It is important to learn how to balance your hobbies and your academic responsibilities early on, even before exam season comes around. Learning how to manage revision around hobbies will only benefit you. It will reduce the amount of stress you experience once you begin your revision, whilst allowing you to still enjoy time to yourself.
Consider what your priorities are and how important certain hobbies are to you. It may be that you realise certain hobbies are not as significant to you as others. In order to ensure you have time for revision, you may come to the realisation that your football practice clashes with the maths workshop after school. Here it will be up to you to compromise. Can you play football on the weekends? How are your maths grades? You need to evaluate what is important to you and what steps you will take next in order to achieve those things.
Creating a revision schedule would be a great way to start managing revision in a clear format. It allows you to allocate time for both revision as well as taking into account your hobbies and other responsibilities. You should ideally prioritise subjects that you find more challenging or struggle with, ensuring you give those subjects adequate time in order to improve your grades and confidence. If you are aware that you are particularly more productive at a certain time of day, you should plan your revision sessions accordingly in order to optimise your productivity. This will ensure maximum focus as well as efficiency. After inputting time for specific subjects, you can then add in time for your hobbies.
As much as your hobbies may be relaxing, it is also essential that you allocate time for breaks throughout your revision. They can serve as rewards for completing certain tasks. For example, after I complete this topic, I will take a walk to the store and buy myself some snacks, or simply a period of relaxation to recuperate your mind and allow you to focus better. Working for hours straight can impede your ability to focus and retain information.
You could try to create a study environment that supports your hobbies. Creating a study space that accommodates your hobbies, such as listening to music or having art supplies nearby allows you to incorporate elements of your hobbies into your study routine. Make your notes appealing to look at and enjoyable to read. They are yours, you can add colour and jokes to make them more memorable. Look for ways to merge your hobbies with your revision. For example, if you enjoy drawing, you could create visual aids or mind maps to help you memorise information.
At times things may appear overwhelming. It’s important to seek support from friends and family and communicate your revision schedule and the importance of your hobbies to those around you. Enlist their support and understanding, so they can help create a favourable environment for your revision.
Ultimately try to remain flexible and adapt. Recognise that sometimes your hobbies may need to take a backseat temporarily during intense revision periods and be willing to adjust your schedule if necessary, while still maintaining a healthy balance. Managing revision and managing hobbies is difficult, but as with many things – practice makes perfect!
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