How can I clear my head so I can keep studying?

Question

I am attending a foundation training program for a bank. They have just shoved tons of materials into our throat I could not fully digest. I am trying my best though.

Exam is on tomorrow. But after 9 hours of lectures I am already exhausted mentally. My head is fully jammed. I have only 8 hours in my hand to prepare for the written exam. And, 4 hours to sleep.

Also my neck is aching.

How can I clear my jammed head instantly and continue to study for the next 8 hours?

Answer 1

When I feel my head is jammed and I don't have enough time to study a large number of material and meet the deadline, then I use energy drinks and sleep aid. I have done that before and it is extremely effective on me in these situations. My recommendations:

1) Drink a right dosage of an energy drink (such as Monster or Red Bull) 2) Eat a right dosage of sleep aid at a right time.(Usually one hour before the time you want to fall asleep, but it depends on what type of sleep aid you are taking)

You need to be careful on how much you are consuming energy drink or sleep aid and when you consume them. Bad dosage or timing can ruin everything.

NOTE: Do not do that in long term. Energy drinks and sleep aids damage your health.

Answer 2

The best thing I can recommend right now is to take a break. Spend 15 - 30 minutes doing something to help relax yourself, as it is clear you are very stressed over the upcoming exam, and you are quite exhausted from the information they've thrown in your face already (I know how that goes; it is impossible to be able to retain everything they teach you over that long period).

Some things you could try to do to relax:

• Eat a small snack
• Turn on some soothing music. There are plenty of sleep / study / chill playlists on 8tracks.com
• Do something you enjoy doing and helps you relax. Watch videos on youtube, browse imgur, pick up the guitar and play a little. Anything to get your mind off of the work you're about to do.
• Envision yourself 24 hours from now after the test is over. Where will you be? Where do you want to be? Do you have what it takes to make it there?

Stay away from:

• Facebook, Twitter, Google+, any other social networking site. They will eat away at your break time and into your work time.
• Any video games. They may take up more time than you have to give.

For your neck: do some neck stretches, rolling your head around your shoulders, then take some advil or ibuprofen.

With 3.5 / 3.75 hours of studying left at your disposal, try to section off big ideas that you will be tested on. Mark down each area that you need to cover. Do this instead of starting at page 1 and reading until you fall asleep. After reading each section, summarize the ideas via writing them down. Good luck!

Answer 3

Difficult question to answer since you don't mention anything about how important it is for you to pass or do well on this exam.

If you are already exhausted, it might be a bad idea for you to force yourself to study for long hours. Don't be too hard on yourself! It could be argued that a good idea would be to not study much more since doing so could cause more harm (exhaustion) than good. In any case, my general advice for preparing for the exam would be to:

• First of all realize that your result on this exam is (probably) not all-important. Just try to relax and do your best.
• Make sure to take breaks from studying where you shift your mental focus onto something entirely different. This might free some capacity for your unconscious mind to settle with new material. It also helps you avoid exhaustion. Sessions of 30 minutes focused work, followed by 5-10 minute breaks could be an initial plan. Adjust according to how well you are able to retain focus while studying.
• Identify the most important points and ideas presented in the study material you're given and devote your attention to those. This might be better than hopelessly trying to cover absolutely everything.
• Try to get a good night's sleep, ensuring that you are in a refreshed state for the exam. Another benefit from sleep is that you give your unconscious mind an opportunity to process the new information you've gathered during the day.
• Loosen up physical and mental stress by meditation, or just plain simple breathing exercises (google it and give it a try if you haven't before).