Year 12 Tips + How to be your most productive self??

[shxre]

Hey guys,

As the dreaded year 12 is starting for me in less than five days, and i'm definitely losing sleep over it, i was wondering if anyone has any tips or advice to help me get through this year. I am already anticipating many overwhelming days to come as well as loads of SAC filled weeks.

Also something i really want to improve on this year is that i'm most definitely a night owl, to the extent that i am my most productive self only when the daylight falls and night sky starts to appear. Does anyone have any tips for how i can improve and be a lot more productive during the day, rather than having late weeknights??

your replies are appreciated!! 

[Chemystery]

 Bump! - I would love to hear some tips too!

[sweetcheeks]

Have an end goal in mind. What do you want to do? What marks will you require? Knowing where you want to end up allows you to have motivation. It gives you focus on why you need to study.

Use your class time effectively, completing more work in class means that you reduce the amount of homework you have, which allows you to be able to spend more time studying. I used my lunchtimes to finish homework so I could maximise the time I had to be able to study and revise content. Consistently ask questions if you are having trouble with content, otherwise what you don't know/understand will pile up.

Talk to your school's counsellor if you are having trouble or are feeling overwhelmed. It is invaluable to be able to talk to someone about your problems and put things into perspective. Don't think that you are the only one, at least 30% of my cohort undertook counselling throughout the year. Talking to your year level coordinator and/or VCE coordinator about your problems can also help, as they have experienced and dealt with many students who are having trouble and they can make arrangements to keep you on track.

Some teachers will actively try to schedule their SAC's away from others. My chemistry teacher would always make sure we only had one other SAC on the week of the chemistry SAC's. Discuss with your teacher if you would like to have a SAC moved, generally most of the class will be in the same situation and the teacher may understand that you won't be able to put in 100% if your week is filled with assessments.

Set yourself a bedtime. A minimum of 8 hours sleep a night is recommended, otherwise you will end up tired and unable to perform at your best and the work will then continue to pile up and your marks will suffer

Some days will definitely feel overwhelming. I suggest that when you get home and take a break, doing something relaxing. It will ease the stress and refresh you, allowing you to study/work more effectively.

[sudodds]

Hey hey!
First of all please don't lose sleep over year 12! I know that is easier said than done, but considering I HAVE done year 12 only last year I can promise you that it is not as bad as it sounds and that you WILL get through it For me (this may be different for other ppl) the 2nd term of HSC was the most relaxed one by far because you don't have that massive jump in content like in term 1, but you don't yet have the stress of trials and potential major work due dates like in term 3. So please don't worry about the coming week ahead.

In terms of tips on how to get through the year, I'd suggest get into the habit of starting assignments early AND start studying early. Now when I say start studying early I don't mean hardcore 6 hours a day study, but if you get into the habit of writing practice essays and doing past papers (and getting them marked either by a teacher or even on here!) well in advance you're definitely putting yourself in a really good position for your exams. It's better to fix problems and gaps in your knowledge early on then to be stressing out three days before an exam (when your teacher may potentially not be accepting any more drafts).

On the subject of practice papers, do A LOT of them. They don't always have to be full papers, under timed conditions or closed book, but it really is one of the best ways to study. The final component of the HSC is an exam, so its so beneficial to familiarise yourself with the format. If you are consistently completing past papers rather than just solely relying on the feedback from your graded assessments, it is a lot easier to identify and fix reoccurring problems. Along with this, for certain types of questions (I don't know what subjects you do so I'm just using mine as a default) such as a source analysis or an essay response, the more you practice the more you develop a kind of "routine", where you can basically just go on autopilot and smash out a great, well rounded response.

Another night owl hahaha welcome to the club. Not gonna lie it is difficult to fix, and even near the end of my hsc I was still finding myself falling into that pattern. I found with me that a big reason for this was the environment that I was in. Try going to your local or school library instead of studying at home. For me, the conscious effort that I had to make to leave the house put me in a more productive mood, and when you're surrounded by other ppl doing the same thing (particularly those you don't know) it becomes a lot harder to get distracted (especially because some libraries don't have free/easily accessible wifi).

Good luck! And again don't stress, everything will be all good and I'm sure you're going to smash it

[K888]

Hey there! Apologies for the forthcoming essay What sweetcheeks said is awesome.

