Living with anxiety is something that I have had to deal with for pretty much my whole life, whether I had realised that or not. It affects my day-to-day life in more ways than I thought was ever possible to do so, resulting in there being many times where I haven't been able to do the things that I want to do and live the life that I want to live because I have felt that my anxiety has held me back.
I would say that the anxiety I mostly have to deal with is social anxiety. To those who don't already know, this means I struggle with being in social situations and a lot of the time when I am in those situations, my heart rate is a lot faster than normal, I feel sick, and I struggle to breathe. This is even when just thinking about those situations and whenever I do feel this way before a situation I will always try and get out of it because I know that if I have high anxiety about a situation before I'm even in it, then it will be ten times worse when I am actually in that situation.
We can look at this in terms of comfort zones. A comfort zone is something that we all have, and for me, this is my house, or at least my bedroom. When I am in my room/house, I feel comfortable and am 99% certain that nothing bad can happen to me while I am in my comfort zone. For me the danger can only start when I step out of my comfort zone, so pretty much as soon as I walk out of my front door I feel as though I am putting myself in danger. Even if I am just leaving my house to walk to my local shop and back, there are many times when I feel the anxiety start to set in. But this anxiety is always worse when I am having to leave my house and know I am either putting myself into an unknown situation or if I am going into a situation that I am already anxious about for whatever reason that may be. The further out of my comfort zone I am, the worse my anxiety is.
It also makes me overly paranoid about things that I should never be concerned about. I can't walk past a group of people without thinking they're talking about me. I can't go into a shop where they don't have a self check-out as I worry that after I leave the person who served me is going to start talking about me to their colleagues. I can't go on a break or leave where I am on placement through fear that the people who work there are going to start talking about me behind my back. I fear that my 'friends' all secretly hate me and only invite me to some things because they feel that they have to and not because they want me there or want to see me. I can't walk into a seminar or lecture on my own, regardless of whether I'm late or not, because I worry people are going to look at me and as soon as they see me they are going to start talking about me. I can't go up and talk to people through fear they are going to judge whatever I say. I can't get the lift from my flat to the ground floor in case there are other people in there and if I'm going back up to my flat I can only get the lift if I am the only one there and have to press the button to close the doors before anyone else comes along. I can't text someone first, even if it is urgent, through fear that they don't actually like me and find me annoying.
I feel that I have to hide away in the background whenever I am in any sort of social situation to try and make sure no-one notices me. Of course, I hate living like this, however it is something that I have been struggling to control for many years now. I am aiming this year to try and improve this, even if it's just the tiniest bit, but I have found myself accepting that this is how I am going to have to live for the rest of my life. I think I know deep down that everything that I am paranoid about or anything that I think might happen is highly unlikely to be true, however there is clearly something going on in my head that is causing these thoughts to happen. I wish I knew why this is and I wish I had the courage to go to the doctors, however I feel as though if I do they'll say I'm just overthinking it and that I don't have anxiety or any other mental health problems and that there's nothing wrong with me. I guess I have a fear of being judged, which is another reason why I haven't gone to the doctors yet as I feel that if I am diagnosed with anxiety then they'll be one of the people who judge me for my diagnosis.
I'm fed up with my anxiety preventing me from living my life how I want to live it. I feel that it's so easy for someone to tell me that it's all in my head and that there's actually nothing wrong with me and that I should just get over it and go outside. But it's not that easy. It's not as simple as just telling someone to get over something and them miraculously being cured. It's about taking the time to gain a better understanding of what exactly is causing this anxiety and then taking the time to find the methods that work in helping to manage it. I don't believe this is something that can ever be cured (although I hope that at some point it can be), but as long as someday I find a way to manage what is causing my anxiety so that I don't get as anxious as I do over the smallest of things then I will be happy.
If anyone reading this has any methods for managing their anxiety that they found have worked for them (or any methods that haven't), then please comment them down below as they may help me or someone else reading this who also struggles with anxiety.
Love Beth xx
Sunday 28 April 2019
Sunday 21 April 2019
My Top 10 Movies on Netflix
(Disclaimer: I'm going to try and make these mostly Netflix original movies, however there may possibly also be ones that aren't Netflix original. Also if I haven't included a movie(s) on here that's on Netflix that you really enjoy and would recommend then please feel free to comment it down below as I or someone reading this may not have watched it and it could turn into a personal favourite. Also, these aren't necessarily in order of which are the best, they're just my own personal favourites in any random order).
