You know how much time to spend on each exam. Now let's talk about when.📅 If you missed the last post, we covered how to rank your courses and divide your study time based on what's actually at stake. This builds on that. Start two weeks out — before you even open a textbook A couple of weeks before exams, get organized. Make sure you have all your notes, know your current grades, and have a rough study plan in place. Sorting out your notes beforehand sounds boring — but missing notes mid-study session is one of the biggest time wasters there is. Handle it early. The three keys: start early, study often, take real breaks Start early The earlier you start, the more chances you have to study, ask questions, and actually understand the material. You'll still have regular classes and probably unit tests during this time — do your best to manage the day-to-day while gradually ramping up exam prep. Early momentum beats last-minute panic every time. Study often Don't cram everything into one sitting. Spaced repetition is one of the most well-researched study techniques out there — one hour a day for five days beats five hours in one day. Every time. Spreading your sessions out also means the material has time to consolidate between reviews, so it actually sticks. Take real breaks Starting early and spacing out sessions makes this easier. Use short breaks — a 25-minute Pomodoro followed by a 5-minute break — and longer breaks like a full night's sleep. When you take a short break, actually leave your desk. Get a snack, stretch, play an instrument. A break that's still mentally draining isn't a break. Bonus: study a little before bed Your brain keeps processing while you sleep. A short review session right before bed can prime your brain to consolidate what you studied overnight. It doesn't need to be long — even 15–20 minutes makes a difference. Now you have a system: prioritize your exams, divide your time, and space out your studying. Next post: what to actually do when you sit down to study.

Exam schedules are brutal. Six exams in six days. Two exams in one day. A random week off in the middle. I've seen it all — and I can tell you, none of it is fun.😠 But here's the thing - studying for exams isn't just about working hard. 💡 It's about being strategic. How much time to spend on each class, what to study, and when. In a perfect world you'd have unlimited time to master everything. But that's not how this works — you have to pick and choose. So let's talk about how to decide where to spend your time. Step 1 — Figure out what you actually need on each exam Look at your current grade and how much the exam is worth (15%, 30%, 50%, etc.). You can calculate exactly what score you need to hit your target grade in the course. Ask your teacher to walk you through it — or drop a comment below and I'll put together a calculator for this. Step 2 — Rate how difficult each course is for you personally A tough course where you need a high exam score deserves more time than an easy course where you just need to pass. These are not equal — don't treat them that way. Step 3 — Rank your courses by priority Put them in order: - Top: hard courses where you need to do really well on the exam - Bottom: easier courses where you just need a decent result - Middle: everything else — this is where the judgment call happens Step 4 — Divide your time accordingly If you have 10 hours to study across four courses, you might split it 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 — most time to your hardest, highest-stakes course, least time to the one you've already got under control. That's how you figure out **how much time** to spend on each exam. In the next post I'll break down **when to study** for each course — and after that, **what to actually study** when you sit down. Follow so you don't miss it. Drop a comment: how many exams are you writing this semester? 👇

Most students study hard and still underperform. The reason? No plan. 📅 Here’s the exact 3-step system I teach every student before exam season. Takes 20 minutes to set up — saves you hours of wasted studying. This is Step 1 from The Student’s Exam Success Playbook — grab the free guide below. ―――――――――――――――――――― Step 1 — Mark off all your important dates 📅Open a calendar and add everything: exams, classes, work shifts, birthdays, sports, holidays. Every commitment goes in. 💡 Pro tip: use different colors for different types of events. Patterns become obvious fast. ―――――――――――――――――――― Step 2 — Prioritize your time Not all exams deserve equal effort. Ask yourself: ❓ Which course am I least prepared for? ❓ Which exam carries the most weight toward my final grade? ❓ Which exams come first on the schedule? ❓ Where is my grade currently weakest? Study more for the courses that check the most boxes. ―――――――――――――――――――― Step 3 — Time block your study sessions Block specific study time for each course in your calendar: ✅ Start as early as possible — even before your exam schedule is released ✅ Study in 25-minute Pomodoros with short breaks in between ✅ Space sessions across multiple weeks — don’t cram the night before ✅ Reserve the last 24 hours before each exam for that course only ✅ Phone on do not disturb — check notifications between Pomodoros only 💡 You can start before your exam schedule drops — collect notes, flag confusing chapters, book a tutoring session early. That head start compounds. ―――――――――――――――――――― The bottom line: A 20-minute planning session now saves 10 hours of panicked studying later. Don’t try to hold it all in your head — put it in the calendar. Which step do you struggle with most? Drop it in the comments 👇 — Gabe Get more information on how to prepare an exam study schedule here