1) Water
2) Food/nutrition
3) Sleep
4) Study
Posture
5) Exercise/breaks
6) Study
technique
7) Mental
attitude
8) “Ice cream days”- rest and recuperation
for body and brain
1) Water
The brain needs water to work.
The body is made up of 90% water. If we don’t hydrate our bodies enough the brain
and nerve cells of the body will struggle to work as efficiently. And the
thinking and learning will become slower and sluggish.
Try do have a pitcher of water
next to your desk so that you are reminded to drink regularly. And bring water
in for exams if you are allowed. Remember that coffee and tea does not equal
water, in fact it is recommended that you drink a glass of water for each cup
of tea or coffee. Try to drink 6-8 glasses a day. Avoid caffeinated fizzy
drinks as they will stop you sleeping and make you jittery.
2) Nutrition
Nourish your brain with healthy
food. Try to eat 3 main meals a day and have a healthy snack every three hours
to keep your glucose level steady. This is not a time to diet, but you need to
feed your brain with good nutrition for learning and concentration.
Three vital rules to keep your
energy level through the day:
1) Eat
breakfast. You need to fuel your body for the day. This is essential for your body
and brain.
2) Eat
fewer carbohydrates at lunch as it will make you tired. Add more protein to all
meals.
3) Reduce
caffeinated and carbonated drinks, especially after lunch.
4) Cut
down on sugar as it will give you a short lived high and a dip later.
5) Eat
more complex carbohydrates such as brown/rye bread, oat cakes, brown rice and
pasta, grains and seeds.
In fact the more
regularly you eat the less you will feel the need to snack. For more tips and
healthy ideas of healthy snacks see our partner clinic's web site on www.lucksyardclinic.com. Just search
for exam food, healthy snacks and smoothies.
Try to have simple healthy snacks
in the house, oat cakes, carrot sticks, seed and nut mixtures, healthy bread
and cheese.
3) Sleep
One of the first things that may
affect you during this time is sleep, which is mostly due to stress.
Many students skip sleep and
night cram as much as possible in the last few days. But this is the time when
you do need your sleep and to let the brain organise the learning while
sleeping. It sounds strange but you do really learn while you sleep. And
apparently your IQ can be raised even with 30 minutes more of sleep.
You can find some good articles on the Luck's Yard Clinic website with tips for sleep, but the latest research is not to watch TV or work
on small screens up to an hour before going to bed. This is because the
smaller the screen and the closer your eyes are to them, the more the brain will
think it is daytime and light the brain activity up.
Do get as much exercise and get
fresh air during the day, and don’t eat too late. Cut down on caffeine after
lunch, sugar and rich and heavy foods. Some people find meditation tapes help
or listening to calm music such as Mozart and John Levine tapes. Keep the room
dark and aired and for sleep if possible.
4) Study posture
Most students will spend a lot of
time studying on the sofa or their bed. It can stress the muscles and can create
muscle tension which can lead to back ache and headaches. This may in turn affect
your ability to focus during exams. We recommend that you do most of your
computer work at a proper desk with a good supportive chair. You can make your
laptop into a PC by folding it out and up on a lap-top stand and get a spare
key-board and mouse. Make sure the screen is at eye level. Do your study reading
sitting upright and supported so you can keep your neck straight. Many people
find sitting on gym balls really helpful as you are moving and keeping your
core strong as well as sitting in a better position. You can also buy a simple
seat wedge which is a cheaper option than getting a new office chair and
encourages you to sit properly.
Take frequent breaks and move
around so you will avoid stiffening up your muscles and shoulders.
There is a brilliant animated film
on the Luck's Yard website about posture with computers which you can find under the Luck’s
Yards film tab.
5) Exercise
The more you need to learn, the
more you can benefit from exercising. The busier you are the more important it
is to exercise. It has been shown that the fitter you are the better your brain
works. You literally get more blood flow to your brain but you will also get
better stamina and learning capacity. So try to find the sport that suits you
best and which is easy to get to and schedule it into your day. Running and
walking are obviously easy and will also give you oxygen and fresh air. But
swimming, dancing and sports are also good and good distractions from the
concentration. Yoga and Pilates are very good as it also helps with stress
management, breathing and calming down as well as core strength.
To help you Luck's Yard Clinic have created an App called ChiroMoves
Collection. It features 11, short stretch films for the whole body with a
reminder system to help you schedule when to stretch-out. This can be found on
iTunes or the App store. They also have many free short stretch films on our
YouTube page (under Tone Tellefsen Hughes) The most efficient is to put a twice
daily reminder in your e-mail calendar or phone so you won’t forget. You can even add the YouTube link in the
reminder.