1. To All The Boys I've Loved Before
This Netflix original has to be a personal favourite of mine and I feel like what Lara Jean does with writing letters to all of the boys that she has ever loved (hence the title) is something that we've all thought of doing at some point in our lives (or, at least, I have anyway). I will say that around halfway through this film I kind of started to lose interest a bit, but this wasn't anything really to do with the film and was more to do with me having an inability to sit still and watch something for more than five minutes. I would also say that as I am 19 (18 when I watched the film) it is probably aimed at an audience that is slightly younger than me (I'd say from around the ages of 12/13), however it is perfectly watchable by anyone who is older than that. I would definitely say that I wish my love life could be like how the film portrays teenage love to be like, however, I guess that's all part of the fairytale side of things.
Rating ~ 9/10
2. The Kissing Booth
This is another Netflix original and after having heard so many good things about it I decided to sit down and watch it. I really enjoyed that the plot centred around two best friends where the girl (Elle) fancies the boys (Lee) brother (Noah) however can't be with him due to a pact that they made (or can she?). However like To All The Boys I've Loved Before, it also has that fairytale aspect to it where in real life the chances of any of this actually happening (at least in the way that the film portrays it) are very slim. Despite this, this film is probably one of the very few films where I have actually been able to sit through the whole thing without having to get up and do something else or look at my phone throughout various parts of the film.
Rating ~ 9.5/10
3. The Princess Switch
Another of Netflix's original films, however this time it's a Christmas movie (the only Netflix Christmas original move that I've watched). It centres around two girls, one a baker and the other a princess, who look exactly alike however aren't related in any shape or form. When the baker (Stacy) heads to Belgravia with her best friend Kevin and his daughter to take part in a baking competition, she meets the princess (Margaret) who is engaged to the prince. The two decide to switch lives and soon find themselves falling for the other's man. As a viewer, you are taken on a Christmas journey of wondering whether the two will be caught out and how they could ever return to their former lives. I definitely didn't feel the need to get up or use my phone during this film and think that this will go down as one of my all-time favourite Christmas films (or just favourite films in general).
Rating ~10/10
4. Four Weddings and a Funeral
Moving away from the Netflix originals now (I have so many I want to watch, I just haven't found the time to watch them), this film took me the longest time to watch (I only watched it for the first time at the end of last year) but I am so glad that I bothered to take the time to sit down and watch it. Yes, towards the end I did find myself getting engrossed in other things and not paying as much attention to the film as maybe I should have done, however this doesn't take away how much of a great film this is. It has an absolutely amazing cast with an amazing plot and is the complete opposite of what I was expecting it to be like. I like that it's set around one particular group of friends and that the script-writing has managed to find a way to include all of them in every single part of the film without it seeming too repetitive. If you haven't watched this yet then I would definitely recommend that you do.
Rating ~ 9/10
5. 13 going on 30
Like the film above, this film is probably one that I should have watched years ago, yet only watched a few months ago. I had heard of it but it was only in Ariana Grande's music video for 'thank u, next' that I realised from the comments how big a deal this film is and that I should watch it. When I did I instantly fell in love with the plot and the characters (well, most of them anyway) and the genre of film (rom-com) is my all-time favourite. I also like that the film shows that you don't need to be popular in order to be successful in life. The portrayal of comedy in this film is excellent and how Garner acts as a 13-year-old in a 30-year-old's body really shows how innocent children are compared to how it can sometimes seem, really showing that keeping your childhood as child-like as possible and not trying to grow up too fast is such an important thing.
Rating ~ 8.5/10
6. Mamma Mia
This film is something that I will always watch over-and-over again and don't think I could ever get bored of it. If anyone knows me they will know that I absolutely love musicals and this doesn't fail to disappoint. The writing and comedic aspects to it are spot on, especially Julie Walters as Rosie who is arguably the best character in both this film and the sequel 'here we go again'. Even though some of the cast can't sing (which is kind of essential to be able to do in a musical), this can easily be looked past due to how amazing the plot and the acting is. I like that the ABBA songs that have been used in this film have a slightly new take on them, making everything in the film original, and also how the songs link in nicely with what is going on in that exact point in the movie.
Rating ~ 9.5/10
7. Legally Blonde
If you have ever watched this film and haven't felt motivated to do something, whether that be school/uni work or doing something that you have been putting off for a while now, then you clearly weren't paying that much attention to the film. It centres around Elle, a teenager who is very popular with wealthy parents and stereotypically seems to be heading to work in fashion. However, after wanting to follow her now ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School, she ends up studying law but is made to feel that she shouldn't be there as she is 'too stupid'. She manages to prove these people wrong, showing everyone who has ever watched this film that if there is something in life that you want to achieve, no matter how impossible that might seem, that you can do it and that it is possible for anyone to achieve their goal(s) if they just put their mind to it.
