Advice for stress?

[bunnygirl]

At school they say its our big year this year, we need to work our butts off and get the best grades. They’re piling us with homework, which isn’t so bad because I can stay on top of it. I don’t wait till the last minute, when I can I get assignments done the first night they’re given! But recently, the teachers have been sprinting it on us the day before that we have a test the next day. Giving us ONE DAY of notice. And I’m stressing really bad under the pressure and I don’t know what to do. It’s just getting too much right now! Any remedies or advice please? 

[Floppybuns]

Are you in yr 12?

All I can suggest is make sure you still get plenty of rest and spend time doing other things wether it be hanging with friends or the bunnies whatever you like doing. I never really stressed at school I do now that I’m at uni.

I just remind myself that its not the be all and end all. It also helps me to write lists of what I have to do to try and keep it all under control.

Just try the best you can without sending your self loopy and whatever happens you will be fine and deal with it

I hope some other people can help you too!

[Deleted User]

I had a stressful Senior year of high school. (My mom left me alone to fly back home to take care of my father who had a stroke and I ended up moving in with my bf and his parents.) So here a few tips I picked up on learning how to de-stress. 1)A bath. Seriously. =] Take a bath with lavender soap if you can get your hands on it. Lavender has a naturally soothing affect. If you like reading take a book in with you. It’ll make things infinitely better. 2)Sleep. Getting sleep really helps out. While you sleep your subconscious works through issues and puts you at ease. If you find that you are having trouble going to sleep drink a warm cup of milk. I don’t like milk. So I made this concoction of warm milk with a splash of cinnamon and honey. It tastes infinitely better to me. 3) Wake up with a smile. Even if it is a forced one. When you wake up with a smile it does something to you psychologically and helps you have a better mind frame for tackling the day.

There are a bunch of other tips that can help you feel better. But it does depend on your personality. For instance, I’m a big gamer. So if I need to really blow off some steam I’ll play a 1st person shooter and swear like a sailor and it helps me release my anger in a positive way.

I agree with Floppybuns though. Making lists of stuff helps you keep your head on straight. And it is very gratifying to strike what you finished off of the list.

I hope things get better for you. =]

[RabbitPam]

Being only given one day of notice isn’t really an invitation to stay up all night cramming. It’s a way for them to determine if they are meeting the goals of their job in teaching you the material and gauging what needs to be worked on more. In other words, if you are paying attention and doing your homework as assigned, you’re being tested on how much you’ve learned in the process. Just take the advice of getting a good night’s sleep and do your best.

If you want to tackle both, review the material being covered the next day in a slow, reading over it way just before you go to sleep. Then tell yourself you prepared enough and rest. What we think about as we are drowsy gets absorbed into the subconscious while we sleep. Your brain will work on the material you read and go over it. Waking refreshed will help you to call on that info. when you take the test. And no one test ever determines your future.

Btw, even when you decide on your school and career, the stats show that many people change schools after 2 years (I did) and they change careers 4 times in their lives! The only thing to be sure of is that no choice is ever irrevocable or permanent. Just pay close attention to those studies that come more easily and where you do very well. Those are clues to what areas of interests and natural abilities will make you happy. What you like to do, what you excel at, is more important than generic or popular demands of goals for your future.

[Sarita]

One day notice – that is stressful. I have to agree with everyone – get plenty of rest – take short power naps (if you can – I know it’s hard to nap when you are stressed out).

I have heard that you retain more if you study and then rest (take naps or sleep).

Also a good thing is to get away for a bit and take a nice walk (weather permitting).

[Roberta]

Have held off commenting as I did not think I could contribute. I never studied, never needed to, stuff sticks. I’m a freak of nature. I picked everything up from the lessons and homework. Never had to crack a book and still managed a 98% average.
Then I thought “maybe” I always wanted to learn, soaked it up like a sponge and felt confident that I had taken it in. I did a lot of side research of my own volition.
So what I am thinking is attitude… If you feel that study is right then study but also have faith in yourself… If you believe you have absorbed the knowledge seek to confirm it not over write it.
I watched friends stress and cram and all they did was push out what they knew at the last minute and replace it with what they had already learned. It only served to confuse them as they started to doubt what they had already considered to be accurate.
Am I making sense, do you know what I mean ?

