Habits for Academic Success
Happy 2024! The New Year always brings a mix of emotions. You might feel happy for a fresh start and eager to get back to learning, but you might also feel suddenly aware that your exams are only a few months away.
So, which habits can you start now to improve your grades in the following months?
1. Improve your time management
Do your homework the night it’s set and organise your time properly for longer assignments (i.e., don’t leave them to the last minute!). This means you’ll have more time to clarify anything you don’t understand with your teacher or a tutor, and it also frees up more study time for revision or self-care activities.
2. Look after yourself
Make sure you have the basics in place: drink 2 litres of water a day, eat a balanced and nutritious diet, opt for healthy snacks instead of junk food, and aim for 8-10 hours of sleep a night. This can help improve your focus, productivity and boost your immune system and mental health! Your body needs all these to function and focus properly, so it’s really important that you don’t neglect the little things.
3. Factor in revision time
It might still feel too early to start revising for your exams in May and June, but they come round fast! Start making it a habit to go over some study notes for 10-15 minutes a night once you finish your homework. Gradually increase this revision time over the next few months and you’ll thank yourself later.
Struggling to plan your time? Try our free Revision Timetable Template (you can also use it for planning your homework assignments!).
4. Take time for self-care
Don’t spend all your time studying. Make sure you do something relaxing and enjoyable everyday for you, whether that’s having a bath, going for a run, reading a book, playing a game, watching your favourite TV show, or meeting up with friends. This will help you to lower your stress levels and avoid burnout; it also helps make life a bit more fun!
5. Reduce your screen time
Ever opened TikTok, looked at the time and suddenly 3 hours have passed and you haven’t moved? It’s happened to us all! But lots of screen time can actually cause low mood, addictive behaviours, and even contribute to mental health disorders. It’s okay to scroll for 15 minutes or so, but become conscious of the time you spend on social media and whether you’d be better using that time doing something you actually enjoy or picking up some revision.
Bonus tip: Put your phone down at least an hour before you go to bed. Try reading, journaling, listening to an audiobook, or doing another relaxing screen-free activity.
6. Get moving
Daily exercise helps to clear your mind, improve your concentration and brain health, as well as strengthen your body physically. Whether you go for a walk, dance class, sports club or the gym, getting your muscles moving is a very beneficial habit to adopt.
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7. Further reading
If your aim is to excel in certain subjects, the key is to read and research beyond the syllabus. Have an English module on The Handmaid’s Tale? Read 5 other dystopian novels to understand the genre better. Studying for communicable diseases in Biology? Find specific examples of pathogens and cases of diseases outside of the textbook. This way, you’ll have a much more rounded understanding of a topic and be able to give a more perceptive and advanced perspective in your exams.
8. Organise a study group
Find friends or a couple of people from your class who would like to meet up and discuss concepts outside of school / university hours. Helping each other on subject content not only aids in building your knowledge and committing it to long-term memory, but it can also help you understand key topics better. Try scheduling in an hour or two every week.
9. Set study goals and do one thing a day to get closer to achieving them
Set yourself a few SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound) goals, such as achieving a particular grade in a particular subject, getting into a college, university or apprenticeship, or learning a specific concept. Every day, do one thing that will get you closer to achieving one of your goals.
For example, if you want an A in your English Language GCSE, here’s how your week might look:
Monday: Revise Language terminology flashcards (10 mins).
Tuesday: Read 1 chapter of a fictional book and write down a brief summary of how the chapter makes me feel, any words or phrases that stood out, and how I feel about the characters based on the language / structure used (30 mins - 1 hour).
Wednesday: Annotate and highlight a short excerpt from a fiction or non-fiction text (15 mins).
Thursday: Read 1 piece of non-fiction (newspaper article, chapter of a non-fiction book, blog post, excerpt from a speech, etc.) and write down a brief summary of the language and structural features used and how they make me feel (30 mins - 1 hour).
Friday: Write a short story based on a random picture (30 mins).
Of course, you can also factor in your homework assignments here and even clarifying a difficult concept with your teacher can count towards working on your goal.
10. Improve your organisation skills
Keep a study planner and ensure all your study notes are filed away and categorised. Keep a clean desk and declutter your computer files, work space, bedroom, and folders regularly. This will help to clear your mind and improve your focus, and it also helps reduce the time taken looking for particular notes or files. Keeping a planner will help you to stay on top of assignments and factor in revision time, as well as extra-curricular and self-care activities.
Remember: Don’t try to do everything at once! Choose one or two habits to begin with and then try staying consistent. Once you’ve achieved that after a month or two, you can start building another.
Which habits have you started for 2024? Share them in the comments!