Rating ~ 9.5/10
8. Ted
This film is definitely not one for those of you who are easily offended as this film is definitely one that pushes the boundaries quite a considerable amount. It focuses on a guy who has a talking bear and they are both 'thunder buddies' and have never been without one another since ted was first given to John as a little boy. Their closeness is difficult for John's girlfriend Lori, who only wants to be able to spend some time alone with John every once in a while, resulting in them splitting up. However, when they eventually get back together to discover ted has been kidnapped, they have to fight to try and get him back, except when they do things only go from bad to worse. I definitely wouldn't recommend this for anyone who is under 15 as this film was the one to make me realise why films have an age limit.
Rating ~ 8/10
9. Beauty and the Beast
I absolutely loved the cartoon version of this and when I found that a live-action version was being made I was absolutely ecstatic. However, I never watched this film when it was first released so you can understand how happy I was when it came out on Netflix. I only watched this for the first time recently and enjoyed the fact that it was pretty much exactly how I remembered it from the cartoon. I will admit that throughout this I did occasionally go on my phone and did fall asleep about half an hour before it finished, however this was more to do with the fact that it was quite late at night when I watched it and I was really tired and not because I found the film boring, because it is far from that. Some people may say that I am too old to be watching Disney films, especially ones about princesses, but you are never too old for any kind of film, and this film goes to show that it is what's on the inside and not on the outside that counts.
Rating ~ 9/10
10. Johnny English
I like this film because it involves both drama and comedy and the lead actor is Rowan Atkinson who is one of my all-time favourite actors. I do believe that the film should have been left there and didn't need its sequels as the first sequel wasn't that good and I didn't get anywhere near the end and I haven't even seen the latest sequel. However, I do like the fact that the film shows that everyone is capable of making mistakes, no matter who you are or what profession you are in.
Rating ~ 7/10
Love Beth xx
Like the film above, this film is probably one that I should have watched years ago, yet only watched a few months ago. I had heard of it but it was only in Ariana Grande's music video for 'thank u, next' that I realised from the comments how big a deal this film is and that I should watch it. When I did I instantly fell in love with the plot and the characters (well, most of them anyway) and the genre of film (rom-com) is my all-time favourite. I also like that the film shows that you don't need to be popular in order to be successful in life. The portrayal of comedy in this film is excellent and how Garner acts as a 13-year-old in a 30-year-old's body really shows how innocent children are compared to how it can sometimes seem, really showing that keeping your childhood as child-like as possible and not trying to grow up too fast is such an important thing.
Rating ~ 8.5/10
This film is something that I will always watch over-and-over again and don't think I could ever get bored of it. If anyone knows me they will know that I absolutely love musicals and this doesn't fail to disappoint. The writing and comedic aspects to it are spot on, especially Julie Walters as Rosie who is arguably the best character in both this film and the sequel 'here we go again'. Even though some of the cast can't sing (which is kind of essential to be able to do in a musical), this can easily be looked past due to how amazing the plot and the acting is. I like that the ABBA songs that have been used in this film have a slightly new take on them, making everything in the film original, and also how the songs link in nicely with what is going on in that exact point in the movie.
Rating ~ 9.5/10
If you have ever watched this film and haven't felt motivated to do something, whether that be school/uni work or doing something that you have been putting off for a while now, then you clearly weren't paying that much attention to the film. It centres around Elle, a teenager who is very popular with wealthy parents and stereotypically seems to be heading to work in fashion. However, after wanting to follow her now ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School, she ends up studying law but is made to feel that she shouldn't be there as she is 'too stupid'. She manages to prove these people wrong, showing everyone who has ever watched this film that if there is something in life that you want to achieve, no matter how impossible that might seem, that you can do it and that it is possible for anyone to achieve their goal(s) if they just put their mind to it.
Rating ~ 9.5/10
This film is definitely not one for those of you who are easily offended as this film is definitely one that pushes the boundaries quite a considerable amount. It focuses on a guy who has a talking bear and they are both 'thunder buddies' and have never been without one another since ted was first given to John as a little boy. Their closeness is difficult for John's girlfriend Lori, who only wants to be able to spend some time alone with John every once in a while, resulting in them splitting up. However, when they eventually get back together to discover ted has been kidnapped, they have to fight to try and get him back, except when they do things only go from bad to worse. I definitely wouldn't recommend this for anyone who is under 15 as this film was the one to make me realise why films have an age limit.