[Stickerbunny]

They are testing your knowledge of stuff they have taught you and preparing you for college. My college classes some days I would walk in and the teacher had an assignment to do in class, rather than lecture, no advance notice. My final I never knew the essay topic until I got into the room to take it, even though the topic required knowledge of local events (which was fun, since I never read local news papers). My English Professor first day of class, barely even introduced herself and then told us to hand write an essay for her. She kept doing that throughout the semester – she’d even have us read an essay and then write our own about it, no time to think of what we would like to say, just free flowing thoughts (with proper grammar and structure). You have to be able to handle these without freaking out.

Just breathe and relax. One thing I did to help me retain knowledge was at the end of the week, I would type up my hand written notes and that helped me retain the knowledge much better than just reading the notes did. I never crammed for the weekly tests I had in college, because my studying was just the typing. It was relaxed and less stressful that way. Just trust yourself, do your work as required and most importantly try not to stress yourself out too badly about it. Often our worst enemies are our own insecurities in stuff like this.

Make sure you take time before a big test to do something fun, burned out is not a good way to go into a test. So study, but leave time for yourself as well. Good luck!

[Monkeybun]

My advice: breathe. You need downtime when you get that stressed. If you’ve done the work, you know what to do already, a cram session won’t help much, and just make you more stressed, which will make things more frustrating, which will make you make mistakes. Just breathe, relax, and do something fun. You’ll do fine with the tests as long as you keep doing the work assigned

[bunnygirl]

Thank you everyone, I went into school this week, sat FOUR tests, and did okay in 3. Maths, English and Drama. I’m not so brilliant at science, but I’m still managing a high B. You can’t be good at everything though, right?

I’m taking all your advice and throwing it together so I can find something that works. Currently, Im writing a timetable of homework and marking out specific days I am going to work on each assignment. It seems to be going okay. We did exams like that Stickerbunny, it kinda sucked, but I think I did okay, I get my results for that in a couple weeks. Fingers, toes, and long bunny ears crossed! I keep dedicating at least 2 hours each night to relax. That’s keeping me sane for now! Thanks everyone, for all your wonderful advice and support in this!

[Beka27]

It doesn’t help now, but the rest of us who have been through school and college can vouch for this… You’re not going to remember the individual grades you got. Getting a B or C on one test will not doom you for life. There were tests in college that I studied very hard for and barely pulled a C… but most classes have enough assignments and quizzes and tests built in to the curriculum that ONE grade won’t make or break you.

You really have to continue to take time for yourself. And decide on and stick to a bedtime, or at least a time that you close the books and do something relaxing. In college, the girls who stayed up half the night cramming got lowered grades than the rest of us who studied a little bit each day and then got a full night’s rest. I also like the idea of a “day of rest” for you to go out with friends, hang with family, or do something else you enjoy and DO NOT open a book.

[bunnygirl]

I’ve got a routine sorted now, I do 2 pieces of homework each night, minimum. Each is taking me about an hour. I do more if I can, I did 4 this evening, so hopefully, I’ll be homework free tomorrow night, or at least I’ll only have one or two! I generally try to come home, get all my homework done, then relax. I’m attempting to never open a book after 8. I have an hour/hour and a half to wind down and relax, then I shower and go to bed and read or something to help me sleep. I try to make Saturday a relaxing day where possible, I agree with the ‘day of rest’!

I’m doing better than expected in Science now, I got another test result back, and 2 assignments. I got 100% on one assignment, 94% in the other, and 72% in the test. Not too bad, I’m not very good at the thing we did in science, it was confusing.

I also spoke to my maths teacher. We’re doing algebra and indices right now, and it’s confusing as heck! I told her I was stressing, and that I was finding things difficult, and she’s helping me work through the problems! I met up with her at lunch time and we sat and worked through a whole bunch of problems that had my brain spinning! When she does it with me, it’s easy. But when I do it, I struggle really bad!

But all my teachers keep telling me I put too much pressure on myself to do good. I suppose I’m a bit of a perfectionist. They keep telling me it’s okay to fail sometimes, it’s okay if I’m not great at everything…but I want to do well!

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