Being organised was particularly effective for mods (though, of course, I’m still waiting on my actual marks…) – I assigned each 2 hour period to one of my 3 subjects (Constitutional, Criminal, and Roman), and set 2 – 3 tasks for each period. So in the typical 8-10am Roman revision session I’d aim to do an essay on delict, an essay on contracts, and plan a problem question (under exam conditions). I quite often planned essays instead of writing them, because I was relatively confident that timing wouldn’t be an issue during the exam – I find the hardest thing to not be writing an essay but rather coming up with all the necessary points (or rather, connecting the relevant bits of info) and formulating a solid argument, and by practicing that I ended up being vaguely-okay at it when exams actually came around. By planning out my revision a fortnight in advance (moving things around when necessary and adding bits here and there of course), I ended up being a lot calmer for mods than I was for A Levels, because I knew precisely what I was going to revise, how I was going to revise it, and when it was going to be done. This meant that I could schedule a day off about two weeks before exams to destress and not get anxious over it, which was amazing! It also meant that I could spend my evenings being as chill as possible so as to not burn out before I sat my papers.
Obviously, this method won’t work for everyone. I’m particularly poor at cramming and extraordinarily prone to exam-anxiety – if I waited until just before exams to revise I would freeze up and have a meltdown. I work to make sure that everything is in my long-term memory (I’m a huge proponent of flashcards and other SRS/spaced-repetition learning methods), but that means that I have to start revision absolutely ages in advance – it’s likely not the sanest or the healthiest approach! If you’re the kind of person who much prefers to learn everything in the week before, and if that works for you, then that’s clearly the way to go. If you’re the kind of person who prefers to work at night, however, you could easily adapt this concept to still make it suit you!
All said and done, I probably had a much more relaxed experience this term (when I properly adopted this method) than last term (where I divided my work up but didn’t specify any hours), despite having exams. I find that being organised is a nice and easy way to feel a bit victorious in the mornings, and I would certainly recommend this form of work for holidays, too – for anyone with A Levels/IB exams coming up, please make sure to pace yourself over Easter and to not burn out, because burning out is even worse than not revising at all. And best of luck! Study hard, play hard, and most importantly, stay organised!