Rating ~ 8/10
I absolutely loved the cartoon version of this and when I found that a live-action version was being made I was absolutely ecstatic. However, I never watched this film when it was first released so you can understand how happy I was when it came out on Netflix. I only watched this for the first time recently and enjoyed the fact that it was pretty much exactly how I remembered it from the cartoon. I will admit that throughout this I did occasionally go on my phone and did fall asleep about half an hour before it finished, however this was more to do with the fact that it was quite late at night when I watched it and I was really tired and not because I found the film boring, because it is far from that. Some people may say that I am too old to be watching Disney films, especially ones about princesses, but you are never too old for any kind of film, and this film goes to show that it is what's on the inside and not on the outside that counts.
Rating ~ 9/10
10. Johnny English
I like this film because it involves both drama and comedy and the lead actor is Rowan Atkinson who is one of my all-time favourite actors. I do believe that the film should have been left there and didn't need its sequels as the first sequel wasn't that good and I didn't get anywhere near the end and I haven't even seen the latest sequel. However, I do like the fact that the film shows that everyone is capable of making mistakes, no matter who you are or what profession you are in.
Rating ~ 7/10
Love Beth xx
Sunday 14 April 2019
To My Primary School Friends
I know that I don't really speak to any of you anymore, but I thought that I would take this opportunity to tell you everything that I have been going through over the past few years and why I miss you like crazy and wish that we could get back in touch. Because I do miss you. Pretty much every single second of every single day. But I know that you don't feel about me in the same way, which is why I'm writing to you like this instead of getting in contact with you directly.
The truth is, I have been through an awful lot in the past few years, as have all of you from what I have heard. I've fallen in and out of love, I've been through loss, I've moved house, I've learnt how to drive, I've had to deal with my parents' divorce, I've moved away to university, as well as many, many other things. And I'm sure all of you have been through similar or other things, but I hope that now things are starting to look up for you, as I'm hoping they are for me.
All of this sounds so selfish so far. I mean, all I've done is talk about myself and I haven't even asked how any of you are. How are you all? I hope you're doing well, and I really mean that. But I guess all I can really do is talk about how I'm doing as I barely know anything that's been going on with any of you. But that's my fault. I should have made more effort in staying in contact with you all when we left primary school instead of just leaving all of that down to you and ignoring the fact that we were ever even friends and moving on to new people, none of whom I am friends with anymore.
Do I regret us no longer being friends? Yes, ever so much. Would I go back in time and actually bother to message you all once a while? Absolutely. But unfortunately, time travel doesn't exist so I guess I'm just going to have to try and learn from that massive mistake and actually bother to message the people who I am currently friends with but hardly ever get the chance to see.
I know that we were only incredibly young when we first became friends and that many people are no longer friends with those who were a massive part of their childhood. But I thought that we were different. I thought that we would be the best of friends forever and ever and that absolutely nothing could break us apart. But it did. And it was me. I broke us apart. And I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had of bothered to keep in contact with you all instead of just not bothering to reply.
But one thing I can't help but wonder when writing all of this is if any of you actually genuinely liked me. Yes, it's easy for me to say that I never bothered talking to any of you, but in reality how much did any of you actually bother to try and keep in contact with me? Admittedly it was a bit more than I ever did, however it certainly wasn't that much more. And when all four of us were in school together you would always work together and I was always left on the sidelines. But I guess that's just the story of my life really. Always on the sidelines and never in the crowd. I guess it's just something that I've managed to get used to over the years when in reality it's something that I should never have had to get used to at all. Maybe that's why we're no longer in contact? Maybe it's because none of you ever actually liked me and that is the reason why we no longer speak. But I guess I will never know.
One thing I want to know is if you ever think about me. Even if it's just the tiniest little bit. I bet none of you do. I mean, it was stupid of me to think that you did in the first place. Here I am, doing nothing but think of all of you, what you're doing with your lives and wishing that I was a part of that. And there you are, living your lives to the full and not thinking about me once. And to be honest I don't blame you for doing that. I'm nothing special. Sometimes I try to think that I am but in reality, I know that I'm not. Please feel free to confirm this, it won't hurt I swear.
The number of times I've thought about messaging you and have come so close to doing so but end up chickening out is way more than I could count on both hands. I bet none of you has thought about doing the same. But if you ever do, then please feel free to do so. I would love for us to get in contact again and maybe meet up sometime. But, in the meantime, I wish you all the best and I hope that life is doing you good. Because it definitely isn't for me so it would be good to know that it is doing good for at least one of us.
Love Beth xx
The truth is, I have been through an awful lot in the past few years, as have all of you from what I have heard. I've fallen in and out of love, I've been through loss, I've moved house, I've learnt how to drive, I've had to deal with my parents' divorce, I've moved away to university, as well as many, many other things. And I'm sure all of you have been through similar or other things, but I hope that now things are starting to look up for you, as I'm hoping they are for me.
