Now that we are in October the pressure is on for many Junior cert, Leaving and Third level students. It can be particularly stressful for leaving cert students as they have a long day in school, hours of homework and projects, mounting pressure to revise last years content, learn this years content and decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives? Then what courses will help them get their chosen career, where should they apply next year, and will they get the points to be accepted?

How our young adults manage stress at this time lays the foundations to how they will manage stress in the future so learning how to manage stress and practical study habits will support good mental and emotional well being.

Encourage your children to dream big, as this will boost self esteem and confidence. Remember if they aim for the moon and miss they can still land amongst the stars.

Here are 5 practical skills for managing Leaving cert study stress

1.   Start with the end in mind. What is the goal? How many weeks do they have to achieve it? How much time can they study each day. Get them to be honest about what they can achieve each day/week and month and create a realistic timetable. If they still aren’t sure coaching can help them to clarify their thoughts.

2.   When we turn off all distractions a lot can be achieved in 7-10hrs of revision per week. Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 rule is a helpful concept for life and business time management as it explains how 80% of our productivity comes from 20% of our time. In short make a to do list and identify the most important 20%. Doing these items first will be most productive for your day and achieving your goals.

3.   Stress turns off our ability to think and retain information. At the beginning of each study session, take a few minutes to relax using self hypnosis, breathing exercises or tapping. State your intention and mental purpose i.e. “I want to learn and remember the information in this session so I can recall it for my exams and get the points I need to…..” When your body and mind are relaxed you will be able to work to your best be more focused and have more capacity to absorb, retain and recall information.

4.   Work with your natural strengths by identifying which learning styles Visual/Auditory/Kinaesthetic work best for you and tailor revision techniques accordingly. Incorporating skills like photo reading, mind mapping, recording and listening to their own notes, making a revision timetable and planning to study with others can all help. There are many quizzes online similar to www.educationplanner.org that will help to identify specific learning styles and give study ideas.

5.   Remember to unwind, de-stress and have fun everyday. Studying particularly if you feel you haven’t done enough can cause foggy thinking. If stress escalates it can lead to difficulty concentrating, procrastination, anxiety, fear and panic attacks. Allocating time for hobbies and extracurricular activities as well as getting enough sleep at night and eating nutritious foods will all help to relieve stress, focus the mind and recharge energy levels.