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Writer's pictureoikos St. Gallen

The last push!

Updated: Oct 14, 2021

Now that we are heading into our final days of exams, we wanted to share with you just a few tips and tricks on how you can lead a more sustainable lifestyle for boosting exam performance and ending this semester with a bang!



Both mentally and physically, it is so important to stay level-headed in these stressful times. Having a sustainable diet and regular physical activity can go a long way for being cool, calm, and collected during the exam. This short read will be split into 2 sections focusing on your physical activity and following that, your diet.



Granted, having a consistent fitness regime is undeniably beneficial for boosting exam performance, but there’s still a lot you can do in these last few days. Towards the end, check out our recipes for dealing with exam stress, especially our post-exercise refreshing iced lemongrass tea!

Going for a walk especially in the morning, is a great way to ground yourself and organize your thoughts. Doing this every day for the next week, will allow you to detach yourself from the turbulent environment of exam preparation. Not only this but doing so during the time of day just before the exam takes place, for most of us before 09.00 a.m., will allow you to train your mind to be fully focused and attentive when the clock hits 09:15 on the actual day of your exam.

This smooth transition from exercising to dedicating an hour and a half to your work in the mornings is a great way to regenerate your confidence and not allow on-the-day stress to divert your focus.


Apart from reorganizing your thoughts and detaching yourself from your subjects, testing yourself and revising while walking, or another physical activity is a phenomenal way to solidify your memory, especially for the kinaesthetic learners out there. Take this quiz to determine how you learn best: What is Your Vak Type Quiz! https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=vak-quiz-visual-auditory-kinesthetic

Whether it be visual, mind maps and spider diagrams will do the job, audio, recording yourself and listening to it repeatedly whenever and wherever goes a long way, or kinaesthetic, testing your friends when playing catch is great for staying relaxed whilst revising your material. Any outdoor activity, whether it be strolling in the forest, going for a run, going shopping, or having a sports session, will allow your body to release chemicals called endorphins, which bind with brain receptors to alleviate the drowsiness and distressing feelings and foster peace and confidence. Exercise, Depression, and the Brain: https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/exercise

And I am not talking about long-term health benefits, but the short-term stress-busting surge in positive feelings which will certainly retain for the day of the exam if you do it consistently till the last day. Whether you start now or two days before, you will see an evident improvement in your focus and calmness on exam day. What must wholeheartedly be considered is that the noticeable impact of exercising on your exam success boils down to how much you believe it will help you. From our experience, leaving the last few mornings before the exam for going outside, getting that daily oxygen dose, testing yourself, and structuring your thoughts and memories on a particular subject will be super valuable for judgment day.


Coupling physical activity with a powerful diet can help you go the extra mile for exam success. As personal and particular as this may be, we would like to share with you a few energy-boosting and nerve managing tips and recipes. Granted, as we have a few days

or a week left for most of us, here are a few suggestions on short term memory boosting superfoods:

  • Blueberries The plant-based phytonutrients known as flavonoids found particularly in blueberries has neuron regenerating abilities and is thus one of the most recommended superfoods for short-term memory retention

  • Dark chocolate Once again, flavonoids are to the rescue. This nutrient found commonly in chocolate has shown to have a reliable impact on memory enhancement


Apart from these, our fellow friends at oismak have gladly shared some delicious recipes for ensuring that overall sustainable diet. For energizing yourself for the day, we have our famous...

Power balls


Ingredients:

4 tbsp. Oats

1 tbsp. Peanut butter

7 Soaked dates

1/2 tbsp. Chia Seeds

5-7 Walnuts

1 tsp. Coconut oil

Melted fair trade chocolate to dip in


Steps:

  1. Put the dates into boiled water for 10 minutes and let them soak.

  2. In the meantime melt the fair trade chocolate with coconut oil with the bain-marie method.

  3. Drain the dates in the bowl.

  4. Mix soaked dates with walnuts in the food processor.

  5. Add chia seeds, peanut butter, and oats.

  6. Roll into small balls.

  7. And the best part: dip them into chocolate!

  8. Refrigerate it for an hour.

  9. Bon appetite!


And for destressing and relaxing oneself, we have our mucho delicious...

Iced lemongrass tea


Ingredients:

½ cup, finely chopped lemongrass

½ cup finely chopped mint leaves (+ whole leaves)

water (300 ml)

Ice

Honey


Steps:

  1. Combine the lemongrass and mint leaves with 300ml of water

  2. Stir for a few minutes and bring to boil

  3. After 3 minutes of light boiling, remove the flame, cover, and let it rest for 5 more minutes

  4. Engulf ice cubes in your glass

  5. Using a sieve, filter the tea while pouring it in the glass

  6. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of honey

  7. Stir till well diffused

  8. Add 2/3 whole mint leaves on the top

  9. now drink like there is no tomorrow


We hope there was something you found valuable that you can implement in the last few days of exams and for the summer. From oikos, we wish you the best for your exams and we hope you have an amazing summer.

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