All of this sounds so selfish so far. I mean, all I've done is talk about myself and I haven't even asked how any of you are. How are you all? I hope you're doing well, and I really mean that. But I guess all I can really do is talk about how I'm doing as I barely know anything that's been going on with any of you. But that's my fault. I should have made more effort in staying in contact with you all when we left primary school instead of just leaving all of that down to you and ignoring the fact that we were ever even friends and moving on to new people, none of whom I am friends with anymore.
Do I regret us no longer being friends? Yes, ever so much. Would I go back in time and actually bother to message you all once a while? Absolutely. But unfortunately, time travel doesn't exist so I guess I'm just going to have to try and learn from that massive mistake and actually bother to message the people who I am currently friends with but hardly ever get the chance to see.
I know that we were only incredibly young when we first became friends and that many people are no longer friends with those who were a massive part of their childhood. But I thought that we were different. I thought that we would be the best of friends forever and ever and that absolutely nothing could break us apart. But it did. And it was me. I broke us apart. And I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had of bothered to keep in contact with you all instead of just not bothering to reply.
But one thing I can't help but wonder when writing all of this is if any of you actually genuinely liked me. Yes, it's easy for me to say that I never bothered talking to any of you, but in reality how much did any of you actually bother to try and keep in contact with me? Admittedly it was a bit more than I ever did, however it certainly wasn't that much more. And when all four of us were in school together you would always work together and I was always left on the sidelines. But I guess that's just the story of my life really. Always on the sidelines and never in the crowd. I guess it's just something that I've managed to get used to over the years when in reality it's something that I should never have had to get used to at all. Maybe that's why we're no longer in contact? Maybe it's because none of you ever actually liked me and that is the reason why we no longer speak. But I guess I will never know.
One thing I want to know is if you ever think about me. Even if it's just the tiniest little bit. I bet none of you do. I mean, it was stupid of me to think that you did in the first place. Here I am, doing nothing but think of all of you, what you're doing with your lives and wishing that I was a part of that. And there you are, living your lives to the full and not thinking about me once. And to be honest I don't blame you for doing that. I'm nothing special. Sometimes I try to think that I am but in reality, I know that I'm not. Please feel free to confirm this, it won't hurt I swear.
The number of times I've thought about messaging you and have come so close to doing so but end up chickening out is way more than I could count on both hands. I bet none of you has thought about doing the same. But if you ever do, then please feel free to do so. I would love for us to get in contact again and maybe meet up sometime. But, in the meantime, I wish you all the best and I hope that life is doing you good. Because it definitely isn't for me so it would be good to know that it is doing good for at least one of us.
Love Beth xx
Sunday 7 April 2019
My Top Tips for Revising for A-Levels
If you are an A-Level student then you will know that your exams are fast approaching, and trust me when I say that they will come around much sooner than you think. Of course, one thing that comes with exams is revision - something that we all hate doing and would much rather try and forget about than actually do.
I don't know about you but my strength doesn't lie with exams and is instead with coursework. This has meant that I always end up having to rely on my coursework grade, rather than my exam grade, to ensure that I achieve the overall grade that I need, and possibly better. Sure, this worked when I did my GCSEs as that was when most subjects tended to be quite coursework-heavy. However by the time I started studying for my A-Levels this all changed, as well as some other things, as it was decided that subjects should be more exam-based than coursework-based. I definitely found this quite struggling as I have never done well in exams, therefore meaning that due to this, and the fact that I needed to get my target grades in order to get into university, there was quite a lot more pressure on me to succeed in my exams than there had been when I sat my GCSEs.
The grades I needed to get in order to get into my chosen university were CCC and I managed to achieve BCC. I was both amazed and surprised at myself, seeing how I mostly had to rely on me doing well in exams to get these grades (which wasn't that likely to happen) and the fact that after every exam and talking to other people, I realised that I probably could have done better or could have answered some of the questions differently to how I originally answered them. And I know that some (or many) of you reading this will probably want better grades than what I got, however I think that some of these revision tips that I am going to be sharing with you can be used by anyone and are also open to your own interpretation.
Tip #1 ~ revise in block periods
This wasn't something that I tried when I first started revising for my A-Levels, however I read about it in a leaflet that my chosen university had sent to me and I applied it in the last few weeks of revision and it is something that I regret not using sooner. I had used variations of this when I was revising for my GCSEs, however I must have been doing something wrong because I often found it difficult to do any revision that was worthwhile. In the leaflet it said to revise for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break, repeat this two more times and then take a half an hour break, and repeat this throughout the day for as long as you feel necessary. I found that this worked really well because I wasn't revising for so long that I started finding it difficult to concentrate, meaning that the whole time I was revising I felt like I was completely in the zone and didn't start looking for other things to do (which is something that I often tend to do when I am bored of doing school work).
