25 Jun 2015

relaxing during the exam period

Exams are always stressful and the time just before them (a.k.a. revision time) is even more so. Although I am a bit of a workaholic, it was important to ensure that breaks were scheduled in from time to time. Here are ten things I did to keep sane during exams...

1) Have dedicated 'me time'.

Everyday, I ensure that there is at least half an hour in each half of the day where I can have some time to myself. What I mean by this is thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the afternoon where I just spend alone and try and clear my mind. On particularly busy days, this half an hour could just be the time I'm in the shower or even my journey home from uni. Plugging in my ear phones on the bus helps drown everyone else out!

2) Light a candle and close your eyes.

Pretty self-explanotory. Also, does anyone else like watching a candle flame flicker as much as I do?!


3) Netflix!

During revision time, House was my guilty pleasure. I like to think that it aided my revision a little but that's probably just wishful thinking. Netflix is a dangerous thing to have during exam time when procrastination rates are at its highest but I think I managed to restrain myself pretty well because I only got asked if I wanted to continue watching a handful of times.

4) Reading

As mentioned before on the blog, I do love to read and nothing better than reading something non-medicine related.

5) Exercise

When the weather allowed, I would take a twenty to thirty minute walk in my locality to clear my head and it probably helped top up my (possibly) exceedingly low levels of vitamin D.

6) Write in my journal.

I'll confess - I do get stressed quite easily because I've set myself pretty high academic goals for this year so my journal is pretty much essential for the maintenance of my mental health. It's somewhere where my darkest thoughts go but also my happiest and having read back my old ones, I can see which areas of my life have seen the most change.

7) Five minute yoga!

Youtube is amazing for yoga videos and five minute yoga is just about acceptable for someone (like me) who has a short attention span.

8) Discover some new music on Youtube.

But be careful with how much time you waste doing this - I once took a twenty minute break only to have spent an hour on Youtube 'by accident'!

9) Chores!

For some strange reason, I find doing the dishes/cleaning my room very therapeutic and I can't study in an environment that's messy. At least, that's what I've convinced myself to make my procrastination periods seem more productive...

10) Blogging!

I've been blogging for almost five years now (seriously?!) and I wouldn't still be doing it if I didn't enjoy it. Though I'm not as active on social media as I was in the past, I've still 'met' some amazing people through Twitter, Instagram and even through my short experience with Tumblr. I'm still amazed that so many of you read my ramblings!

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Do you do anything to relax during exam time? Is there anything you find particularly good to take away the exam stress?

2 comments

  1. I just started watching House - it definitely counts as revision!
    Great blog :)

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    1. Haha yes it does! That feeling where you get a diagnosis before the team do... :D x

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