Cant do this anymore

Hi, Ive been studying for my GCSEs since february half term and Im becoming really stressed out I want to get all a stars. Im doing 3-4 hours every day during the week and 5-6 on the weekend. My parents are really starting to get on my nerves and tell me that I haven't been doing enough and that I need to do another 3 hours on top of the 5 I've just completed. Im stressed enough as it, I cry on the way to school and sometimes in the middle of the night and every time i finish revising i have headaches that last until the morning. Surely another 3 hrs is unreasonable?

(edited 7 years ago)

OP

anyone?

Original post by kirstenolivia

Hi, Ive been studying for my GCSEs since february half term and Im becoming really stressed out I want to get all a stars. Im doing 3-4 hours every day during the week and 5-6 on the weekend. My parents are really starting to get on my nerves and tell me that I haven't been doing enough and that I need to do another 3 hours on top of the 5 I've just completed. Surely this is unreasonable?

What standard are your grades from mocks and past papers? You should know whether you are on track or not. we have no idea how bright you are.

You should have some time off to relax and destress.

If you feel you are working hard enough and getting more or less the marks you want, then thats enough.
If you are way behind then you have more work to do.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

arielynjoan

OP

13

Original post by 999tigger

What standard are your grades from mocks and past papers? You should know whether you are on track or not. we have no idea how bright you are.

You should have some time off to relax and destress.

If you feel you are working hard enough and getting more or less the marks you want, then thats enough.
If you are way behind then you have more work to do.

I do feel I'm working hard enough I'm fairly intelligent but I'm lazy until theres an element of fear. For example; i didn't revise for my mocks and got 2 a's 1a* the rest were all B's with two C's but now that the real exams are coming I've been working like crazy.

Reply 4

TheOcean

3

Another three hours wont benefit you more than what you are already doing. Its the quality of your revision, not the quantity. 2-3 hours of essential revision with plenty of breaks and treats for your self is the best way to manage revision. Doing 8 hours of revision, may just become counter intuitive to your revision. Use past papers so that you know what type of areas you should focus on and those questions you may likely to get. Dont over do the revision. Its not how much you do, its also what you know. x

Reply 5

username2488767

20

Your schedule, to me, sounds fine. It's recommended that for every hour you do in class, you do an hour at home so about 3-4 hours per subject per week (which sounds roughly like what you're doing now). As for your parents, I know it's easy to say, but they're your exams. Don't let other people be telling you what you should and shouldn't be doing. You know how much work you need to do. Personally, I can spend 4 hours on one subject but only need 1 for another to learn the same amount of stuff. You might need to explain to them how much work you're doing and how your grades are reflecting that (you must be bright to be aiming for all A*s). I would maybe suggest getting them to test you on some things each night so they can see that it's fine as it is. Even better, those extra 3 hours that they recommend you do? Make that 3 hours worth of time for them to test you. If they can't afford that time, what makes them think that you can?

Reply 6

999tigger

19

Original post by kirstenolivia

I do feel I'm working hard enough I'm fairly intelligent but I'm lazy until theres an element of fear. For example; i didn't revise for my mocks and got 2 a's 1a* the rest were all B's with two C's but now that the real exams are coming I've been working like crazy.

its up to you how hard you work. try doing some past papers to see where you are and adjust accordingly.

Original post by kirstenolivia

Hi, Ive been studying for my GCSEs since february half term and Im becoming really stressed out I want to get all a stars. Im doing 3-4 hours every day during the week and 5-6 on the weekend. My parents are really starting to get on my nerves and tell me that I haven't been doing enough and that I need to do another 3 hours on top of the 5 I've just completed. Im stressed enough as it, I cry on the way to school and sometimes in the middle of the night and every time i finish revising i have headaches that last until the morning. Surely another 3 hrs is unreasonable?

3-4 hours a day is already a decent chunk, I really see no need to do more. You may find that you don't need to do more. I prefer to revise in smaller chunks. I'm not the sort of person that can concentrate on something for an extended period of time without getting uncomfortable, bored and distracted, unless I really enjoy, and am engaged with, the subject (which is pretty much only Mathematics/CS as far as school subjects go). I still get quite good grades, despite my very poor concentration. I practice the principle of little and often, as many people may call it.

If you have headaches, you should definitely stop. In the end, your mental and physical health is more important than academic pursuits.

Reply 8

SophBurn

4

Original post by kirstenolivia

Hi, Ive been studying for my GCSEs since february half term and Im becoming really stressed out I want to get all a stars. Im doing 3-4 hours every day during the week and 5-6 on the weekend. My parents are really starting to get on my nerves and tell me that I haven't been doing enough and that I need to do another 3 hours on top of the 5 I've just completed. Im stressed enough as it, I cry on the way to school and sometimes in the middle of the night and every time i finish revising i have headaches that last until the morning. Surely another 3 hrs is unreasonable?

