Tips on how to unwind after a beastly series of exams from our Company Manager, Leticia.
For some 11+ students, exams have just finished. If you ever ask someone how they’re feeling after an exam season, they might tell you that they feel drained or perhaps restless with suddenly having nothing to do. These descriptions made the memory of my own post-exam (and coursework deadline) feelings come flooding back. So, let’s talk about good ways to chill out and de-stress in the aftermath of exams. I asked a few of my colleagues for examples of their personal post-exam antics to get my own ideas flowing.
Shopping
There’s almost nothing better than treating your own self to whatever you want — within reason, of course. For some people shopping can restore control, because you’re the ultimate decision maker when you go shopping. (BBC, Capital, Why does shopping feel so good?) Unlike shopping, aside from a revision plan we’re in control of very little of what happens when it comes to exams – down to the questions asked, so take the reins back with a spot of shopping, and reward yourself for your good work!
Dining
Everyone knows that food can affect one’s mood greatly. Whether the food is packed full of sugar, gets you pumped and ready to go; or it’s a comfort food that helps you feel warm and fuzzy inside (disclaimer: not scientifically sound), it often does something to affect your mood. People often eat before an exam to get a desired effect. So why not use this to your advantage? My pick would be a nice hearty meal that would have me full up and ready to snuggle up in bed straight afterwards to get some much needed guilt-free sleep!
Hobbies
More often than not exams are tedious, especially due to that added atmosphere of uncertainty throughout the process. During the revision period you may not be sure if what you’re revising will actually come up in the test; during the actual exam you may be only vaguely convinced that the answer you’ve put down is correct, but because you’ve told yourself never to leave a question unanswered you’ve left it as your final answer anyway! Even just after the exams have ended, you have the buzz of your classmates calling out (very confidently) what their answers were, and if you’re not able to call out this answer in unison, you might feel less certain about it, even though you were adamant that it was in fact the correct one just a few moments ago. To ease this anxiety, you could try going back to something you know inside out – like an old hobby. If you do something you enjoy and are good at, for example a sport or baking, you can reclaim that feeling of knowing exactly the right thing to do and maybe even knowing what happens next.
Try Something New
In contrast, maybe you want to discover a new you or just do something different to spice up the mundane timetable you had during exam season! How about taking up a brand new hobby or challenge? Giving yourself a new challenge is like starting on a fresh page and having the scope to make it what you want it to be. It could be a long-term goal like saving a certain amount of money each day for (the rest of) the year. It could be an exercise-based challenge, or maybe something completely random like taking a picture of something that stood out to you everyday day for a month (or longer) and making a little memory book. The point is it can be anything you want!
This month is a good time to give yourself a new challenge. Some studies say that New Year’s challenges have gone up by over 400% between last year and this year, so maybe instead of a New Year’s resolution you could jump on the bandwagon and try this!
What would your new year’s challenge be?
Blog Post Crafted by Leticia
Leticia runs our Admin Team, supporting tutors, clients and applicants. She loves singing and will almost always be seen making a beeline for the microphone at any karaoke night!
Leticia manages the staff on our Admin Team, liaising with tutors, clients and applicants. She is also responsible for processing the ID, Qualifications, DBS Check and References for all our newly joining tutors.
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