It's stress season, exams are approaching and that procrastination is setting in. Personally, I know how it feels to be unprepared or disorganised before a major assignment, presentation, test, or exam and I'll base my, I guess, advice on this and how to beat procrastination, disorganisation and just feeling like absolute crap or having unwanted pressure or having exceptionally high expectations of yourself.

The first step is to clean up. Clearing your desk of objects, papers and bits and bobs seems a bit of draining exercise but trust me, once it's clean and clear and has only what you actually need on top of that desk then you'll feel much more motivated to actually study. When I clean up my desk, I end up cleaning my entire room and feeling so much fresher than I was when there was mess. Organise your pens, pencils, highlights and such in a pencil case or in a section of the desk. Try not to leave all your materials lying around because you'll waste time trying to find items. Have your textbooks, writing books, loose leaf and whatever you need for each subject together in another section of the desk or on a bookshelf or somewhere you can grab them easily. If you've got your computer, laptop or tablet, have it set on the desk where you would usually complete work, and when you actually go to complete homework, work or study, set it aside in another place accessible. I personally have a desk that has two sections, the top half is where I place my textbooks, writing books and MacBook when I don't need to use it and the second section where I have all my other materials like pens, pencils, highlighters, etc. and it's usually where my MacBook is when I need to use it. I put everything at the top that I don't currently need and the bottom section is clear, clean and fresh, like a blank canvas.

My personal space

Make sure you place every item back where it was, create a habit of this and you'll feel much more organised.

The next step is notes and reading. Now preferably, notes should be taken every day or week while at school or university, but sometimes you either have no time or just cannot be bothered. If you've not been note taking throughout the term, semester, trimester or year, there's no need to panic. Majority of the time when you've attended classes, lectures, tutorials, practical classes, etc. you've retained information, so at least you have something to base your studying off. There are many things you'll accidentally remember just from listening to your teacher, lecturer, tutor or students. Now if you're wanting to write notes for studying then I recommend you read through the necessary, prescribed textbooks, and highlight everything you need to know, but don't highlight every sentence, just key words or headings are needed. Also, use different colours when highlighting, just so you can categorise topics or chapters by colour and remember them that way. Once this is done, either type on your computer or physically write out notes based on these readings with the highlighting as a guide. I myself, am one to write notes out, sounds old-fashioned but using a blue pen and writing it out physically helps you remember things easier, but that's not to say that typing out your notes, printing them out and reading and re-reading them won't help either. I also like to create mind-maps with just key words so I can test myself. I personally, listen to music while I write notes, but when I read I don't listen to music because it's distracting, but everyones different in their studying techniques.

Once I've written notes, read the textbook(s) and created little mind-maps and such, I hang these notes, mind-maps, etc. in places around the house which I will always see. This technique actually makes you stop and read and can help you retain information because you're continuously exposed to it. As weird as this sounds, I also make voice notes of myself reading the thorough notes I've written and listen to them as I sleep. I've heard this technique works so I tried it out myself and the crazy thing is that it actually does help you remember, so I recommend it to anyone who wants to find a somewhat easy way to remember your topics for each subject.

Studying doesn't have to be stressful. In fact, learning should be fun. I for one feel that learning and studying have become a hated chore because of the expectations placed on us and the pressures we face. Hopefully, these tips will help you feel more relaxed, more organised and more willing to learn about each subject you're studying. Like I said, everyone has different study techniques and if they work for you, then work it.

QUICK TIPS

• Go out and buy yourself highlighters of every colour you can find.
• Make sure you use your desk for studying, don't hop into bed and try to study, the bed is for sleep only.
• Use loose-leaf instead of physical writing books, this way you can organise them into a folder.
• For notes, use cue cards. I find them helpful because they're brief notes and I'll take them with me everywhere I go and read them, therefore remembering the material a little easier.
• Prepare yourself doing practice exams or asking your teacher, lecturer or tutor for additional questions.
• Ask for help if you need it!
• Start a study group with friends or your peers.
• Compare answers to questions with friends and peers.
• Do the questions in your textbook or questions given to you by your teacher, lecturer or tutor.
• Get adequate sleep, 8+ hours is the perfect amount of sleep, but recently, there's been research about sleep and that it depends on the person on how much sleep they should get. I recommend going to bed and waking up at the same time every single day.
• Have 15 minute naps once a day, maybe after school or university.
• Don't stay up late finishing work, the latest you should finish homework or studying is around 9pm. Go to bed early and wake up early to finish the work you haven't finished because your brain is more refreshed in the morning.
• Have a balanced diet, don't overdose on the sugar.
• Stay hydrated, have at least 2 litres of water everyday, keep a water bottle on standby.
• Take 15 minute breaks after you've studied for about an hour, so stretch it out, go for a walk, shower, pamper yourself or schedule in an exercise routine.
• Try not study every second of the day, you'll drive yourself crazy.
• Don't forget to breathe and relax.