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5 tips for managing exam stress

Posted on by lionel

2020 has been a strange year, and for matrics getting ready to write final exams soon, it must feel like the twilight zone. After a year of some combination of hybrid learning, home schooling, attending regular classes and sometimes not having class, South Africa’s grade 12s are buckling down to face exam stress and hopefully put this final year of schooling behind them.

Exam stress effects each student differently. Some relish the challenge and are able to stay focussed, some feel totally overwhelmed and can’t concentrate, while others struggle with anxiety and lack of sleep. We’ve rounded up a few top tips to help matric students get through this final matric exam season:

How to better navigate exam stress

Tip 1: Manage your time

Let’s first be clear about the following key points:

  • Make a flexible timetable to organise your work
  • Cover all topics in your schedule
  • Put the difficult subjects at the top of your list
  • Aim for a practical set of deadlines

Once you have organised your time according to your tasks, figure out how much time you need to invest in your studies. Taking that hour-count in mind, you can make the rest of your daily schedule. Remember to include time out for relaxation, exercises, etc.

Follow a routine and trust in your abilities but allow for some flexibility. You can avoid last-minute stress if you’re diligent from the start.

Tip 2: Try out mock tests and papers

Ask your teachers or search online for past matric exams. Write those tests within a certain time frame, just as you would a real exam. Not only will this help boost your confidence, but it will also help you identify any areas of work you need to focus on.

If you can’t access online tests, work with friends to create your own tests and test each other. Creating the tests and then answering the questions under “manufactured pressure” (i.e., simulating an exam environment with time constraints) will help you consolidate the knowledge further.

Taking mock-tests in the initial phases of preparation has two additional benefits:

  • It conditions you for exam pressure
  • It reveals your speed of writing

Tip 3: Maintain a balanced diet

It might be tempting to indulge in stress eating and grab a pack of Doritos or a big slab of chocolate, but a balanced diet is more important than ever during exams. Your brain needs enough energy to function properly.

The human body responds to exam stress by releasing cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone. It increases your blood pressure and your heart rate. Eating a healthy, balanced diet is known to help lower cortisol levels. Pay special attention to increase protein intake, eat less sugar, and keep hydrated.

Tip 4: Less social media

Ever start scrolling on your Instagram feed and end up clicking on one video, watching the next one, and the next, and the next… until it’s an hour later and you don’t know where the time went? This is the procrastination that comes with social media. Can you really afford to waste time like that during exams? Also, scrolling through photos and videos of your friends out having fun while you’re stuck at home study can create serious FOMO and you don’t need to add that to your exam stress.

Yes, down time is important, and sometimes mindless scrolling is exactly what the doctor ordered. But you’ll have to make sure you’re disciplined. Set an alarm to let you know when your time is up. If you don’t think you can be that disciplined, consider deleting your social media apps from your phone or installing an app that blocks particular sites.

Tip 5: Make sleep a priority

If you don’t relax your mind, it will be harder to retain new information – so make sleep a top priority during exams. A growing body of research shows the connection between good sleep and grades, impacting memory and problem-solving skills.

You may have heard that you need to get eight hours of sleep, but when you’re talking about sleep, the quality matters as much as how long you sleep. Deep sleep (also known as stage 3 and 4 sleep) is when your body reaches the deepest state of relaxation, helping you to wake up feeling refreshed. During deep sleep, your body regenerates cells and repairs tissues and bones, and your immune system is strengthened.

If you don’t have a comfortable mattress, you might struggle to fall into a deep sleep because your body simply can’t relax. You might end up tossing and turning, keeping your body alert. If you are waking up tired all the time, you might need to consider investing in a new mattress. Sealy’s zoned mattress made with exclusive Posturepedic Technology™ support the heaviest parts of your body, providing you with deep, targeted support for exceptional all-over comfort.

Sealy Posturepedic Technology™ supports your sleep by providing:

  • Pressure relieving comfort for undisturbed sleep: from ultra-plush to cushion firm, built with premium materials.
  • The support you need: deep-down orthopedically correct support with a superior edge support system.
  • A system where everything works together to give you the same great comfort and support for a long time: extra durability that repays your investment day after day.

You’ve got this

These are unusual times, and Coronavirus has added a layer of stress in almost everyone’s lives – and especially for matrics who are dealing with exam stress. However, what you need to remember is simple. With consistent efforts, you can get through this.

Give yourself time whenever you feel drained out and don’t forget to remind yourself that this phase will pass soon. We trust your abilities and wish you the best for your examinations!

 

 

 

Should School Times Start Later?

Posted on by lionel

The Industrial revolution changed not only when we work (earlier start, longer shifts) but also when we are required to wake up.

Human beings are programmed to follow the sun to bed and wake as the sky lightens. However, for most families, industrialization has meant waking long before sunrise to commute to work.

This shift threw our kids sleep under the bus too. Parents had to get to work earlier, so kids had to get to school earlier too. School used to begin around 9am but has started to shift earlier and earlier over the last 100 years.

Waking up earlier has led to many children and their parents not getting the sleep they require. It is a common phenomenon for young children to be woken between 4am and 5am in order for the family to be where they need to be by 7.30am.

