The best way to have a successful school year and achieve your desired grades is to set goals and come up with a plan on how to achieve them. If this is your exam year, then you should also make a revision plan.
How to set goals
Your goals should be specific. For example, instead of telling yourself to improve in Irish, your goal should be: I will improve my Irish grade from a C to a B. Your goals should also be attainable and realistic. For example, don’t plan on revising more topics in a day that you have time for.
Remember, everyone works at a different pace so it is best to identify your strengths and weaknesses. If you are good at a specific subject, you won’t need to spend as much time revising it as your weaker subjects. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your teacher if you are struggling in a particular area.
Revision Plan
The sooner you start planning, the better. As with your goals, you know yourself and how much time you need to revise each topic. Make a list of topics for each subject and prioritise them. Start with the most important topics and cross them off as you go through them.
Once you know how much time you have, make a rough schedule for your first semester. Make a more detailed plan at the start of each month or week, whichever you prefer, and try your best to stick to it.
Take some time to rest
It is very important that you are well rested. Don’t study into the night and instead have a cut-off point each evening. Don’t worry if you don’t get your work finished – leave it for the weekend to catch up and move on with your normal schedule the next day. If after a while, you find yourself not being able to finish your revision most nights, it might be time to make some changes in your revision plan.
With your goals and plans set out, everything will look more manageable. If you need some advice on extra motivation have a look at our previous post on how to motivate yourself.