How to fully Utilise your Time before any Major Examination

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” – this is a quote by Alan Lakein that my father used to repeat to my brothers and I while we were growing up. This quote has stuck with me throughout the years, seeing me through the ‘O’ level and IB examinations, all the way to my university school life now. Planning the months before any major examination effectively means you essentially are mapping out the different tasks and deadlines you have before then, reducing the likelihood of you missing out anything important. Furthermore, it helps you prioritise your tasks and study activities, making effective use of the time you have left before your examinations. Personally, I adopt a generalised ‘step process’ that breaks down my whole studying timeline into a few ‘milestones’ that apply across board to all my subjects (mostly humanities). After this, I attach a deadline for each specific category. This forms my entire studying overview for the months before the examination period. For example, if I have four months of studying left, I would aim to complete all study notes (based off textbooks, lecture notes, class notes) in the first month, all tutorial and lesson notes, including case studies and examples in the second month; extensive practice in the third month from past year exam papers and school given practices, followed by a last month of final revision which can include making cheat sheets and overview mind maps for each subjects’ topics. Of course, this is just a general structure that can be customised to your specific study methods and number of months you have left before the major examinations begin.