In South Africa, this sleep crisis is felt more severely due to:

  • Our unreliable public transport system
  • The large distances between where we live and where we work
  • Our closest, local schools may not provide optimal education for our children
  • The high rates of unemployment leave many employees fearing that they could lose their job if they ask for a later start time to drop their children off at school

These are real logistical issues, but the question must be asked: Should school start times be set to fit around parents schedules or what the child needs to learn?

Our goal as a society should be to get kids to school ready to learn, not sleep deprived.

What time does your child start school and would you prefer them to start later?

We would love to hear from you.

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The Difference in your Sleep… Discover the new la différence bed by Sealy

Back to school, back to sleep – How to get your kids back into their routine

Posted on by lionel

You may have completed your back to school shopping, but have you gotten your kids back into their routine?

Sleeping well is essential for school performance. Alas, the extra-long school holidays have seen our kids going to bed long after sunset and lying in later than usual.

Children need sleep in order to listen, sit still, concentrate, remember, problem-solve and play nicely. So going to sleep and going to school go hand-in-hand.

The good news is that there is still enough time to get your kids back into routine before school starts.

Follow these 4 steps to make the transition:

  1. Ensure their days are full of physical activity so that they are tired by sunset.
  2. Set an alarm for one hour before your child’s desired bedtime to signal the end of screen time and the start of a bedtime routine.
  3. Re-introduce your family’s bedtime routine within this hour – your child should get through your combination of supper, bathing, brushing their teeth and having their bedtime story within this time.
  4. Set an alarm for the desired wake-up time that you will need on school days – it is important to maintain this even on weekends as brains work best during predictible sleep-wake cycles.

By repeating these steps over the next few days, you are helping to prepare your child’s brain for sleep as well as for school.

Here’s to an easy re-entry into the real world.

Sleep better in your new Sealy!

Can better sleep mean better grades?

Posted on by lionel

Poor sleep can negatively impact your child’s grades, emotions and overall behaviour. This means you might need to introduce an earlier bed time. Or let your child sleep in. Or invest in a new mattress.

While very little research has looked at the link between sleep and intelligence in children. It is clear that sleep deprivation eats our brains (yes, really!) and that sleep is an important contributor to developing long-term memory, but can better sleep mean better grades?

FACT 1: An intelligent child who is sleep-deprived will get poorer grades

It appears that we all inherit 40-50% of our intelligence. We could call this our baseline intelligence. Certain behaviours will help us maintain or develop this intelligence (like eating nutritious food and getting good sleep), whilst other behaviours will erode this intelligence (not eating well or not getting enough sleep).

If your child is not getting enough sleep, it would impact their visual visual intelligence and problem-solving abilities (think maths, science and design). For more read: The Sleep EEG as a marker of intellectual ability in school-age children.

FACT 2: A child with lower intelligence cannot sleep their way to higher intelligence

While sleep allows your brain an opportunity to heal and restore, it does not ‘create’ intelligence. However, having enough energy to fully embrace learning opportunities during the day will enhance your child’s ability to absorb these learnings and sleep will help cement this learning.

Whatever your child’s IQ may be, help them get the sleep that they need to perform well at school by using a bedtime routine.

Remember also that an uncomfortable bed will impact your child’s sleep just as much as it would yours – so think twice before giving your child your old mattress. Investing in a good bed for your child could mean a happier and calmer child. Visit the Sealy website to view our range of beds: www.sealy.co.za

Not sure if your child is getting enough sleep? Click here for a handy infographic from The Better Sleep Council:

How much sleep does my child need?

Article written by Roxanne Atkinson

US schools introduce SleepPods: Time-out for teens?

Posted on by lionel
Teens can be stroppy, defiant and emotional. Much like their smaller counterparts, toddlers, they can throw a pretty good tantrum, but with a whole lot more strength behind it. These ‘negative’ behaviours can be attributed to the high-energy, high-sleep needs of their developing brains and bodies. Whilst teens may need more shut-eye (up to 13 hours per day at peak growth times!) they may not be able to find the sleep that they need in their schedules.

Rather than pushing over-tired teens to participate or sending them home to sleep (both options will not lead to learning), two schools in the USA have used Mental Health funding to install Sleep Pods by MetroNaps.

Sleep pods are being used to help teenagers who:
• Did not get a enough sleep
• Show signs of fatigue such as headaches, irritability and aggression
• Are anxious about their school marks
• Are not able to focus in class

Even teachers who battle with high blood pressure are finding the time in the sleep pod a great ‘time out’.

How does a sleep pod work?

This sleep pod consists of a reclining chair with a ‘dome’ cover. The participant lies back in the chair and enjoys a 20-minute power nap while the dome provides a quiet, dark environment. After 20 minutes, the teen re-joins the class rejuvenated and refuelled. Read more here: Sleep pods – Basically the best invention for teens 

SA schools might not be installing sleep pods just yet, but you can help ensure your teen has a good sleep each night (and whenever he or she is napping) by investing in a good quality mattress. Click here for additional tips on how to help your teen get a good night’s sleep.
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