Exams are possibly the most stressful things that a person will go through, yet we're made to take them at such a young age. At 16 years old we are taking tests that will literally affect our whole lives. If that thought doesn't stress you out, I don't know what will. I don't believe exams even test your knowledge; in reality, for most of your subjects, you are tested on your memory and your composure in certain situations. I've come to question how this is fair; if someone suffers from an anxiety or stress disorder how can it be healthy to put so much pressure on then? The answer I've received from most of the people I've questioned on this topic is the typical 'life not fair'. Now, I'm fully aware of this fact but why make it harder than it has to be?
Anyway, there's nothing I can do to change the legal system at the moment, no matter how much I dislike it. What has surprised me recently is the way I've dealt with the exam situation. I'm generally a very stressed and anxious person and I find these kind of things too much. However, over the past couple of months I haven't done half the revision or preparation as I normally would have or panicked as much as I usually would. After thinking about this for a while, I concluded I was in denial. I was trying to push it to the back of my mind and pretend it wasn't happening. and now, 11 days before my first exam, I've realised this is actually happening. This is why I've decided to write this post. When my brain had finally processed the fact that my exams were so close, I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown. That's not the case now though; I used simple things to get myself prepared for and ready for the next few months.
1. Realisation
It's time to come to the realisation that there is no time to waste. Right now you should be feeling the pressure! So sit down, get out you're study resources out and start refreshing your memory.
2. Coping
Now it's time to learn to deal with the pressure your feeling. Obviously it's really important to revise but you also need to find to relax and do the things you love most. So, run yourself a nice bath and grab your earphones- that is after you've done 3-4 hours of revision.
3. Organisation
Make sure you have everything organised. Find a place where you can put everything into some kind of order (this can be in subjects, exam dates, colour codes) and become familiar with your system. Make sure all of your study notes are accessible and quick to get to so that your ready if you have any spare time. An affective place to keep your revision is on your wall- use blue-tack, clips, post it notes, anything!
4. Sleep
Knowing everything about a certain topic is great but it's no use if you've had no sleep and can't function. Try to get 8-10 hours of sleep a night so that you can be as refreshed as possible when studying and doing your exams.
5. Just Try
I know it's such a cheesy thing to say but honestly, just try your best. If you've made an effort and tried your best then people can't ask much more of you.
and lastly...
6. Well done.
well done, you've worked so hard will show on results day!
Good luck in your exams if you have them and if you need any help with stress and anxiety then there's a post about it on my blog!
Bye Bugs xox
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Sunday, 1 February 2015
The Magic of Music
I believe music is one of the most powerful influences in the world. Whether it's instrumental of full of heart warming lyrics, everyone has that one special song that means a lot to them. Music accompanies most parts of life, there's pretty much a song for everything. There's so many genres of music out there and everyone seems to have such a big opinion on it, but what's the point in arguing about artists as long as they make amazing music for people to listen to?
Music is something that has been a massive part of my life for a very long time, it gets me through every situation and its something for me to rely on. I don't typically stick to one genre, I like to mix it up defending on my mood. But, something has been bothering me with the music community lately, its always been a very competitive industry but why are so many people fighting over it? Obviously most teens stick to an artist they've fallen in love with and that's great. However, when people start arguing over it I start to question what the point is. Music is something beautiful and creative (the majority of the time) and its meant to bring people pleasure, so what's with all the politics? With all of the horrific things going on in the world should we really be fighting with people over something like music?
This blog post was purely about reminding people of what the point of music is and how ridiculous some people are being. Songwriters put so much effort into creating music and I think its time everyone starts realising and respecting that fact. 2014 has been a great year for music so I thought I'd add some of my favourite songs and (in my opinion) some of the post amazing pieces from the last year or so below.
Take Me To Church- Hozier
Sam Smith- Lay Me Down
Ella Henderson- Empire
5 Seconds Of Summer- Social Casualty
Birdy- Not About Angels
Taylor Swift- Style
Arctic Monkeys- R U Mine?
