When you are preparing for a test, you need to look at your options. It all begins with looking to the future following your test and what the certification will bring you. A new job? A new career path altogether? Your own business? This should keep you focused.
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1. Avoid distractions
Stress often results from a feeling of lack of time. Here’s an interesting fact – if you study for an exam, concentrate on the study material, feel effective, then suddenly the phone rings and you answer and talk for a total of one minute. It will take you 10 minutes to return to the same level of concentration you were before. Even if you think you can peek into WhatsApp and Facebook for a second and get back to the material. It is known that distractions reduce your efficiency by 40% or more. It’s like taking a freeway and stopping every five minutes. Therefore, before you start learning, neutralize all distractions. Turn off the phone!
2. Change another two hours and learn three hours less
It is known that a good sleep pattern will help with concentration. If you have had a poor night’s sleep or a sleepless night, you will find it incredibly difficult to concentrate in the days after. So go back to sleep, because lack of sleep causes anxiety and impairs concentration. If you planned to get up at 08:00 and study until 13:00 but went to bed late because you were at a party or saw a long movie – do not start studying at 08:00. Wait a further two hours, and get up at 10:00. Study only three hours instead of five hours and be more efficient. Five hours of study in a state of fatigue is worth nothing. Just a waste of your time.
3. Start with something interesting
The tendency of the heart is to start learning from the material that is most difficult for us, or chronologically from where we left off. It’s like starting to drive a tractor during a third. The brain takes time to enter a state of concentration. It needs to be edged in!
In the first ten minutes of study they started learning something relaxing and fun. Read an interesting article in the newspaper that will activate your synapses and neurons. Choose a topic from your material that interests you more. Then move on to the more difficult issues. You will see that they are suddenly a little easier to digest. You can also think about the future. Think about what you want to do to celebrate. Will you go out for drinks? Are you going to frame your certificate? You can look at certificate frames for inspiration.
Use memory techniques
One of the most effective methods for remembering facts, information and amounts of study material is the placement method. The placement method links information we want to remember to information that we will never forget. Place information around the home on post-it notes so it sinks in every day!
Laura x