting unnecessary stress during exam season, try to sort this out ahead of time. For instance, book up your student storage now so you know your belonging will be safe over summer. At Door2Door Student Storage you can book up your collection date in advance. So whilst you may not need storage right now, you can request when you would like storage for, whether that's next week or in 2 months time. 

Order now at door2doorstudentstorage.com

5. Student Advisors

If you are feeling very anxious or stressed about coursework or exams, book an appointment with your student advisor. Student advisors are great at providing advice to help you during this season and help with specific issues.

6. Relax

One of the things we tend to forget during exam season is to relax. Were so busy revising and writing coursework that we forget to just simply relax and give our body and mind some time to unwind.

Find the balance between revision and relaxing. If you don't do any revision and solely focus on relaxing, you probably will fail your exams. But if you spend to much time revising and writing coursework with no relaxation, you'll end up burned-out. So try to find that balance, maybe this means spending some hours revising and doing coursework during the day and then relaxing in the evening. Find what works for you and go with that.

Final Piece Of Advice

Our final bit of advice to students is to just try your best. At the end of the day, this is all you can do. We wish all of you good luck with your studies! You've got this!