Don't get to worked up about it, stay calm and remember it is not the end of the world, there are hundreds and hundreds of students in the same situation as you (including me). you're already doing loads of revision and you need to make sure your parents understand how stressed you are and they'll understand. Don't think that taking an hour break is going to massively effect you because trust me it wont

Reply 9

DeepInTheMeadow

18

Original post by kirstenolivia

Hi, Ive been studying for my GCSEs since february half term and Im becoming really stressed out I want to get all a stars. Im doing 3-4 hours every day during the week and 5-6 on the weekend. My parents are really starting to get on my nerves and tell me that I haven't been doing enough and that I need to do another 3 hours on top of the 5 I've just completed. Im stressed enough as it, I cry on the way to school and sometimes in the middle of the night and every time i finish revising i have headaches that last until the morning. Surely another 3 hrs is unreasonable?

Heya there! Listen, the amount of revision you are doing is amazing but is possibly too much. I know it sounds weird, but if you revise too much, your brain never has time to process what it has learnt. Take a bit of time off occassionally to just relax, trust me this is how I get A/A*s. I mean, of course you have to revise, but relax too. At the end of the day, GCSEs are not worth getting long term health problems for. If you get a couple of Bs, you'll still be alive and well, but if you stress out, even if you get A*s, you'll find it hard to bounce back. My sister actually got a condition called Chronic fatigue from over-revising, so don't be like that.
Your parents seem to really care about how well you do, but aren't noticing how you feel. Can you talk to them about the stress you have been going through? Let them know that since you are giving yourself headaches and is affected your sleep, you need to slow down. Quality over quantity of revision works every time. Seriously, don't overwork.
Good luck with it all! Try not to worry too much :smile:

Reply 10

arielynjoan

OP

13

Original post by DeepInTheMeadow

Heya there! Listen, the amount of revision you are doing is amazing but is possibly too much. I know it sounds weird, but if you revise too much, your brain never has time to process what it has learnt. Take a bit of time off occassionally to just relax, trust me this is how I get A/A*s. I mean, of course you have to revise, but relax too. At the end of the day, GCSEs are not worth getting long term health problems for. If you get a couple of Bs, you'll still be alive and well, but if you stress out, even if you get A*s, you'll find it hard to bounce back. My sister actually got a condition called Chronic fatigue from over-revising, so don't be like that.
Your parents seem to really care about how well you do, but aren't noticing how you feel. Can you talk to them about the stress you have been going through? Let them know that since you are giving yourself headaches and is affected your sleep, you need to slow down. Quality over quantity of revision works every time. Seriously, don't overwork.
Good luck with it all! Try not to worry too much :smile:

Tysm and also when would u recommend starting past papers? I've almost finished memorising the biology syllabus and about halfway through Physics and chemistry? Ideally I want to finish memorising everything by the 7th april so I can just do past papers for the whole of easter. Or should I just do them even though I haven't finished? x

Reply 11

arielynjoan

OP

13

My dad has just had another go at me telling me that I need to do 10 hours and that I am lazy. I am really fed up.

Reply 12

YourGoddamnRight

15

That's no reason to cry. One cries because one is sad, not because they're being told they're lazy because they are, you even said that you're lazy

Reply 13

arielynjoan

OP

13

Original post by YourGoddamnRight

That's no reason to cry. One cries because one is sad, not because they're being told they're lazy because they are, you even said that you're lazy

I'm not crying cause I'm lazy I'm crying cause I'm stressed.

Reply 14

YourGoddamnRight

15

Original post by kirstenolivia

I'm not crying cause I'm lazy I'm crying cause I'm stressed.

Still, that's no reason to cry, one cries because one is sad, not stressed.

Reply 15

DeepInTheMeadow

18

Original post by kirstenolivia

Tysm and also when would u recommend starting past papers? I've almost finished memorising the biology syllabus and about halfway through Physics and chemistry? Ideally I want to finish memorising everything by the 7th april so I can just do past papers for the whole of easter. Or should I just do them even though I haven't finished? x

I would recommend doing some in between revision as well, just to have variety and to test yourself properly. I'm going half of the papers as I go along, and leaving some to do after I've learnt the content fully, under timed conditions. Mainly though, as I revise, I'm practicing questions from the revision guide. Similarly, you don't want to just be doing past papers from April or you will forget your stuff especially if you don't find any questions on a certain topic. I aim to finish all the past papers I have by close to when my exams start, by interspersing them throughout the weeks.
Also, remember that your exams are spread over a month, so you need to plan to revise things like Biology or Physics, which have exams later on, closer to the actual date of the exam. My revision plan has me starting revision 10 weeks before the actual exam for that subject.