How To Stay Motivated During Exam Season

Staying motivated is one of the many things that’ll make you study better. However, it’s tough to stay motivated when you have an upcoming exam close, especially when you’re getting ready for the finals.

Finals week can be stressful and harder to get through. But it doesn’t have to be like that at all. All you have to do is stay motivated and study in the last few weeks.

Why Should You Stay Motivated Before The Exam Season

Everybody who needs something knows that to have that they may have to sacrifice some things and have the desire to get to that place. Studying for an exam is no different from that.

To do well in an exam, especially in the finals you may have to give up on your social media accounts and any social activities you may have an interest in. But the thing is, it is really hard for us to do that.

So Staying motivated is extremely important in the last few months or weeks before the exam/finals.

Here is why you should stay motivated before the exam.

• • • • Motivation can get you through a hard time.
      • Motivation shows you the right path to success.
      • Increases desire to study and revisit your notes.
      • Motivation helps you stay positive.
      • It Boosts self-confidence.
      • Motivation helps you evade negativity in yourself.
      • Exam motivation will help you to stay focused and ace the tests.

14 Tips To Stay Motivated During Exam Season

01. Remember Your Journey So Far

Getting stressed out a few weeks before the exam is regular for anyone. Sooner or later it is going to happen to you too. Staying motivated during the last couple of weeks is vital, just like preparing for the exam season.

Remembering how you worked for the exam and the work you’ve already done can be a huge motivation to get through the next rough couple of weeks.

02. Stay Positive

A few weeks before the exam, thoughts like “you are going to fail the exam, you have not done enough studying” are going to pop into your mind.

If you have studied enough and already gone over your notes at least one time, don’t worry about it. You have already done the hard work in the last few months or years. What’s another couple of weeks?

Keep thinking positively and evade negative thoughts. Later you’ll realize how staying positive helps you to get through the exam season.

03. Study With The Right Group

How about making studying a fun thing, just like your social activities? Yes, you could pull that off. When you have some friends around you, it’s easy to have fun. Have some of your friends come over to your place or one of their homes to study together.

But first off, you have to find the right type of friends that you could study together. Choose people that you work well with and people who have more knowledge about your subjects than you. Don’t ignore the less gifted ones, help them out too.

The best thing about studying with friends as a group is that when you’re down, they are there to get you back on the track.

04. Set Small Goals and Prioritize

When the exams are so close, usually students get stressed about their study plan, the work they didn’t do. They spend so much time thinking about how to study the things they missed more than revising the content you already learned.

This kind of negative feeling can harm your exam scores more than anything. If you didn’t revisit your notes, take time to reread them just in case if you forgot something important.

The best way to do this is by setting small goals and prioritizing them without making any drastic changes to your study plan.

05. Take Small Study Breaks

Most students start to feel bored when you’re studying and when they have a lot of work to do. There are so many ways to avoid boredom when you’re studying. But when you have an exam season nearby you, some of these methods won’t be good for you.

Let’s face it; studying straight for hours for a day is hard for anyone. No need to feel bad about it or lie about it. It’s not effective at all when you study like that. Take small study breaks that last about 5-15 minutes when you need it (after studying for a one or two hours though).

That small study breaks in between will help you evade boredom without using technology, and you’ll be motivated to study for the exam without stressing about it.

06. Always Reward Yourself

Studying for an upcoming exam is so hard, that’s normal. You might even have to make more time to revisit your notes from before if you forgot their content.

Remember when you were little, your parents would cheer you up when you’re down or reward you when you do something beautiful. You can adapt that to reward yourself when you finish a lot of work.

Rewarding yourself after studying for a few hours will make you appreciate yourself doing the hard work.

The reward doesn’t even have to be a big thing; a small study break or a healthy study snack would make a nice reward. But, don’t get carried away, always be strict if you want to ace the test.

07. Use Motivational Apps and Quotes

When you get a lower score on your exam, it’s easy to blame the technology other than thinking about what you could’ve done to improve your test scores.

