Classes are over, the weather is getting nicer, and the only thing standing between you and your summer vacation are your exams. You can imagine a million and one things that you would rather be doing than studying and writing your exams, but unfortunately that’s reality and the sooner it’s over with, the better. Of course the easiest escape route from it all is to sleep away the entire day, but time is of the essence and you know that you need to be wide awake and attentive if you want to study and prepare for your upcoming exams productively.
It’s fantastic to get a decent amount of sleep since it directly correlates to the amount of information that you learn as well as the amount of time that you learn for, but at some point you have to wake up and sadly, this can be harder than going to going to sleep in the first place. How can you wake up and feel ready to tackle studying head on? Well, here are some tips to help you feel awake and refreshed every single morning.
- Go to sleep feeling calm
If you go to sleep feeling calm, you’ll wake up feeling refreshed. Instead of browsing Reddit or Twitter on your laptop, or watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones on TV, do an activity such as meditation or breathing that won’t stimulate and excite your brain. Not only will you fall asleep faster, but you’ll lessen your chances of embarking on a marathon of tv episodes.
- Don’t eat right before you go to bed
You might be up studying hours past midnight, but resist the urge to eat large meals a few hours before you’re planning to go to sleep. Your body takes a few hours to digest food and the last thing that you want to go to bed with or to wake up from is an indigestion problem. If you’re hungry before bed, grab a small snack like a piece of fruit or a glass of milk. Although it may be hard considering you’re trying to calm your nerves while keeping yourself awake for a long period of time, try to avoid chocolate, red wine and caffeine because studies have been shown that they disturb your sleep more than other foods.
- De-clutter your living environment
The last thing that you want to wake up to is a messy room. By de-cluttering your living environment, you’re also de-cluttering your mind and giving yourself a fresh, distraction-free start so that you can focus on the studying ahead.
- Drink a glass of water
When you wake up It’s always important to drink water and to stay hydrated, but drinking a glass of cool or room temperature water when you first wake up is the best way to get your metabolism going. Keep drinking water while you’re studying because you’ll feel refreshed, alert and awake.
- Get out of bed right away
We’ve all been a victim of hitting the snooze button and setting an alarm five, ten and fifteen minutes after your wake up time, but it’s important to get out of bed right when you hear your alarm. It’s easier said than done, but as soon as you’ve gotten out of bed, the faster it will be to wake up.
Hopefully these tricks will help you wake up and power through crunch time. Good luck and please share with us any other tips and tricks on how you can stay awake and attentive during exam studying.
Written by: Kels Tham