Keeping revision fresh

Exams are not the last mile of a marathon; they are a succession of sprints. The trick is not to arrive jaded and exhausted but to stay fresh. So don’t look at everything you ought to revise and wonder how on earth you’re going to cram it in. Consider what time you’ve got, and how you can divide it up so you are approaching peak condition by the end. One way to keep it fresh is to keep changing what you’re studying. I call it the rotating pyramid scheme. Each face of the pyramid is a paper or module. You start by devoting, say, a week to revising each module. That’s the solid bottom row of each face of the pyramid. Then you recap over two or three days — row two. Then a day per paper — row three. Then half a day. By the time you wind your way round to the top of the pyramid, you’ll find yourself making surprising connections between all the modules, which felt so separate at the start. You’re fresh — and you’re reaching for the stars.
James McConnachie
14 May 2020
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