5 Ways To Balance Christmas Festivities With January Exams

We all need to blow off steam once in a while, and the holidays are the perfect time to do just that. You get to see friends and family, catch up and celebrate. But before you know it, it’s the New Year and you’re straight into exam season.

So, how do you achieve that holy grail of study/life balance at Christmas Read on for five ways to balance Christmas festivities with January exams, and nail both.

Figure out when you’re most studious

By which we mean, when are you at your most productive? Are you an early bird or a night owl? You don’t need to write off your entire Christmas break because you have exams come the New Year. Instead, you need to find a happy equilibrium that balances partying and studying.

Establish when you can get the most work done and set aside a few hours each day, at that time, solely for revising. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you have an incentive to finish!

Chipping away at studying, little and often, should be a routine that you carry through your entire student life, not just something you employ during revision periods. Stay on top of your work/life balance and don’t leave things to the last minute.

Power on through

If you’re one of those of people who has a smash-and-grab approach to studying, you could benefit from staying at university for a few extra days before going home for the holidays.

Utilise this time wisely, when no other student is around and no bars are open to distract you. Knock out that essay before you down tools for the festive season. Either that or go back to uni a few days before everyone else and get your work done then.

As long as you set aside the time that you require, to get the revision and work that you have to do completed, when you do your work is not relevant. Only you know how you operate best, so harness that knowledge and put it to good use, letting you balance Christmas festivities with January exams.

Make a plan

Another approach is to establish what events, parties and merriment you want to partake in with your various family and friends over the Christmas period. Use this to guide your studying timetable.

If you can see at a glance, in your diary, when you’re due to have fun, it can help focus your mind on getting the serious stuff ticked off and out of the way. This means you can celebrate Christmas guilt-free!

Be organised

Before you leave for home and prepare to rock around the Christmas tree, set yourself up for success. Spend a few hours or days prior to leaving organising your notes, getting books out of the library, making notes on topics you need to brush up on or at the very least putting an essay plan down on paper.

Get it done now so you don’t have to deal with this admin during the holidays, when you could be doing something else much more festive and fun.

Mix it up and take regular breaks

You don’t have an infinite ability to concentrate, so bear this in mind and plan your study accordingly. Don’t spend an entire day attempting to study one subject if you can’t focus for that long on it. Allocate time periods to study, e.g. forty-five minutes per topic with a fifteen-minute break at the end of each session.

When you’re devising your revision timetable, establish priorities early as to what it is you want to achieve. Make sure each point or topic can be checked off at the end of the day. Nothing gives you a boost quite like clearing a to-do list.

It’s worth bearing in mind that not every subject will require equal revision time, so plan your revision timetable accordingly. Don’t waste precious minutes on fruitless tasks.

If you’re constantly hitting your study goals, it will make the revision process much smoother. This means you can switch off when you’re done revising for the day and enjoy those Christmas festivities to your heart’s content!

Laura Slingo writes for CV-Library, the UK’s leading independent job board. For more expert advice on job searches, careers and the workplace, visit their Career Advice pages.