Tip #2 ~ plan your revision schedule
This is something that I definitely didn't do when revising for my GCSEs and is something I wish I had done because then I probably would have actually done some revision instead of continuously putting it off to the point where it was too late for me to start any revision. When it came to my A-Level schedule I didn't do what a lot of people do which is to plan out the exact days and times of when I would do my revision. I did plan the days I was going to revise and which subject I was going to revise on which day, however I decided not to plan the time because obviously I planned this when I first started revision and at that point I didn't know how many hours I should be doing each day from the start to the end. When I first started revising, as I still had to attend sixth form, I chose to do one or two hours when I got back home and then at the weekend, depending on how busy I was, I would do anything from two to four hours. As time progressed that changed to three or four hours every day and by the time exams started, the most amount of time I spent revising in a day was around nine hours of solid revision (although it definitely felt like a lot more at the time). When it came to planning which subject I was going to do on which day, I split it so that I had more variation. As one of my subjects was history (which was probably my most hated) I decided to split my revision days for that into revising for one of the exams per day. This meant that my time table was split so that, for example, one day was history exam no. 1, the next was psychology, the next was history exam no. 2, the next was health, and the next was history exam no. 3, and so on. I found this to be effective as it meant that I was ensuring that I would 100% revise for all of my history exams (as I definitely favoured some more than others), and also had breaks in between the two subjects that I preferred. Obviously you can do this in any which way you want, however I found this to be the most effective method for me.
Tip #3 ~ allow yourself to have time-off
This is something I didn't do when revising for A-Levels, however I would definitely recommend that you do this in order to still have some of your sanity left throughout this whole ordeal. I can remember at some point during revision I was under a lot of stress and it felt that my head was constantly heavy. I was also overly tired and instead of walking normally I was dragging myself around, as one of my teachers kindly pointed out to me a week or two before exams were due to start. If I had allowed myself a day off once a week then I definitely think that during that day I would have been able to spend some time properly looking after myself and rejuvenate before the next day of revision started again. I know that you might feel that you can't afford to take any time off from revising, no matter how big or how small, however a day when you first start revising isn't hurting anyone. Even a couple of weeks before exams are due to start, just having half a day off should help a little bit. Remember, your mental health is really important and in order to succeed you need to look after that as well, not just doing hours and days and weeks on end of solid revision.
Tip #4 ~ start revising early
I can not stress this to you enough but if you haven't started revision for your exams by now then you really need to start now. I half started revision around the December before I took my exams as after Christmas I had some mock exams in one of my subjects. However, I properly started revision that February. I do think I could have possibly started revising earlier or put in an hour or two more when I first started revising, but then again if I had of done that I probably would have gone from borderline crazy to overly crazy. The longer you leave starting revision, the more stress you are going to put yourself under when trying to fit in enough hours in order to succeed. If you find you are struggling to get started then talk to someone, either a friend or a teacher, and ask them what they'd recommend you do. Even if at this stage you put in more hours at the library and then do very little, if anything, at home something is better than nothing. But if you really want to succeed then you seriously need to start revising now or else come August you may find that you don't get what you wanted/needed and may have to repeat the year (which, let's face it, none of us wants to go through A-Levels more than is absolutely necessary) or go to plan B (or even plan C).
Tip #5 ~ attend as many revision sessions as you possibly can
I don't know if the same applies to where you attend sixth form/college as it did at my old sixth form, but around January was when teachers started putting on revision sessions after school for those who were wanting to attend. For me, the main one of these was history, which was held once a week and the teachers started by going through a summary of the course from the start, and when we started getting nearer to exams they'd ask us what we wanted to cover in the session and it would be what the majority of us wanted to do. Not many people attended these sessions, which is understandable as we were putting in 4-5 hours straight during school hours and by the end of it probably just wanted to go home and have a break because I know that I definitely did. However, in these sessions it gives you the opportunity to work more closely with your teachers and for them to tell you vital information or clear something up that they might not have done in the original lesson. I know that some of my teachers didn't hold revision sessions, but they are always available for you to go and talk to them if you are worried about something or don't understand a certain aspect of the course, which they will happily go over for you at an agreed time if you go and talk to them before it's too late. Teachers are there to help and would rather you go to them and constantly ask them questions about the things you are struggling with than sit there in silence and try and ignore the problem.
