Revision cramming: over.

Your brain simply cannot take it anymore.

Hi! I’m Laure, a passionate tutor with 2700+ hours of experience helping students navigate through their learning journey.

Over the last 7 years, I have seen how, for many students, exam preparation goes hand in hand with revision cramming, anxiety and pressure, resulting in lowered self-esteem, and exam results that are not up to their expectations.

It’s time this comes to an end. How? By changing 3 simple habits that can make revision sessions a lot more efficient.

1. No revision session of more than 1hr.

Your brain (just like any other brain) has an attention span of approximately 40 minutes.

That means you can focus for approximately 40 minutes.

Which also means that planning revision sessions of 2 hours straight is not only inefficient, it’s unreasonable: it goes against what we are biologically capable of doing.

Stop setting unrealistic expectations in terms of working time: it makes you unfairly feel like you’re not capable.

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

2. No undefined task.

‘Revising math’ is not a task that should appear on your to-do list as such.

A task is undefined if you cannot tick it by the end of your revision session.

‘Revising math’ won’t be done in full after just a 1hr revision session.

‘Getting flashcards ready for my next math test’, however, can be ticked. So that one would be a good task.

How to convert an undefined task into good tasks?

Undefined tasks are often too broad, too general, meaning they are too big.

Cut them into subtasks that can now be done, ticked, and self-assessed.

3. Breaks. Good breaks.

Breaks are your best friend, if only you get to know them well.

What is a bad break?

• A break that you start without even noticing

• A break that you start without knowing when it will end

• A break you have no idea what you’ll use for.

Want to scroll on your social media for a while? Sure! But set your timer first: TikTok and the likes are designed to keep you captive. Don't let them take away 40 minutes of your precious time when you only wanted to give it 2.

Alright, but what’s an efficient revision plan then?

An efficient revision plan should be made of revision sessions which are:

• 20-60 minutes long, depending on the kind of task you need to achieve

• set with a clear and reachable goal for each (‘I will work on math’ must be replaced for instance with ‘I will do 3 questions I find very difficult, taken from a past paper’)

• Clearly defined before they even start, both in terms of goal and timing

• Separated with breaks which have a clear beginning and a clear end too.

Want an example of a good revision session planning?

Sure! Here it is:

• 30 minutes

• 3 hard math questions from a past paper

• 2-minute break after each question done as a ‘pat on the back’ to acknowledge the effort done (I’ll get a glass of water at the first one and a square of chocolate at the second, so I really have something I look forward to and it feels like a real reward.)

Revising is not as hard as you think. Only if you keep in mind that:

• Organizing your revision sessions is not the biggest part of the job, but it’s the most important ones.

• You are capable. You will get there. Breathe, set clear goals, trust yourself and you will get there.

Enjoy your revisions! (Yes, I dare say that.)