BlogStudyHSC Stress Management: 2 Killer Strategies For Planning in Advance

HSC Stress Management: 2 Killer Strategies For Planning in Advance

Struggle with HSC stress management? It’s super important that you plan in advance to avoid a sense of urgency or the need to cram when due dates and exams come around.

That’s why in this video, we’ll be sharing 2 really powerful strategies that you should implement RIGHT NOW.

These will help you stay on track with your study and cover everything that’s required to reduce your stress as we draw closer towards HSC exams!

What are the main drivers of stress?
Strategy #1: Chunking
Strategy #2: Wall Charting

What are the main drivers of stress?

By working with thousands of students over the last decade, we’ve identified two main drivers of stress. The first is uncertainty, and the second is urgency.

This is what we call the DOUBLE U.

One big thing that really drives stress is if you don’t know what you need to complete to succeed.

So let’s say you get an assessment notification. You might look at it and think: “Wow, I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to start!”

That creates stress, so you really need to organise your thoughts.

This is often compounded by urgency when all of a sudden, you’ve only got one week to do your assessment and you’ve got no clue how to do it!

Learn more about other causes of stress for students here.

So what are some practical things you can do to actually tune down these drivers?

Strategy #1: Chunking

HSC Stress Management - Chunking

The first thing you need to do is to sit down and write a huge list of everything that’s required to prepare for the assessment, exam, or whatever you may have coming up.

Now, this list might still feel pretty overwhelming. There could be HEAPS of stuff written down, and some of those tasks might actually be a lot of work.

One of the main reasons we get stressed out is because the size of a task can feel so overwhelming.

To do list in a notebook

To overcome this, we need to look at whatever the overwhelming task may be and break it up into three smaller ones.

This is what we call Chunking!

We break a task into smaller little tasks to make it less daunting and to figure out where to start. That way, instead of getting turned off by a huge piece of work, you can work through these smaller challenges one by one.

Now the goal here is just about getting you started. I’m sure that once you find your momentum, things are going to kick into gear.

So what’s the next step then??

Strategy #2: Wall Charting

HSC Stress Management - Wall Charting Technique

The next strategy for HSC stress management is to take that to-do list and map it to a time frame.

This way, you can make sure that your stress levels aren’t increased by a sense of urgency further down the track!

What you need to do is take that chunked to-do list and identify on specific days of the week exactly what you need to get done.

This will give you certainty around what needs to be done and when!

If you’re doing this on more of a long term basis, you can allocate key items to be achieved by the end of each week or month.

This is what we call a milestone.

And that’s really all there is to it! Once you’ve completed the chart, all there is to do now is chuck it up on your wall.

Just Follow These 2 Simple Strategies to Improve Your HSC Stress Management

These two simple things will make a huge difference in actually reducing the uncertainty and the urgency that you have. As a result, it will also reduce your stress!

It might not seem like it, but we guarantee you it makes a huge difference to stress levels across the course of your HSC. That’s why planning ahead during the HSC is key.

If you’re searching for other wellbeing resources, check out some of our other articles below:

Looking for some extra help with your HSC study plan?

We pride ourselves on our inspirational HSC coaches and mentors!

We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home, online or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on Facebook!

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