You’ve made it through seven years of primary school and now nearly seven years of secondary school. You’ve done GCSEs and your coursework – and this is the final hurdle where consistent motivation could be the difference between a good and a great grade.
Perhaps unsurprisingly it can feel like an awfully big hurdle to get over and it can be tough to keep focused and driven, but here are a few tips to try and help you keep your eye on the prize!
See The 3 Most Effective A-Level Revision Techniques>>
1. Maintain a work-life balance even in the midst of revision
In my own experience, I lose motivation when I get bored (and especially when I’m bored and force myself to keep looking at more work!). To combat this, if I felt my drive waning, I would go to the gym or spend time practising the piano to break up my day.
It’s also important to not isolate yourself from your friends – you don’t need to work all the hours in the day. It can even be counterproductive to not give yourself any downtime.
A good way to approach revision is break the day into three – morning, afternoon and evening – and only ever work two of these sessions. Breaking the day up this way, you can have an evening off to go to the cinema with your friends or take the morning to go to a yoga class.
Do whatever it is that keeps you feeling like yourself and not a revision robot!
Read How to Create an Effective Revision Timetable>>
2. Keep your revision techniques varied
Revision is not the most fun thing you’ll do in life, that’s no secret, but there are ways to try and keep yourself interested in what you’re doing.
One way of doing this is taking time to get together with friends and revise together, perhaps quizzing one another or working through difficult questions. Although be careful that you don’t drift from reading notes to watching Netflix, as that might not be so productive…
Another technique I find useful is using an app called Quizlet which allows you to make revision cards online on your computer or on your phone and then quiz yourself in a number of different ways to test how well you know a specific topic. For me, this is much more engaging than just reading my own notes over and over. When something feels less work-like, you are more likely to feel motivation to keep going.
Read 3 Tips to Get an A* in A-Level Chemistry>>
3. Plan something that you can look forward to once you get through your exams
This one is a great motivator in my experience. Having something on the horizon that you are excited about after your exams really drives you to work hard so that you can celebrate with whatever it is you’ve planned.
When I finished my A-Levels I went off to mainland Europe and interrailed with some of my friends from school and it really motivated all of us to work as hard as we could.
Although of course it can be something much simpler than that – it could just be the thought of spending quality time with your family or having free time to do something really fun with your friends. The act of planning it out makes it feel more like a goal you’re working towards by working hard for your exams.
These are just a few little things you can do to try and maintain the motivation throughout your A-Levels. It’s a bit of a marathon but you’ll get through it, and you’ll feel so much better about knowing you worked your hardest. Good luck!
Words: Ruari McGowan
