Sydney Life

The sweet smell of summer is in the air, Christmas decorations are already hung from every shopping mall ceiling, and you can practically taste those end of semester celebratory drinks.

The only thing is, you have the tiny matter of all your exams to get through before then. So, how do you do it? How do you keep up the motivation during the exam period when you’re in dire need of a tan and the beach is desperately calling your name? Here are a few tips.

1. For the next couple of weeks, do not associate with any of your uni friends who do not have exams, or are already finished their semester, or are just one of those annoying I-hardly-ever-study-and-yet-I-always-get-distinctions kind of people. It will only make you miserable. And resentful. And unbelievably jealous.

2. Avoid the temptation of YouTube, or binging on an entire season of (insert the name of any TV show you can think of here), or Googling that new product, or the name of that person in that movie that you’ve wanted to see for ages but can’t remember what it’s called, or – you get the point. Limit the internet.

3. If all else fails, rely on the fact that we humans are incredibly loss averse – we hate to lose stuff more than we love to gain. So if the motivation to get good grades is not enough to keep you studying, try giving your trusted mate (or Mum) about $100 of your hard-earned cash to hold onto for the entire exam period. If you don’t stick to your studying schedule, they keep the money. If you get through the exam period still pasty white, with withdrawal symptoms from lack of internet use, and can’t remember the last time you went out with other people, you get the money back.

However you make it work, remember that you’ve done this before and you’ll do it again, and it will be oh-so-sweet when it’s over.

And if you're really stressing, there are some great free resources here.

Good luck everybody!