6) Study technique
a) We recommend that you plan a shift of 3-4 hours of concentrated studying,
and during this time set your phone or egg timer at 45 minute intervals with 15 minute breaks. When the time is up
take a short break, stand up, do our stretches, walk around the house, jump on
the trampoline, get fresh air, and drink water to reinvigorate your body for
the next session. When you go back to studying again you will find that you are
ready to focus again. Many people carry on for too long times and find that
their brain will start to fade. They are wasting really important learning time
and could focus better with shorter burst.
b) Collaborate: What may work for
you is to find a study partner who
is at the same level as you and also share the same commitment. Work on your
own in the morning, and plan to meet for a few hours later that day. Plan what
you are going to discuss and stick to it. Then when you meet and work-shop you
can teach each other and share the learning. This way you will know where your gaps are and you will learn from your
study partner. There is no more powerful way than to teach someone else, and it often makes it clearer in your head when
you know your learning gaps. But make sure it is someone whom you feel
absolutely comfortable with but also will push you to do your best.
c) Learning types
To get the most out of your
learning it helps to find out how you learn the best. It may be that you need
to sit in solitude, with others, in lights, with soft music or loud, or with
headphones. Some people prefer fresh air others will lock themselves in a dark
room. Some people need to move about others can sit for hours focusing. Here
are some tips for you:
Visual: If you are visual you will find Tony Buzan mind-maps and strong
colours very helpful. They have been designed to mimic your brain pattern and
how it works. When you are in the exam you will be able to go back to the
mind-map and remember where on the page the information was.
Verbal: In this case you may need to hear what you are learning.
Then you can record yourself and walk around your room while you are talking to
yourself (Memory walk). It can also be helpful to stand on one leg, or on a
rocker board while memorising facts out loud too. Telling it to others can be
helpful. You may need to repeat it several times too.
Tactile/Kinesthetic: In this case you may need to draw on big A3 papers with
lots of colour, and/or repeat it lots of times. Use the whole body in different
ways. Maybe you need to hold a squishy ball in your hand to help the learning. Juggling
is another good tool. Use memory cards and change from left to right hand. Put
a piece of paper on the wall and draw with your left of right hand. This will
engage the whole brain in a different way. Stand on your left foot and then
right and do your repetitions. Cross crawl like the Grand of Duke of York which
will engage the whole brain too.
Auditory: Some people find music helps like Mozart and alpha music
by John Levine, and other classical music. And some people may need to have
head phones to take out all other sounds. Equally to use mnemonics might work
with lots of pointers to remember. Some find them easier in a song.
Look for learning types app’s on
App store.
7) Mental attitude
Learning is for life, and however
frustrating it becomes, you have chosen your subjects for your GCSE, AS and A
levels as well as University. So try to enjoy them. If you know that you get
nervous for exams, try to imagine how you are coming into the exam and how you
will enjoy practicing what you have learnt. And then literally block out the
result. This way you will focus on delivering your knowledge and your brain
will be more positive in its ability to do so. If you only think of the result,
you will get more worried, breathe shallower, and become tense and more stressed.
The journey is the learning, the
application of the knowledge, not the results. It is also the ability to use
your skills after School/University. It helps you mentally to focus on the exam
but not the results. This is where relaxation techniques, yoga, hypnotherapy,
EFT, acupuncture and mindfulness can be incredibly useful as it will put you in
a more relaxed and alert state of mind.
You might find the stress from others around exam time will get to you. Take headphones and your best
music to school and shut yourself out to keep your cool. Avoid those who will
influence you to get worried and hang out with positive and calm people before
exams. These techniques are very helpful and we can help you find the right
therapist for you in the area.
For meditation apps look into the
App store.
9) “Ice
cream days”-Rest and recuperation
for the mind and body.
This is the
deserved break you need to re-energise your brain, and also have fun while your
brain is actually assimilating the information you have put in it. Creating a
space to breathe, relax, have fun and chill out is really important. You do not
need to be a wreck after exams, there is a life after exams, but actually
during too. This is why we call this the survival guide.
We hope this has
been helpful!
Tone Tellefsen Hughes DC, BSc, FCC (paeds)
Huge thanks to Tone Tellefsen Hughes for this superb blog and survival guide!
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