Tip #6 ~ try a variety of revision methods
We all learn in different ways and all have preferred ways of doing something. For example, when making notes I prefer to bullet point them; whereas others prefer to make a mind-map. Some people are visual learners, some people are audio learners, and some people are kinetic learners. I am an audio learner, which means I find it easier listening to something than reading it off a page. One thing I used to help this is a website called quizlet (not an ad), which allows you to make a set of flashcards and uses a variety of methods to help you learn and remember what is on those cards. It also has the option to use audio, so that as you are revising it says what is on the cards, which I found very handy when revising as this is the best way for me to learn. However, I would recommend that if you do this, you only put brief summaries on the cards as on some of mine there were huge chunks of information, which meant that the audio version of those cards wasn't available. Obviously you might find that different methods work better in different areas, however I would recommend trying to stick to one primary method and then using other methods as well. For example, my primary method was using quizlet and then my other methods were to read books around the subjects and make notes, and if one of my teachers had used a powerpoint, I would re-write out what was on those slides to help me remember the information better. One thing I would advise you on would be to not just read and not do anything else because information doesn't go into your brain and stick in it by reading alone. You need to use other methods, such as writing a summary of what you have read, in order for that information to stick.
I hope my methods of revising have helped you in some way to have a better idea of what you can do to ensure that you achieve the best grades possible and to get to where you want to be. If you have any other tips for revision that you would like to share, then please feel free to post them in the comment section below as I'm sure many will find them useful.
Finally, if you are sitting exams of any kind, I wish you all the luck in the world and hope that everything goes how you want it to (and hopefully even better).
Love Beth xx
I don't know about you but my strength doesn't lie with exams and is instead with coursework. This has meant that I always end up having to rely on my coursework grade, rather than my exam grade, to ensure that I achieve the overall grade that I need, and possibly better. Sure, this worked when I did my GCSEs as that was when most subjects tended to be quite coursework-heavy. However by the time I started studying for my A-Levels this all changed, as well as some other things, as it was decided that subjects should be more exam-based than coursework-based. I definitely found this quite struggling as I have never done well in exams, therefore meaning that due to this, and the fact that I needed to get my target grades in order to get into university, there was quite a lot more pressure on me to succeed in my exams than there had been when I sat my GCSEs.
The grades I needed to get in order to get into my chosen university were CCC and I managed to achieve BCC. I was both amazed and surprised at myself, seeing how I mostly had to rely on me doing well in exams to get these grades (which wasn't that likely to happen) and the fact that after every exam and talking to other people, I realised that I probably could have done better or could have answered some of the questions differently to how I originally answered them. And I know that some (or many) of you reading this will probably want better grades than what I got, however I think that some of these revision tips that I am going to be sharing with you can be used by anyone and are also open to your own interpretation.
Tip #1 ~ revise in block periods
This wasn't something that I tried when I first started revising for my A-Levels, however I read about it in a leaflet that my chosen university had sent to me and I applied it in the last few weeks of revision and it is something that I regret not using sooner. I had used variations of this when I was revising for my GCSEs, however I must have been doing something wrong because I often found it difficult to do any revision that was worthwhile. In the leaflet it said to revise for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break, repeat this two more times and then take a half an hour break, and repeat this throughout the day for as long as you feel necessary. I found that this worked really well because I wasn't revising for so long that I started finding it difficult to concentrate, meaning that the whole time I was revising I felt like I was completely in the zone and didn't start looking for other things to do (which is something that I often tend to do when I am bored of doing school work).
Tip #2 ~ plan your revision schedule
This is something that I definitely didn't do when revising for my GCSEs and is something I wish I had done because then I probably would have actually done some revision instead of continuously putting it off to the point where it was too late for me to start any revision. When it came to my A-Level schedule I didn't do what a lot of people do which is to plan out the exact days and times of when I would do my revision. I did plan the days I was going to revise and which subject I was going to revise on which day, however I decided not to plan the time because obviously I planned this when I first started revision and at that point I didn't know how many hours I should be doing each day from the start to the end. When I first started revising, as I still had to attend sixth form, I chose to do one or two hours when I got back home and then at the weekend, depending on how busy I was, I would do anything from two to four hours. As time progressed that changed to three or four hours every day and by the time exams started, the most amount of time I spent revising in a day was around nine hours of solid revision (although it definitely felt like a lot more at the time). When it came to planning which subject I was going to do on which day, I split it so that I had more variation. As one of my subjects was history (which was probably my most hated) I decided to split my revision days for that into revising for one of the exams per day. This meant that my time table was split so that, for example, one day was history exam no. 1, the next was psychology, the next was history exam no. 2, the next was health, and the next was history exam no. 3, and so on. I found this to be effective as it meant that I was ensuring that I would 100% revise for all of my history exams (as I definitely favoured some more than others), and also had breaks in between the two subjects that I preferred. Obviously you can do this in any which way you want, however I found this to be the most effective method for me.
