How To De-stress Before Results Day
The summer holidays have passed really quickly, and now it’s nearly time for the dreaded results day. After meeting up with a friend today I realised how many of us are feeling stressed, anxious and nervous, so I thought it would be reassuring to all A Level and GCSE students out there to make a list of ways to take your mind off of results day.
1. Spend the day before results (results day eve) with your friends.
This year, my friends and I have organised to order in Chinese takeaway and pizzas (#treatyoself) on Wednesday so we can distract ourselves with food and movies. It’s basically impossible to think about results day when you’re surrounded by mountains of takeaway boxes and having a laugh with your friends. If you wanted a healthier alternative, you could meet up with friends and make smoothies or cook a meal together.
2. Know what you’re getting yourself in for.
For me, results day is easier when I plan out each possible scenario. This ties in with one of my favourite cheesy sayings: Hope for the best, but expect the worst. It sounds harsh, but take a moment to imagine not quite getting the results you were hoping for. But, then, stop. And then start thinking about if this happens, what would you do and how can you fix this? If you don’t get the grades you wanted, then remember that re-taking the exam is an option, or that there are hundreds of courses in clearing or that you still did really well considering how tough the exam was. Reminding yourself that whatever grades you get will not stop you from getting towards your future goals, helps take the pressure off of results day.
3. Get stuck into a fictional world.
What’s better than your own problems? A fictional character’s problems, of course! Netflix and Amazon Prime offer free 30-day trials, so make the most of those and binge-watch a series. Your worries about results day will seem like nothing when you start watching The Walking Dead and realise that there are bigger issues in life, like the possibility of a zombie apocalypse.
4. Do they even matter?
Education is extremely important, however, there are even more important things, like your health. Think about everything in your life that is not related to education that you’re grateful for, and then results start to seem a bit more trivial when you remember how lucky you are.
5. Be healthy.
Exercise is probably scientifically one of the best ways to become less stressed. However, like many other teenagers, I am terrible at it. So, instead of just telling you to go on a walk, why not get outdoors and exercise using Pokémon Go or trying your hand at Geocaching. You could even have an ice-cream crawl or a café crawl with a friend which involves walking around your local town stopping off at ice-cream parlours or cafés and having something to eat or drink at each. I’ve been using the ‘health’ app on my iPhone which lets you know how many steps you’ve done each day: try to hit 10000 each day to motivate you.
Best of luck to everyone, and just remember that you’re not the only one feeling nervous.
Let’s bring this back! Best of luck everyone doing A-Levels for tomorrow, or next week for GCSEs!
