What are marginal gains and how can they help you to become a ‘Super Student’? In this blog we ask whether the art of making small changes (marginal gains) in our lives can lead to significant impacts? We look at whether we can learn to take control even when we feel powerless and how we can relate to failure in a way that is helpful.
In our performance coaching and training sessions with students the number one problem that they raise is the issue of procrastination. It is the first thing that comes up when we talk about the barriers to good performance. We find that procrastination is often triggered by one of these thoughts or beliefs:
High performance revision is a skill that anyone can learn.
Or how students can boost their performance by doing less work.
Yes we really mean it, revision doesn’t always mean more and more hard work. Most of the students that come to us for coaching are in fact ‘overworking’. For some, the idea that it is possible to ‘over-work’ in the run up to exams makes no sense whatsoever. However, many students are doing just this and bringing down their overall exam performances as a result.
These are the revision and exam tips and techniques that students have given us. This is their advice and what has worked for them:
Exam Preparation:
“Visualising myself in the exam and imagining myself doing well and handling anything that comes up. I did this again and again and it really helped when I got in there!”
“I didn’t listen to other students when they complained about how much work they were or weren’t doing. I knew that non of that really affected me.”
Our Top 5 Revision Tips
It’s revision time and for many students the stress is on. The number one question they have is “How do I get what is on that page into my head? And how do I make myself want to do that?”
Feeling stressed changes our thinking. This is important to remember when we are trying to help students who are under pressure.
Parents can help by:
How can parents best support their children during exams?
▪Seek to understand your child’s problems
▪Your understanding of their problems enables your child’s understanding of their problems.
▪By listening we create a ‘thinking environment’.
▪By listening you enable them to think for themselves.
▪By enabling them to think for themselves you build their confidence.
Learn from Sherlock Holmes how to manage social anxiety. His observational skills help us move from a self-referential to an objective view of the world. Continue reading
Perfectionism is a trap. Being perfect does not work! In our work with students we have known this for a long time and a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has provided further evidence Continue reading
This technique is the complete opposite of the ‘mark a minute’ advice that students can sometimes be given. Feeling that you have to score a mark a minute usually does one thing – ramps up your fear and anxiety as soon as you get into the exam. You feel that you need to be scoring marks instantly – from the first few moments and if you are not – then you are already behind!!! Continue reading
