Revision Skills — PawSteps

Find a good place to study

Step 1 of 5.

Log out of social media. Not just close the tab — log out, so getting back in takes effort.
Make sure you are not too hot. A warm room makes you sleepy faster than a boring subject does.
Be comfortable. Comfortable enough to stay for 45 minutes, not comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Where are you going to work?

What is the main thing that will interrupt you there, and what will you do about it?

Have a plan

Step 2 of 5.

Having a plan reduces anxiety and helps you cover all your topics. Two questions:

What will you have done by the end of today?

What will you have done by the end of the week?

Other ways of planning

Separate colour paper for different subjectsTo-do listsA revision timetable

Build the timetable

Step 2 continued — the timetable, with the breaks already in it.

The rule is 45 minutes on, 10 minutes off. This builds it in for you rather than leaving it to willpower, because willpower is the thing that runs out.

Start time

How many sessions?

Which day?

Topics — one per line, in the order you want to do them

Revise actively

Step 3 of 5.

Rather than simply reading over the text, make it more interesting.

Q cards
Question on one side, answer on the other.

Mind maps
One topic in the middle, branches outwards.

Add colour to the text
Not everywhere — colour means nothing if it is on every line.

"If you can't explain it simply you do not know it enough."

Which is why the last method is the best one: teach a family member your topic.

Teach it back

Step 3 continued — the Einstein line, made into a task.

Pick one topic

Close the notes now. Genuinely. This does not work if you can see them, because your brain will read instead of retrieve, and retrieving is the part that makes it stick.

Explain it, from memory, as if to someone who has never heard of it

Now open your notes. What did you miss?

Recall and summarise

Step 4 of 5.

At set intervals, stop and recap what you have read — a few sentences in your notes, written from memory.

Use different colours for information you have trouble remembering, so it stands out when you come back.
Draw and doodle freely while revising. It is good for visual learners and it makes you more likely to remember.

Recap box — print this and write in it from memory

Test yourself

Step 5 of 5.

Past papers
The closest thing to the real conditions you will get.

Get a family member to test you
They do not need to understand the subject to read questions off a card.

Who is going to test you, and when?

The rules

Take a 10 minute break every 45 minutes
Try to stick to your schedule
Find support
Ensure you get enough sleep
Keep hydrated

On missed days. You will miss some. Everybody does, including the people who look like they do not. A missed day is not a broken streak and it does not undo the work you have already done — there is nothing here counting them, on purpose. Pick up the timetable at whatever the next session is and carry on.