What am I doing here? Oh god, the very fact that I am writing this blog post is documenting the fact that I am not revising. Despite there being a month and a half until my first exam the guilt pangs have begun.

There are several different approaches one can take towards revision:

1. The I-spend-every-waking-hour-revising approach.

2. The If-I-close-my-eyes-then-exams-won’t-approach approach.

3. The I’m-such-a-genius-I-don’t-need-to-revise approach.

4. The I-haven’t-done-anything-all-year-so-I’ve-probably-already-failed approach

And, my personal favourite:

5. The keep-calm-and-carry-on approach.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to be in halls and so I chose to isolate myself from the outside world and most importantly- the madness of LSE library during exam time. During the day I would move from my 6th floor bedroom down to the ground floor for food and up to the 11th floor to the study room. It was a simple and calm existence. A small group of my friends nested ourselves in the 11th floor study room and urged each other on through times of focus, delirium and tomfoolery.

The popular approaches 2,3 and 4 will never end well. However it is approach 1 which I believe to be the most lethal. It’s about quality not quantity. Yet, the LSE is a super competitive environment full of talented, yet insecure individuals. This is a recipe for disaster.

Before your mind is fit to hold information, you must be well looked after. Food, sleep and exercise should  become your new best friends. As well as highlighters, post-it notes and bubble-writing (at least if you’re me!)

I will not be closing down my facebook this exam period. I will not stop writing or running or doing anything else I enjoy. A month and a half is a long time to put yourself through a military regime of study. I’m in it for the long haul not a sprint so I’m going to put myself first.