Your mock exams are a great chance to practice for the real thing and get a sense of where you are and how much you have left to do to get the best results in your final exams. Despite that, it can still be easy to lose motivation and avoid studying - especially when you may start to feel burnt out. However, there are ways to maintain your motivation to give yourself the best chance of success.
1. Focus on your goal
An obvious way to stay motivated is to focus on your end goal. If you think about your mocks as a stage to really practice and prepare as part of your journey towards your final exams, you will find that you will get more value from the preparation for them. Try and have a little reminder of your goal around you so that you can look at it if you’re starting to lose motivation whilst studying.
2. Reward yourself
Another way to stay motivated is to reward yourself. Set yourself a target to achieve in your mocks, be that set revision time or the desired grade. Reward yourself whenever you achieve these targets or take the first steps towards improvement. Treating yourself to your favourite chocolate or playing your favourite video game is a great way to remain positive and motivated about studying.
3. Put things in perspective
Even if you don’t feel like you’re doing much worth rewarding, it can be useful to look back at what you’ve achieved already which will help you stay positive. We have a tendency to be negative in our thoughts, so when prepping for mocks, pausing to think about all the things you’ve learnt since the start of the year is an excellent way to put things in perspective and realise that you’re not doing as badly as you think.
4. Create checklists
Planning is a huge part of revising for your mocks, so if you struggle with this, try and create a checklist of everything you need to know so that you can see the progress you’re making as you study. Sometimes it can feel like you’re just studying endlessly without really getting anywhere, but by being able to tick things off, it’ll be much clearer to visualise the hard work you’re doing.
5. Take regular breaks
Techniques like the Pomodoro Method are great for avoiding burn out during study sessions. Taking regular breaks will make it easier to keep going for long periods of time. Be strict with your breaks too - it may seem tempting to just check Facebook but that can quickly spiral into a much longer break than you intended. Instead, get up from wherever you’re studying to get a snack or a drink so that you don’t feel stuck in the same place.
6. Do your best!
The final thing to remember is that all you can do is your best. For some people that might be pushing to get A*s, but for others, it could be working to understand a concept you’ve struggled with all year. If you work to your abilities rather than comparing yourself to others, it will become much easier to focus on your own personal successes.
Remember, these are the trial run, so take your results with a pinch of salt regardless of what you get. But do make sure that you use your mock results as a point of comparison for yourself in where you want to be by the time you do your actual exams. Good luck!
