It can be one of the hardest things to do: falling asleep the night before a major assessment task. You know you need enough sleep to be able to perform at your best, but you are also worried that everyone you have studied will fall out of your head during your slumber. So you lie there, with the lights out, going over quotes, definitions, even algorithms… over and over and over again, ensuring they stay in your brain until the end of the next day. Every now and again, you might jump out of bed and frantically rummage through your notes, convinced you have memorized a definition wrong, or have left out a whole chunk of information. Eventually, if you are lucky, you will fall asleep… but it will not be a deep sleep, and you will wake up feeling as you have fought in a battle. Then you will get to school, and have mini heart attacks whenever you hear someone talking about the assessment. Stress levels will be at full bore until the teacher says those magic words; ‘pens down’. Then you will breathe for the first time in 24 hours.

Time is often a big and troublesome matter that can severely affect the healthy lifestyle of a student. Late nights and lack of sleep are unavoidable when students have many unfinished assignments that are due in the near future. There also were some cases of students when they have to stay up late; they often consume a lot of caffeine and energy drinks as well as smoking. These all contribute to the degradation of their overall well-being shortly afterwards.

Try not to stress yourself out over the exam the next day. You will lose sleep and may not end up performing as best as you can. When there is nothing left to study, what kind of things can you be doing to make sure you will be at your best on exam day? Look no further! Follow these tips to make sure you are putting yourself in the best position possible to excel!

• Do not cram – this adds loads of stress on top of wearing yourself out. Your study plan should allow you to recap what you have been studying to refresh the night before the exam.
• Sleep – get a decent night’s sleep or some rest as this will make you feel so much better and perform for the upcoming exams.
• Organize your stationary – sort what equipment you need for your exams including pens, pencils, ruler, calculators (and spare batteries), permitted books/cheat sheets or anything else required.
• Put it in your pencil case – Put all your equipment into a clear container or pencil case so that you meet the Curriculum Council requirements and can pick up everything you need to smash the exams on the day
• Confirm your exams – confirm the time and location of your exams
• Make a check-list to make sure you have everything you need to bring into the exam: e.g. pens, watch, high-lighters and water bottle
• Eat protein! – Your brain communicates with itself with the help of amino acids, of which are plentiful in protein-rich foods! Protein will also increase alertness.
• Make sure you set an alarm for the next day. Even two, if you are prone to sleeping in!
• Take time out to do something enjoyable
• Watch a movie, read a book or spend time with friends and family! You will feel more relaxed.