Relax it's only revision!

Time flies when you’re having fun and, amazingly, we are already more than halfway through this academic year. While the summer and exams may still seem a little way off, coursework deadlines could be looming and it’s never too soon to at least prepare for revision.

Our British boarding schools have always been good at supporting their students with revision tips and timetables, and increasingly recognise the worth of mindfulness classes etc. However, at the start of this potentially stressful time, we thought it might be helpful to share Anxiety UK’s 10 tips for anxious students.

1. If you feel yourself start to panic, tell yourself: don’t panic; you can do this. Listen to and believe in yourself.
2. Work on controlling your breathing. Try breathing in through your nose for four seconds, holding for two seconds, then breathing out through your mouth for six seconds.
3. If you find it hard to maintain focus in class, ask your teachers if you may record lessons so you can listen back to any bits you missed.
4. Break coursework and essays into small chunks. This takes a bit of planning and means not leaving it all to the last minute, but it staves off anxiety.
5. Most research into attention spans suggests a limit of 40 minutes, so work in half-hour chunks with short breaks between for a drink or a breath of fresh air.
6. Procrastination can be the anxious person’s biggest enemy. Convince yourself to work for just five minutes. Once you’ve started you may be able to keep going. If not, at least you have achieved five minutes of work.
7. Be kind to yourself – but disciplined. It is easy to become your own worst enemy. Accept that things are tough right now and think about how you can work with your brain to make things happen.
8. Excessive caffeine increases symptoms of anxiety, so moderate your caffeine intake and don’t forget that includes tea and some soft drinks, not just coffee.
9. Remember you are not alone. Everyone else may look as if they are coping fine but many of them are struggling too. Talk to people.
10. Follow a healthy routine of eating, sleeping and exercise. Even 30 minutes walking a day can reduce anxiety. Disrupted sleeping and eating are classic accompaniments to anxiety and can create a vicious cycle. If this is happening, seek help.

We hope this may help and wish everyone the best of luck with their coursework, revision and exams.

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