The most important aspect of revision is productivity, and, personally, I can’t be productive until I’m organised. So here are a few ways in which you can take a step towards being more constructive with your studies.
Clean Your Room
One of the easiest steps towards becoming more organised is to clean your room. Focus on getting rid of any unnecessary distractions, cleaning up your desk so you have room to work, and organising your books in the order that you need them.
This will not only make the room more bearable to be in, but it will also support the idea of a positive work environment, inspiring you to work more efficiently and without distractions. Additionally, if you organise your books and lecture notes in order, you’re not wasting time searching for week 3’s lecture, or that critical book on your reading list.
Make Use of Your Boards
If you happen to live in student accommodation, or anywhere with a whiteboard or bulletin board, make use of it. At the start of the year, my board was full of theatre tickets, photos of friends, memories and such. Now, I figured I should probably use it for the purpose it was intended and pin up my essay work and revision schedule.
Print out some guides for your exams, topic outlines for your modules, or a small to-do-list for your study sessions, and pin them up. This will keep you focused on what you need to do to thrive in your studies.
Make a Calendar
It’s something that can take five minutes. It doesn’t have to be pretty – just lay out all of your deadlines or exams that you have on a sheet of paper, and then add in your revision schedule. Set yourself one or two tasks a day to prepare for the exam or deadline, and most importantly stick to it. Don’t cram your work into one week. Try and spread it out so you aren’t rushing and give yourself time to fully understand the topic.
Approaching Revision: Topics List
Another thing you can pin on your board is an outline of what the subject expects you to know, a topics list, for example. For English students, this could be an outline of the themes for Edwardian Literature; for Maths students, this could be a list of the topics you’ll need to revise for the exam. Doing this will give you a clear structure for your approach to revision, and will aid you in understanding how much you need to revise, to give yourself the appropriate time to do so.
Finally, get rid of any distractions. When you’re working, turn your phone face down, don’t watch TV in the background, turn your music down to a low volume (Also, Classical music is actually proven to improve work efficiency). Focus is a key element of revision, so try not to distract that focus on social media and unnecessary trips to the kitchen for snacks (although I’m guilty of doing that myself…).
Organisation is a key element to successful study and revision, so maintain a clean space of study, and a clean frame of mind and you’ll do great. Good luck with your exams!
This article is featured on Learning at Lincoln.
Please note: This content was created prior to Coronavirus, and some things might be different due to current laws and restrictions. Please refer to the University of Lincoln for the latest information.
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