At the beginning of the term, studying is pretty chill. But then suddenly out of nowhere, you’re getting handfuls of assessments and you’re constantly cramming throughout the HSC.
Things become relaxed again… but later on, you’re doing the same thing and scraping past deadlines. Does this sound like you? It’s called the Boom and Bust Cycle, and although you might still be getting decent results, you find yourself exhausted, or burnt out even.
We talked to Blaze, a high achieving student who kept all his extracurriculars throughout Year 12. Let’s hear about his approach to taking breaks, and studying consistently throughout the year so that he didn’t have to cram!
Put an end to this tiring and ineffective cycle and find out how you can end cramming during the HSC!
Blaze’s Approach to Breaks in Year 12
How to Ease Back into Studying After Taking a Break
What Blaze’s Breaks Looked Like
How Blaze Achieved His Goal University Degree
Blaze’s Time Management
What was Blaze’s approach to breaks in Year 12?
Essentially Blaze broke up his studying and breaks into small sessions and spaced them out consistently.
This is the exact opposite of the Boom and Bust Cycle, where you focus all your energy in an intense period of time and then have an extended break. Finding the motivation to study after this break becomes difficult, and that’s when you find yourself slacking off until the next lot of assessments roll around and, what do you know — you’re cramming!
“It’s much easier to study in small sessions and consistently, rather than just cramming up to the actual test. It feels better as well and you have more time for other things,” Blaze said.
It’s a good idea to also realise that it took Blaze about a term to realise and implement this new study pattern.
So, if you’re in Year 10 or 11, it’s even better for you to implement this now. That way, once you’re in Year 12, you already know what works for you and what doesn’t!
How to Ease Back into Studying After Taking a Break
It’s important to recognise that you won’t be able to get back into intense studying right after taking a break, which is why you should ease yourself into it. By doing readings and content revision consistently, you can maintain a balance with other aspects of your life.
Blaze said, “I would do extra readings, maybe I didn’t have to take notes… just to make sure you don’t forget that understanding and you’re constantly thinking about it as well.”
What did Blaze’s breaks look like?
After handing in assignments and completing assessment tasks, Blaze would allow himself a 2-3 day break, and then ease into simple readings and revision over the following week. From here, Blaze would be re-energised to get back into more intense and thorough studying.
“You can’t expect to work yourself 100% of the time because that’s unrealistic and by the time HSC comes, you’re going to be all burnt out…
“I think what you have to remember is that after HSC, you have eight or 10 weeks of a break to just sit around, do nothing at all! So look forward to that because that break is going to feel a lot better if you work harder,” Blaze said.
How Blaze Achieved His Goal University Degree
At the end of the HSC journey, Blaze achieved an ATAR of 95.8 and got into his desired course — Honours in Architecture at The University of Sydney.
How he managed to achieve this goal is a mixture of a consistent study and break pattern alongside maintaining extracurriculars. Blaze maintained athletics and hockey, meaning he was training most week-nights and his Saturdays, until 7pm, were completely dedicated to sports!
The main message here is not to cut back on the things you love! However, it is important to be realistic. Blaze did drop Music because he had to gauge how much time he needed for studying, especially as sports was a pretty large commitment.
Unsure if you should maintain your extracurricular activities? Learn about the benefits here!
Learn to Manage Your Time Like Blaze
Blaze found that using recess and lunch to write up notes worked for him… aside from using this time to eat of course!
He said, “…writing your notes up at home does take time, especially with all the distractions as well.”
So by getting his notes done at school, “When I got home, I could focus on doing past papers and test revision stuff.”
Find out how to write effective study notes for any HSC subject here!
Each day, Blaze would have a plan of what he wanted to achieve on that day, whether it be a 10 kilometre run, a Math past paper or an English essay.
“I think having this in your mind — it makes you get things done. And the other thing that’s very important is just having that consistent work ethic the whole time.
“People say, ‘Oh, extracurricular takes out time’, but it’s a way to get away from all the studying… It gives you that break so that means when you finish your exam, you don’t have to take the extra long week break that everyone else does, you’d only take a three day break.”
Blaze’s Final Advice to End HSC Cramming!
“It’s very important to maintain a good work ethic and work hard throughout the year. But there’s a fine line between working hard and overworking yourself and when you overwork yourself, that’s when you need that boom and bust stuff. When you need that extra two-week break at the end and it just throws you out. So, consistent work everyday but don’t over do it.”
So that’s the trick — study consistently in small digestible sessions, don’t sacrifice your extracurriculars, and put an end to the Boom and Bust cycle. Put an end to cramming during the HSC!
Looking for some extra help with not cramming for the HSC?
We pride ourselves on our inspirational 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 or at our state of the art campus in Hornsby!
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!
Nandini Dhir is a Content Writer at Art of Smart and is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Marketing) and a Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Media and Communications), as a Dalyell Scholar, at Sydney University. She enjoys covering local issues in her area and writing about current events in the media. Nandini has had one of her pieces published in an article with the Sydney Morning Herald. In her free time, Nandini loves doing calligraphy, ballet, and sewing, or is otherwise found coddling her cats.
