Last year I did my GCSEs and I started Year 11confidently, but really with no plan of action. My desk was a mess and so was my revision plan. If your school is anything like mine, they’ll be banging on about revision timetables from the get-go. The thought of having to stick to a revision timetable has always really intimidated me. I like having the ability to be flexible and relax when I need to. I could never keep a revision timetable, but they do work for some people, so if you’ve decided that you want to give it a go - go ahead! I hope it works well for you.
Instead of using a revision timetable, I started to use the planner that the school give us at the start of each year. I wrote down all my homework, what I was going to revise that day and any revision sessions or clubs that I was going to attend, then tick them off once each task was complete.
This worked for a while. It helped me keep track of everything but it all got a bit muddled and started to confuse me a little. The planner itself was never going to be sturdy (as school purchases never are) and pages kept falling out and getting lost. On top of all this I was still running by blog, attempting to publish 3 posts a week (that lessened the closer I got to exams) and I didn’t have any way to keep organised with that.
By the time my exams had started, I was barely using my school planner at all. Instead, I had several other ways to keep on top of my workload.
1. Wall To-Do Lists
I’ve been using these for ages. Years ago, I was given a small box that contained a huge wad of square-shaped paper. (There was also a tiny little pencil that I never use but let’s forget about that.) When I got home every Friday, I’d write down all the work I had to do on one of these pieces of paper and the day they were due. I’d then write them down again, this time in order of priority, so that I could focus more on whichever task was more urgent. I then Blu-tac the second piece of paper onto the wall by my desk, where I can see my tasks easily. Once I’ve completed each task, I cross it out completely, which is SO satisfying! I still use this, but not as much as I used to.
2. Wall Calendar
The next thing I tried was a wall calendar bought from Paperchase. It has the days of the week on it and a shopping list on the right. I wrote the dates in for each day and then would write out everything I knew I was going to be doing that week on each day. I kept this up for a while, however, I haven’t used in a what feels like ages. I didn’t really need it after I started using number 3 properly.
3. The Planner
After getting fed up of my school planner, I decided to find a cheap one of my own from WHSmiths. It wasn’t anything fancy, but I didn’t need that. There was plenty of room for me to write in both my blog posts, revision and any other things I was doing.
I personally prefer this method as it means that I can show everything really easily, keep track of everything well and can bring it everywhere with me without losing it. I bought myself a more expensive planner this year to use during my A Levels. However, it’s much prettier and has a lot more in it!
In my planner, I have a highlighter colour coding system (I’m very proud of it and most people who know me in real life have been forced to look at it at least once.It makes me very happy):
I have green for revision. I used this for revision sessions lead by teachers as well and for my homework. This meant that I could see how much revision I was doing and how much of each subject I was doing (at the end of each week I would count how much of each subject I had done and then make sure to do more of those I had done less of during the next week).
I use orange for my blog posts. Once everything’s completed I’ll highlight it so that I know that all I have left to do is to promote it once it’s been published. This helps me plan ahead and know what I have left do on certain posts. I also highlight Twitter chats in orange if I’ve participated in them.
Lastly, I used pink for my exams and anything that could count towards my final grade (so coursework and even small class tests or mocks that didn’t count).
This last method in particular really worked for me last year, so I’ll definitely be using it again for my A Levels. How do you organise your schoolwork and revision?
See You Next Sunday!
Jemima x
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