Tip #3 ~ allow yourself to have time-off
This is something I didn't do when revising for A-Levels, however I would definitely recommend that you do this in order to still have some of your sanity left throughout this whole ordeal. I can remember at some point during revision I was under a lot of stress and it felt that my head was constantly heavy. I was also overly tired and instead of walking normally I was dragging myself around, as one of my teachers kindly pointed out to me a week or two before exams were due to start. If I had allowed myself a day off once a week then I definitely think that during that day I would have been able to spend some time properly looking after myself and rejuvenate before the next day of revision started again. I know that you might feel that you can't afford to take any time off from revising, no matter how big or how small, however a day when you first start revising isn't hurting anyone. Even a couple of weeks before exams are due to start, just having half a day off should help a little bit. Remember, your mental health is really important and in order to succeed you need to look after that as well, not just doing hours and days and weeks on end of solid revision.
Tip #4 ~ start revising early
I can not stress this to you enough but if you haven't started revision for your exams by now then you really need to start now. I half started revision around the December before I took my exams as after Christmas I had some mock exams in one of my subjects. However, I properly started revision that February. I do think I could have possibly started revising earlier or put in an hour or two more when I first started revising, but then again if I had of done that I probably would have gone from borderline crazy to overly crazy. The longer you leave starting revision, the more stress you are going to put yourself under when trying to fit in enough hours in order to succeed. If you find you are struggling to get started then talk to someone, either a friend or a teacher, and ask them what they'd recommend you do. Even if at this stage you put in more hours at the library and then do very little, if anything, at home something is better than nothing. But if you really want to succeed then you seriously need to start revising now or else come August you may find that you don't get what you wanted/needed and may have to repeat the year (which, let's face it, none of us wants to go through A-Levels more than is absolutely necessary) or go to plan B (or even plan C).
Tip #5 ~ attend as many revision sessions as you possibly can
I don't know if the same applies to where you attend sixth form/college as it did at my old sixth form, but around January was when teachers started putting on revision sessions after school for those who were wanting to attend. For me, the main one of these was history, which was held once a week and the teachers started by going through a summary of the course from the start, and when we started getting nearer to exams they'd ask us what we wanted to cover in the session and it would be what the majority of us wanted to do. Not many people attended these sessions, which is understandable as we were putting in 4-5 hours straight during school hours and by the end of it probably just wanted to go home and have a break because I know that I definitely did. However, in these sessions it gives you the opportunity to work more closely with your teachers and for them to tell you vital information or clear something up that they might not have done in the original lesson. I know that some of my teachers didn't hold revision sessions, but they are always available for you to go and talk to them if you are worried about something or don't understand a certain aspect of the course, which they will happily go over for you at an agreed time if you go and talk to them before it's too late. Teachers are there to help and would rather you go to them and constantly ask them questions about the things you are struggling with than sit there in silence and try and ignore the problem.
Tip #6 ~ try a variety of revision methods
We all learn in different ways and all have preferred ways of doing something. For example, when making notes I prefer to bullet point them; whereas others prefer to make a mind-map. Some people are visual learners, some people are audio learners, and some people are kinetic learners. I am an audio learner, which means I find it easier listening to something than reading it off a page. One thing I used to help this is a website called quizlet (not an ad), which allows you to make a set of flashcards and uses a variety of methods to help you learn and remember what is on those cards. It also has the option to use audio, so that as you are revising it says what is on the cards, which I found very handy when revising as this is the best way for me to learn. However, I would recommend that if you do this, you only put brief summaries on the cards as on some of mine there were huge chunks of information, which meant that the audio version of those cards wasn't available. Obviously you might find that different methods work better in different areas, however I would recommend trying to stick to one primary method and then using other methods as well. For example, my primary method was using quizlet and then my other methods were to read books around the subjects and make notes, and if one of my teachers had used a powerpoint, I would re-write out what was on those slides to help me remember the information better. One thing I would advise you on would be to not just read and not do anything else because information doesn't go into your brain and stick in it by reading alone. You need to use other methods, such as writing a summary of what you have read, in order for that information to stick.
I hope my methods of revising have helped you in some way to have a better idea of what you can do to ensure that you achieve the best grades possible and to get to where you want to be. If you have any other tips for revision that you would like to share, then please feel free to post them in the comment section below as I'm sure many will find them useful.
Finally, if you are sitting exams of any kind, I wish you all the luck in the world and hope that everything goes how you want it to (and hopefully even better).
Love Beth xx
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