I'll address the night owl thing first - I can definitely sympathise, I'm most productive at night, and I found that instead of having my relaxing time at night after doing homework, I'd do it when I got home from school. You just have to sort out a schedule that suits yourself (making a study timetable could help, where you block out the times you can't do study and just work around it - personally this stuff never helped me but I know that it was super helpful for some of my friends!). In terms of trying to be more productive during the day - I found setting myself goals was helpful (eg: doing 20-25 minutes of study for a particular task or subject then having a break for 5-15 mins afterwards), even if I had to set my timer so I would study for the set time...then once you've done it, you feel good about yourself (ngl, I did reward myself with snacks), and if you keep on doing it you get into a routine! It's just a matter of perseverance and determination.
Perhaps my favourite bit of advice is to use your class time at school wisely - I cut down how much I had to study so much just by paying attention in class (you'll be surprised how many people don't do this) and engaging with my teacher and asking them questions.

I personally found that if things got overwhelming for me (lots of SACs during a week, or emotions running high for whatever reason, etc.), I just had to take things one day at a time and not think about how many SACs I had in the coming weeks (this makes you even more overwhelmed). You just have to keep on going and take each day as it comes (another bit of advice thrown in here: after SACs and exams, don't dwell on mistakes you think you made or things you should have done, because it doesn't help anyone and is just a way to make yourself upset easily) I had a lot of personal troubles in year 12 to deal with, so this was how I survived a lot of the time, and it worked so well - you get into a pattern and it becomes so much easier to get by.
Another important thing is don't expect that you have to study every day. Make sure you give yourself breaks. The world won't end if you miss a night or two of study. I think breaks like this are also important for mental health - otherwise you might burn out.

This kind of moves nicely into my next point: don't neglect your health and your social life during year 12! Save recess and lunch for catching up with friends, go to parties or whatever it is you like to do, and maintain your friendships during the year - they're so important. Having supportive friendships is so important, because you can help each other get through the good and bad times in the year. And if you are struggling, go see a trusted teacher, school counsellor, your GP, etc - don't just try to ignore the problem, because bottling it up will be the opposite of beneficial.

I think also something that is so important is to know that year 12 isn't the be all and end all - yes, it is important, but if you don't get the ATAR you want, or you don't get into the course you want, there is always another way into things! (You definitely have the right to be disappointed though, I'll just put that out there). However, with me mentioning ATARs, don't let your ambitions for your ATAR consume you - don't let it get in the way of friendships, and don't use it as your sole motivator throughout the year, because I honestly think that will just lead to burn out (but honestly, it's horses for courses - I'm sure there are people out there who get through the year just fine being motivated by the ATAR .

Last but not least, enjoy the year!! I can honestly say it was the best year of high school for me...get to know your teachers (this makes life so much easier), talk to different people in your year level, and try new stuff!

tl;dr: take it one day at a time, don't be afraid to talk to people and get help, believe in yourself, work out a system that works best for you!

All the best for the coming year, and feel free to PM me if you want someone to talk to about anything!

[jamonwindeyer]

Some seriously awesome responses above - Great stuff guys 

A lot of what I'd suggest I wrote about are summarised here, and this is definitely worth a read too! I hope they are helpful

[shxre]

Thanks for your replies guys! Will definitely be taking your advice and tips straight into year 12 with me!

[Shadowxo]

As some of the people above me said, don't neglect your health.
Make sure you eat right, sleep right, work hard, have some time to yourself and don't stress too much. There was a week (or two) I had 7 SACS in one week and I would not have managed if I wasn't well rested and hadn't taken care of myself. Yes, SACs are stressful but there are many of them, so doing badly at one doesn't destroy how you'll do on a subject. I had a bad exam last year - the second exam I had, and a day before 2 exams for my two most difficult subjects. I stressed a bit, then decided the best thing I could do was make sure I was ready and prepared for the next exams. You may feel as though everything rides on your SACs and exams, but the best thing you can do is work hard and you'll get the marks you should, no amount of stressing will change how you do, and staying up all night won't be better than being prepared to apply what you've spent the last months on no matter how much you think you need that extra time.

Good luck!

[lyoko]

Thank-you so much for the replies Will definitely be taking on board these advice!

[TheProphetPancake]

I always say the more you can do, the sooner, without detriment to your health, the better.

Also, the secret to 'beating' procrastination, is by actively forcing yourself to do the opposite regardless of what you may be feeling at the moment (although, I will add, this approach is not for everyone). For me, this sometimes entailed putting on spotify and just opening my spesh textbook to trudge through the questions. Hard going at first, not going to sugarcoat it, but almost always at the end you feel better about yourself  , reward in itself imo.

Bear in mind what others have said previously- all great, useful stuff peeps