One Direction- Fool's Gold
Imagine Dragons- Demons
M83- Wait
Saturday, 31 January 2015
Anxiety and Stress
This is a blog post I've been wanting to do for quite a while now because I don't think its something that is talked about in the way it should be. I mean, its definitely talked about more than it was a couple of years ago but does anyone really address it properly? I believe its important to look at the science behind it as well as ways to help. I've been struggling with stress and anxiety for years but its never really been explained properly to me, not even by a doctor. So, I did a bit of research...
Stress
Stress is a completely normal thing and if your body uses it in the correct way it can be great. it can keep you motivated, active and challenges you.It's a natural reaction and can really help you in dangerous situations (its part of the fight-or-flight process). Stress is part of releasing hormones, like adrenaline, when you in an emergency situation. However, when your body is overworked and you become too stressed it can very negative affects. This kind of stress can effect your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life. It is important that we keep our stress levels as low as possible and find a way to recognise when we are becoming too stressed. Sometimes stress starts affecting you so much that eventually you don't even release it there- this can be extremely dangerous. It's so important that you listen to your body because if you don't it can have some very devastating affects.
Anxiety
If you are affected by anxiety then it can be really controlling. It generally takes over you and affects how we feel, how we behave and has a lot of physical symptoms. There are different levels of anxiety- some people have mild anxiety, where as some people physically can't do anything because they are so scared. Anxiety, similar to stress, is part of the fight-or-flight process. It's an action that sometimes takes place in our body and can cause uncontrollable fears. Anxiety, ironically, is caused by stress. Some of us are more vulnerable to anxiety than others but we can learn to control it. Anxiety is sometimes made worse by negative self talk- the process of which we tell ourselves things are worse than they actually are.
Symptoms of anxiety- Tense muscles, trembling, churning stomach, nausea, headaches, backache, heart palpitations and numbness. I also get panic attacks with my anxiety which is also very common.
I am currently going through sessions of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) which is the process of changing the way you think and feel about things. This has really helped me and is something I highly suggest if you are struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, panic disorders or anything similar.
I am in no way an expert in anything I have just written about but I do have experience with it and I really hope this blog post has helped at least one of you!
Bye bugs xox
New Year, New Me?
Happy New Year to all of you! It's such an exciting time of year, everyone's getting over Christmas and feeling motivated, although that doesn't always last. That's a thing that always comes around with the celebration of the new year- the resolutions. Everyone makes these whether you believe you'll follow them through or not. But how many of us actually do?
Resolutions are funny things really, it's like you're deciding you're going to change your entire personality overnight. It's crazy the difference that one day can make on someone; the leggings and the running shoes come out and suddenly everyone has an iPod shuffle and can bare the cold January mornings. Most people vow to lose weight or something like that- but what's the point if it's not actually going to happen?
That's why I don't normally make new years resolutions. However, this year I made an exception. I don't want to talk about how I'm planning to change every part of my life, that's not what this blog post is about. What I am going to talk about is how I plan to become happier with myself.
Over the last couple of years I've noticed that my self-confidence has dropped to a record-breaking low. My anxiety got worse and everything just generally felt like crap. This year I've decided enough is enough- I'm doing my exams soon and I want to make sure my last year at high school is one I can enjoy. This doesn't mean that I have to change my life drastically but what I do need to do is slightly adjust the small things I'm not okay with.
I decided the first thing I needed to do was become healthier- this didn't mean losing weight but I wanted to make sure my body was happy so that my mind would eventually catch up with it. The next thing I have decided to do is to remove the people that brought a negative energy to my life. Now, obviously that wasn't completely possible, but I did press that big red delete button on the people that had brought me down and quite frankly treated me like crap.
These are just a few changes I've managed to make in the last few weeks (and I intent to continue) but I've already noticed a massive difference in myself. The purpose of the blog post was to show you that new years resolutions don't have to be impossible or drastic, just do the things that make you happy. Do things step by step, little by little and you can do anything.
I hope everyone enjoyed there new year and you all have a good week!
Bye bugs xox
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)