You can use your technological devices such as mobile phones, laptops to stay motivated in the exam season. Well, if you can be strict and have the will to avoid distractions.

Use motivator apps that are available to you, such as the Forest app. You can also use motivational quotes on your mobile phone and laptop screen to stop you from getting distracted by them while studying.

08. Watch and Listen to Inspiring People

You are not the first one to face a hard time when studying or working to achieve your dreams. Some successful people faced hard times that you couldn’t even imagine.

Their podcasts and speeches, which you could find on google without any trouble, can make you understand how they faced it. Listening to their small speeches or quotes will motivate you to get through the hard time you’ve been having while studying.

No worries if you have no time to listen to them, you could use your study breaks to do it.

09. Exercise and Meditation

Staying healthy before facing an exam is extremely important because if you get a health problem during the exam season, it might affect your exam scores. One step in staying healthy is exercising and doing something like yoga.

The latest scientific studies have found that meditation reduces stress, improves focus, and even boosts your physical health.

Exercising releases chemical called endorphins which helps you to feel happier, focus, and stay positive. So, Exercising regularly can make you feel more motivated in getting ready for an exam season.

10. Make Holiday Plans.

Taking breaks and having fun is a great way to release the exam stress. But it’s not possible to take a vacation when you have an exam season nearby.

After the exam season, there is always a holiday season, which you may have already made some plans for. When you get a small break from studying, think about what are your plans for the upcoming holiday season.

Use your small study breaks to do this so it wouldn’t affect how you are studying. Making plans for the holidays can motivate you to get through the exam season without any problems.

11. Keep Everything Organized

Studying in small time periods and studying more effectively is hard without having a plan. You might have a great study plan with prioritized tasks. But it won’t go as planned if you have a messed up study space.

Before you start studying, you should check every learning material you need is in place. Keep the recommended learning materials that you need for the exam somewhere you see.

You won’t waste any valuable time you should’ve studied if you keep your study space organized and everything you need for the exam day in a place where you could easily access them.

12. Healthy Meals and Snack

How you eat and drink in the last few weeks before the exam plays a massive role in your exam results. Eating unhealthy foods such as pizza, junk foods, and alcohol can upset your digestive system. If that happens, you won’t do well in the exam season.

To study and face the exam, you’ll need more energy, so you must eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But that’s not going to be enough. That’s where the healthy study snacks like dark chocolate come into the play. In between those main meals, munch on good and healthy study snacks to get more energy, reduce the stress, and stay healthy.

Healthy meals and snacks are not going to be enough to stay healthy during the finals. You should also drink a lot of fluids. A glass of water every few hours is fine since it flushes all the toxins out of your body. But just to make it more fun, you can also drink smoothies, coffee.

13. Get Some Sleep Already

It’s easy to fall asleep while studying, even when you have an exam season closeby. Most of the time, this happens because you are not getting enough sleep. You might not have time to go over so many learning materials in a small time period, so you might be cutting down the sleeping time to study them again.

If you do that you’ll be sleepy all the time while you’re studying and you won’t remember anything you studied in the exam season. Getting sleep a few hours won’t interrupt your studies; in fact, it will help you to study more and improve your memorizing.

So get some sleep after you finish studying for a few hours (at least 5 hours a day).

14. Don’t Start Celebrating Now

Studying for an exam for a few years might feel like living in hell. After all the struggle, you are so close to facing the exam. So it’s easy to feel that you’re done studying and need to celebrate now.

This kind of negative thoughts will harm your exam scores. So hold that thought in and wait until the exam season is over to celebrate.

All things considered

Studying for an exam season in the last few weeks is hard for anyone; staying motivated to get through it is even harder. Most students give up on a lot of activities such as exercising, sleeping in the last few months. That won’t help you to study more or get high scores in the exams.

Staying motivated throughout the last few months before the exam is vital. Always take care of your health, work in small chunks, and take breaks. These steps will help you stay motivated and get higher scores in the finals.